On the streets, engineering a job

Momelezi Sifumba went to stand on the streets looking for a job. His bravery paid off as he found employment at engineering firm ABB. (Supplied)

When Momelezi Sifumba decided to stand on the side of the road not far from where he had graduated with an engineering degree, he did not know that his unorthodox way of looking for employment would land him a job at a big company.

Sifumba, 27, finished his B-Tech degree in electrical engineering at Tshwane University of Technology at the beginning of the year and immediately started looking for a job.

But he was not successful.

As he continued sending his CV to companies and making calls he realised he was not making any progress.

He then decided stand on a street not far from his university, hoping that someone would see his plight.

“I felt like the traditional way of looking for a job, which is sending emails and making calls to companies, never worked for me. It felt when I used those methods, my voice was never heard enough. I decided to stand there with my poster asking for a job.

“I never told my parents about going to the streets because they were starting to lose hope. Their expectations were that because I had a degree, things would just go smoothly. When I want to do something, I just do it. I do not tell other people because they will give their opinions. I prefer for things to be a surprise to other people,” Sifumba said.

But one of his siblings saw Sifumba’s picture on social media and informed his mother and “she cried hysterically”.

He said his parents, who are both jobless, had thought that getting an engineering degree would make it easier for him to secure employment.

Momelezi Sifumba who had to go and stand on the streets looking for a job. His bravery paid off as he found employment at engineering firm ABB. (Supplied)

While on the streets for five days, Sifumba said people took pictures of him and posted them on social media in order to make more people aware of his plight.

Others took pictures in which he had his contact details and posted it on their LinkedIn profiles. It was that move that kept Sifumba’s stay on the side of the road to just five days.

Graham Abrahams, senior vice president of electrification at ABB, spotted him on LinkedIn and was moved.

Sifumba received a call from one of the secretaries at the company and a meeting was arranged in which Sifumba met officials from the company who got to know more about him.

“I had just finishing posting on LinkedIn and then saw his picture. My honest feeling was …he has probably worked so hard to get his studies done and now he has to stand on a corner.

“I knew we had a programme that could help,” said Abrahams.

Sifumba, from Libode in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, started working at ABB in May in the test department. He is expected to be moved to the engineering and tendering departments as the year progresses.

“I’d recommend that other young people should not use one method of looking for employment. If you have to be on the streets to find employment, then do it. When you sit inside the house behind closed doors, you get depressed. On the streets, you do not know who may pass by,” he said.

With his newly found job, Sifumba is now able to take care of his parents and two sisters.

dlaminip@sowetan.co.za