Graduates’ experiences in seeking employment in a community in the Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract

This study investigated lived experiences of unemployed graduates in an underserved context in the Western Cape, South Africa. The lived experiences were studied to understand the employability of unemployed graduates and to pay attention to the causes and barriers they are faced with. In other studies, the concept of graduate employability has been highlighted as the most centred issue that is rapidly increasing on a global scale. Thus, this study aimed to explore the factors contributing to the rising unemployment rate of graduates in the Western Cape, and how addressing this issue might lead to the creation of new job opportunities. In conducting this study, a qualitative research method was applied and the data were collected through a structured open-ended questionnaire administered to a group of unemployed graduates at the selected community in the Western Cape, South Africa. The research questions focused on getting unemployed graduates to elaborate on matters such as how they apply for jobs, who provides job assistance in their community, what resources are available to them, how prepared they are for the world of work, and to share experiences while seeking a job, among others. Following data collection, Microsoft Excel was used to store the data and analyse the findings. Findings show that the South African education system needs to be improved, entrepreneurship needs to be encouraged among students, employers need to restructure job requirements, and the South African government need to improve programmes and campaigns that may assist in improving community social ills.