Praxis Computing originally embarked upon its own programme of graduate internships and high school-leaver learnerships in 2001. Since then, Praxis has proved to be very successful in providing the appropriate training and development opportunities.
At the end of each year and as a direct result of this programme, most of these individuals have been placed in full-time employment. Thus, the situation at Praxis differs significantly from that indicated in a recent survey undertaken and published earlier this year by Business Report.
"Each year we aim to introduce three or four graduates and/or high school-leavers onto our respective programmes," commented Mirriam Zwane, a director of Praxis Computing. "2004 was a particularly fruitful year for us in that both the graduate interns we mentored are now in full-time employment with us. In addition, one of the two school-leavers we had on the learnership programme has embarked upon a further `learnership year` with us, in which the ratio of work to study will change from a 50%/50% basis to more of a 75%/25% split."
"We aim to directly recruit the graduate interns ourselves but utilise ISETT SETA to help in identifying the school-leavers we wish to bring on board," added Mish Middelmann, CEO of Praxis Computing. "Our focus is black female oriented since one of the key success factors we have identified is the mentoring that is so ably undertaken by Mirriam Zwane, one of my fellow directors, who is also the co-ordinator for the entire programme. Additionally, our attention to the selection process; the creation of hands-on opportunities for the learners and interns to participate in projects that marry any academic/theoretical knowledge they may have to the real business environment; and the on-going involvement of many of our staff during the programme, are also other key factors in the success that that we are experiencing."
The Praxis interns are directly involved in learning and working within one of Praxis` three main departments. In practice, however, each of the three entities has experienced interns working with them at some time or another. These divisions focus on:
* Designing, implementing and supporting IT infrastructure, networking and user support in the Outsourcing Department.
* Building and supporting new custom collaborative software solutions in the Development Department.
* Designing and implementing financial systems solutions, especially for the public sector, in the Financial Systems Department.
The learnership programme typically consists of alternate four-week blocks of practical workplace skills development at Praxis and theoretical training at Torque-IT for a total period of a year. Their training is based on qualifying towards A+, N+ and MSCE and their hands-on experience is mainly focused on problem-solving and customer service. The learnership involved is the Level 4 Technical Support programme that is driven by ISETT SETA. Learnerships are paraprofessional and vocational education and training programmes that combine theory and practice, and culminate in a qualification that is registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The person who successfully completes a learnership will have a qualification that signals occupational competence and which is recognised throughout SA. "We at Praxis are already benefiting from the programme that we bravely embarked upon several years ago," concluded Middelmann. "As a small business we are obviously constrained to only a handful of individuals each year; however, this is still producing positive results. We would urge other similar organisations as ourselves to consider hosting these types of programmes."
For further information, please contact Mish Middelmann, Praxis Computing: telephone (011) 484 0900, fax (011) 484 0399, e-mail mish@praxis.co.za.
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Praxis Computing (Pty) Ltd is an award-winning integrated software and services company that delivers outstanding business value by understanding and integrating people, processes and technology. Praxis delivers excellent financial ERP systems, managed IT infrastructure services, specialised software for funders and SETAs, and custom software development to corporate professional services companies, government and other public sector institutions.
Praxis Computing is a black empowerment enterprise with industry-leading employment equity and significant women ownership. In 2003, co-founder and director Mirriam Zwane was awarded the African Achievers Top Woman in ICT award; and Praxis was judged and one of the country`s Top Three Most Progressive ICT Companies and one of SA`s Top 20 Non-Listed Companies. In 2004, Praxis was judged to be one of the country`s Top Three Black ICT Companies. Praxis is a Proudly South African company.
Established in 1993 and based in Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa, Praxis is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner with certified competencies in Business Solutions and Information Worker Solutions and a Citrix Solutions Network Silver Partner.
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