Employers urged to think beyond matric qualification

Cargo Info News – the electronic sister publication of FTW – carries the right sort of messages out there to the freight industry according to two of the country’s major recruitment operations for the shipping sector (see letter). This followed a complaint from a reader that is very common in SA industry and commerce: That people with 20 years’ experience, but no formal matriculation certificate, are a no-no as far as corporate employment is concerned. But Cargo Info was able to come up with the right answer for this disgruntled reader from Charles Dey of Global Trade Training: There is an alternative. That’s a process called recognition of prior learning (RPL), said Dey, which requires the person to prove, by assembling evidence and undergoing assessment, that they can carry out the functions to the levels of performance described in the units that make up these qualifications. “Those who in previous times were not able to obtain a matric may now acquire nationally registered forwarding industry qualifications through RPL.” A vital alternative, said FTW’s two employment experts, Dr Lynn Ribton- Turner of Ribton-Turner Recruitment and Lee Botti, MD of Lee Botti & Associates. Both agreed that it was standard corporate recruitment policy – no matric, no job. “Most companies have a human resources (HR) requirement for matriculation,” said Ribton-Turner. “But Dey is right. If the prospective employee had an RPL certificate, these companies would accept their curriculum vitae (CV) and consider the certificate to be a matric equivalent.” Botti agreed about the value of RPL. “It’s a form of compensation offered in all industry and commercial sectors,” she said. “In one of its more basic formats, it allows a carpenter, for example, with many years of experience, but the wrong colour to have previously passed an apprenticeship, with a guarantee of acceptance for his future employment. “Cargo Info News served a valuable purpose in being able to disseminate this knowledge.”