‘Don’t tell me what you studied, show me what you built’: South Africa’s tech new hiring benchmark
The three students represent different milestones along the same trajectory. Together, their experiences highlight why acquiring a technical qualification is only the baseline.
In South Africa’s tech sector, possessing a university degree is no longer sufficient to secure a job. Employers are now prioritising practical skills and demonstrable projects over academic credentials. To bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application, Richfield, a private higher-education institution, is rethinking the curriculum to align it closely with industry needs.
Nancy Madiba, Head of Department for Information Systems and Databases, emphasizes the importance of industry relevance in their teaching approach. Richfield collaborates with global tech giants such as AWS, IBM, Salesforce, Fortinet, and Microsoft, providing students with vendor-certified short courses and simulated enterprise environments to gain hands-on experience.
Amogelang Chaane, a graduate who landed a job at Amazon Web Services (AWS) before completing his degree, exemplifies this shift. He actively built software, participated in hackathons, and taught himself skills outside of formal education. This proactive approach highlights the growing disparity between studying technology and working in it, where employers seek candidates who can demonstrate capabilities through tangible projects rather than just a degree.
Written by urgent.news from TechCabal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
