Akilah’s 2017 Career Fair Connects Students to Employers
Akilah’s Class of 2017 will graduate in November, and our outgoing students are getting ready to join some of Rwanda’s fastest-growing sectors.
Akilah alumna Claudine Uwamahoro (left) attended the career fair as a representative for Kigali Marriott Hotel, where she now works in the Human Resources Department.
The odds are in their favor. Eighty-eight percent of Akilah students find employment within six months of graduating. Earlier this year, Akilah partnered with MindSky, an online career platform, to help graduates launch their careers in industries that match their competencies, skills, and professional aspirations.
In our efforts to connect Akilah candidates with job opportunities, Akilah and MindSky hosted a career fair on October 20. Employers from more than 30 companies participated in the event, which included a professional workshop on attracting and retaining talent, facilitated by MindSky, and a two-hour job fair to meet, greet, and network with Akilah’s new graduates. The employers represented a wide range of industries, including hospitality, renewable energy, e-commerce, ecotourism, entrepreneurship development, leadership training, drone technology, and more. Students had an opportunity to network with employers and pitch themselves.
The companies that took part in the career fair are employer partners and have often hired Akilah graduates or taken interns in the past. Here’s what some of them had to say about Akilah’s career fair.
Dieudonne Nagiriwubuntu of Aegis Trust, which runs the Kigali Genocide Memorial, meets with Akilah students.
Aegis Trust — Kigali Genocide Memorial
“It’s helpful for us to meet the talent pool at Akilah — and it’s helpful for students to meet with employers and learn about job opportunities. I actually came today because of the Akilah intern we currently have with us. She is performing really well, so that sparked my interest in Akilah.” - Dieudonne Nagiriwubuntu, Aegis Trust
Craven Mupenda, Head of Marketing for Jumia Food, explains his company to an Akilah student.
Jumia Food
“This fair was a good opportunity for us to talk to a lot of students about their career goals and hear from them about what they’re interested in. We had Akilah interns recently, so we know from experience that Akilah produces very good talent. You can see their passion and how eager they are to learn and join the real world. It’s impressive. We have already hired one of the interns from Akilah to join us full time — she is everything we were looking for in an employee.” - Craven Mupenda, Head of Marketing, Jumia Food
“Some of the students were super proactive and asked great questions. One asked very specific software questions, which I thought was really cool,” says Ivan Asiimwe of MeshPower.
MeshPower
“Some of the students were super proactive and asked great questions. One asked very specific software questions, which I thought was really cool. They’re so ambitions, and we have several openings for candidates like them, especially within logistics, marketing, finance, and IT. An event like this is bridging the gap between employers and young talent — it’s often hard for us to find each other. As a solar energy company, this is also a great opportunity for us to get more women involved — solar energy and engineering are typically very male-dominated fields. At Akilah, students are taught to be very hands-on, and that is just what we need. We look forward to receiving their applications.” - Ivan Asiimwe, MeshPower
Gaelle Sesonga, of Wilson Tours, poses with Akilah student Christella Dukunde, who is currently interning with them.
Wilson Tours
“It’s great to talk to students and give them ideas on how to apply the things they studied in class to a real-life setting. A lot of students came to us saying, ‘I want to be a tour guide — how can I get there?’ It was a great idea to put us together like that.” - Gaelle Sesonga, Wilson Tours
Diane Uwamwiza of Zipline was impressed by Akilah students’ strong English skills.
Zipline
“This was amazing — I was so happy to talk to so many potential candidates. We often struggle to find candidates who are strong English speakers, but here at Akilah, that’s not a problem. We are looking for new candidates for our Marketing Department, so it was great for us to talk to the students and hear from them — they have been asking a lot of questions and have been very engaged.”
- Diane Uwamwiza, Zipline