In an effort to stimulate interest in the motoring sector as an attractive career opportunity, Hyundai South Africa head office undertakes a full apprentice training programme for technical Grade 10, 11 and 12 scholars over the June/July holiday period each year.
"This school apprentice programme is now in its fourth year and we have been incredibly impressed with the commitment and competency levels of students who have been through our training," says Michael Rohde, after sales and service director at Hyundai South Africa. "In fact, this programme has been so successful for our own skills requirements, that to date, 16 of the 17 students who have participated in the training over the past three years have been offered full time employment at Hyundai as an apprentice technician."
This year, Hyundai will once again be hosting 5 students from the participating schools during the 2011 June/July holiday's for a three week period. "During this time, we will expose these scholars to as many facets of the workshop area as possible including; Pre Delivery Inspection (PDI), Diagnostics, Wheel alignments and Specifications and Compliance training. Through this, HASA aims to provide these scholars with the ideal learning platform, not only within a workshop environment, but also to general work - teaching them softer skills such as attention to detail, and the fact that everyone has to start somewhere - no matter what the job," adds Rohde.
According to a Mr Olivier, principle at Primrose High School: "With the increasing and changing technical requirements of the industry, it has become harder for school leavers to gain viable employment opportunities. However, this holiday training programme has provided invaluable exposure for our students as to the realities, competencies and technical skills required if they want to have a successful career in the motoring industry.
Hyundai South Africa, has demonstrated strong commitment to investing back into the community to deliver tangible skills for the motoring sector. What is encouraging to see is that the skills gained over this training programme are not just technically orientated, but general life skills are also departed on the scholars, which has resulted in a much stronger 'appetite' for learning from scholars that participate in the programme."
"For Hyundai, the ultimate outcome of this initiative lies in the fact that we make a positive contribution towards the understanding of the work environment for South Africa's youth and help shape their idea of what they want to become - encouraging skills and career development for the greater good of South Africa's workforce and consequently, economic growth," concludes Rohde.
Hyundai Automotive South Africa, an entity of the Hyundai Motor Company, was selected as the Global distributor of the Year in 2005 and forms part of the Associated Motor Holdings group locally. Since inception, Hyundai SA has established a network of almost 100 dealerships in Southern Africa, including Namibia, Swaziland and Botswana. Hyundai has a wide range of products and claims to have a particularly good name for maintaining high customer service standards. Hyundai is one of the fastest growing automotive brands in the world, and has developed a strong brand amongst the South African motoring public.
