CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL DETAILS
Surname: Katongo
First name: Beauty
Gender: Female
CONTACT DETAILS
Cell phone: 0847411185 or 0833566913
Email address: katongb@yahoo.com
CAREER OBJECTIVES
My career objective is to broaden my experience within a company environment that strives for creativity. An organization that provide me an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the economic development. Being involved in formulating strategies that will be used to confront the challenges facing the previously disadvantaged individuals in the tourism sector. Moreover being involved in formulating strategies for poverty alleviation and against HIV/AIDS
EDUCATION QUALIFICATION
Name of institution: University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg
Qualification: Masters degree in Development Studies
Relevant courses:
Grad 541: Economics and sociology of development
Grad 542: advanced development research methods
Grad 547: Project management
Grad soss: HIV/AIDS in context
Grad 554: Forced migration and refugees studies
Grad 543:Development studies research titled (An investigation
on informal cross border trade as a livelihood strategy for women)
Name of Institution: University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg
Qualification: Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degree in Tourism Studies
Relevant courses: Tourism and policy,
Tourism and development,
Local economic development,
Environmental management
Public culture,
Tourism research report, titled: (An investigation on regional tourism in Johannesburg: the case of Zambians cross border traders)
Name of institution: Havatech College Johannesburg
Qualification obtained: Diploma in Information Technology
WORK EXPERIENCE
Company: SOUTH AFRICAN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS LINKAGES (SAIBL)
Position : field researcher
Period of service : 2007
Job description : Conducting a survey of companies supported by SAIBL programme, on the impact of HIV/AIDS in workplace as well as the interventions the companies have put in place.
Company: THE EDGE INSTITUTE (non profit economic policy research organization)
Position : part time researcher
Period of service : March 2006- June 2006
Job description : working on the research projects on foreign direct investment (FDIs)
Company: Municipal Demarcation Board, Pretoria
Position : Researcher and Administrative officer
Period of service : (2001-2002)
Job description : Research and administrative work
Reasons for leaving employment: I fully served the contract as in the agreement.
AWARDS
The University of Natal.Theological Bursary awards;
The University of Witwatersrand Postgraduate Merit award;
INTERESTS/ACTIVITIES
· Interest in adapting to varied physical and professional environments and a desire to work with different language, national and cultural backgrounds.
· Leader of ladies meetings in the Church.
Skills
· Written and verbal communication
· Interpersonal and analytical skills
· Enjoy being part of a team.
· Able to work without supervision
· Adaptability to a multicultural working environment coaching abilities
· Competence in use of all aspects of office 2003
REFEREES
Doctor George Mukuka
Co-supervisor
University of Johannesburg
Department of arts and culture
Tel:0736942329
Email: mukuka@hotmail.com
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
NOT AS EASY AS ONE THINKS
Another insight in this week’s session was the inspiration of developing a C.V, Covering letter and interviews. Ray Naran one of the presenters from CCDU Wits University cited that a C.V is often used for elimination rather than selection and he also highlighted that “many interviews look for a reasons why they should not employ you rather than a reasons why they should”. This is where one needs to prove the employers wrong and show them that you are competent. A C.V represents yourself to the potential employers thus it needs to have positive representations of your qualifications and experience. Your C.V and covering letter should be outstanding; it is not something that you can work on over night but your input of time and energy. You need to gather your thoughts and reflect on your career and gaps in your careers and experience. Eileen, another presenter from CCDU, mentioned a lot of skills which are required in the work place such as presentation skills, problem solving skills, decision making, development focus etc. You need to reflect on these skills and see where the vacancy position suits you.
I find all these presentations very inspiring and motivating. I believe by the end of this month my mind will be flooding with knowledge. But one funny thing about all this is that all this knowledge we are getting from the WOW is irrelevant, what is relevant is how we are going to apply it.
I find all these presentations very inspiring and motivating. I believe by the end of this month my mind will be flooding with knowledge. But one funny thing about all this is that all this knowledge we are getting from the WOW is irrelevant, what is relevant is how we are going to apply it.
Monday, April 23, 2007
CONFLICT WITH A POSITIVE RESULT
It’s amazing to ascertain that some things that we take for granted really matter in our lives and have impact on our lives. I discovered that most of us do not know how to deal with conflicts and yet we deal with it everyday at home or workplace. Many of us believe that conflicts are always associated with negative behaviour. Berenice Dela Crox one of the presenters in this week’s session put some logic in us when she cited that conflict could result into optimum productivity if kept at the average level. This means that conflict helps the people involved to come up with the solution which can improve the productivity.
Generally we believe that conflict could result into low productivity because people are not aiming for one goal and are not working as a unit but as individuals. On the other hand it was interesting to learn that conflict can also be associated with positive results. At a work place there are people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, different principles, ideas and beliefs. When such people get involved in a conflict, they come up with different ideas and points of view. Thus one can learn from other people’s point of view and ideas if the conflict is handled in an assertive way. It can also be a learning experience or a catalyst to change productivity of people, if an organisation has a good conflict management in place.
However one has to realise that the conflict has to be on things which matter not petty things that do not add value to the organisation.
Generally we believe that conflict could result into low productivity because people are not aiming for one goal and are not working as a unit but as individuals. On the other hand it was interesting to learn that conflict can also be associated with positive results. At a work place there are people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, different principles, ideas and beliefs. When such people get involved in a conflict, they come up with different ideas and points of view. Thus one can learn from other people’s point of view and ideas if the conflict is handled in an assertive way. It can also be a learning experience or a catalyst to change productivity of people, if an organisation has a good conflict management in place.
However one has to realise that the conflict has to be on things which matter not petty things that do not add value to the organisation.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
MARKETING YOUR SKILLS
Whenever I think of getting my dream job, I always imagine myself being employed in a well- establishment organisation with a good salary. I picture myself applying my skills to whatever task I am assigned and always trying to do the best to prove my competence. But, after attending some few sessions from the World of work programme, I actually realised that there is much more expected of me than what I thought. I do believe that I have some skills which I acquired from my qualifications and from my work experience but I also learnt that there are much more skills which I will acquire from this programme, and will be crucial for me in the workplace. It was appealing to me to learn that I can be creative enough to create a job for myself using my skills. Andrew Hofmeyer talked about the demand and supply side of business. All companies and organisations are in business and they are after making profit and whoever they recruit into their organisation must add value to the company. When I present myself to an organisation they need to know if I will be able to contribute and be profitable to their organisation.
This is where Hofmeyer said I need to apply my marketing skills. It will be a good idea to research about the company to get a sense of what goes on in the company and what kind of my skills can contribute to their profit making. What I need to know is what is in demand for the company I am wishing to work for and if I have valuable skills to offer. There after, I can confidently recapitulate my skills and market them to the company, tell them what I can offer, and what contributions my skills can add to their organisation.
I find Andrew Hofmeyer’s sessions very helpful and it made me realise that I have more opportunities than I can imagine.
This is where Hofmeyer said I need to apply my marketing skills. It will be a good idea to research about the company to get a sense of what goes on in the company and what kind of my skills can contribute to their profit making. What I need to know is what is in demand for the company I am wishing to work for and if I have valuable skills to offer. There after, I can confidently recapitulate my skills and market them to the company, tell them what I can offer, and what contributions my skills can add to their organisation.
I find Andrew Hofmeyer’s sessions very helpful and it made me realise that I have more opportunities than I can imagine.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Week One
This week’s sessions were so interesting and at the same time scaring. I mentioned scaring because most of the speakers sounded like; it is not easy to cope the first few months in the work place. Judging from the points, which were, highlighted in the sessions such as critical thinking, flexibility, attitude, and communications skills (Verbal and written), etc, which are expected from us in the work place. I felt like the world of work training programme is beneficial for us in assisting us to be prepared and be able to cope with the hard times awaiting for us the first few months in the work place.
In this introductory week, though we didn’t cover much work, for me it was a wake up call. I appreciated all the speeches, which were presented. During Gordon’s session, the idea of flexibility really stroked me. It clicked to me that knowing everything the first few months at the work place of which I believe most of us have in order to prove our competence might lead to getting stuck in the task given. On the other hand, the idea of knowing nothing can also give an impression to the employers that you are useless to the organisation. Thus, flexibility, willingness to learn, learning through mistakes and admitting the mistakes and working over them might help to make one’s life easy as the new employee. Dan Sonnerberg’s also indicated that making assumptions on the given task might lead one into wrongdoing. Therefore, asking questions before making a decision can be a good idea and at the same time could prevent you from making serious mistakes. Therefore, flexibility in a work place could save one from creating wrong impressions about you and also learn from others.
The other interesting point for me was about thinking beyond yourself or working in teams. Most of us believe in competition or doing better than others in everything. I liked it when Lesley emphasized on working as teams and not trying to compete with each other but being a resource for each other. This happened during Lesley’s session, when the task was assigned to two groups and the other group was trying to compete with the other by finishing faster than the other team. I believe this point changed many people ‘s attitude of being better than the other. I assume this point has also motivated us in helping each other in sharing information, views, commenting on each other’s work with the intention of helping one to improve in communicating and writing skills.
However, one observation about this week’s sessions is that, there were some contradictions from some speakers. Whilst all the speakers emphasised on being ourselves, or being real and not pretending to be someone else, there were some contradiction in terms of dressing for employment. Some speakers emphasised on being real even in terms of your dressing, arguing that you need to dress what you feel comfortable with and the employers has to take you the way you are. On the contrary, other speakers mentioned of dressing according to the requirement of the job description. I found this confusing; any way the decision lies in me.
Nevertheless, I appreciate and enjoyed every session for this week and looking forward to the other following weeks.
In this introductory week, though we didn’t cover much work, for me it was a wake up call. I appreciated all the speeches, which were presented. During Gordon’s session, the idea of flexibility really stroked me. It clicked to me that knowing everything the first few months at the work place of which I believe most of us have in order to prove our competence might lead to getting stuck in the task given. On the other hand, the idea of knowing nothing can also give an impression to the employers that you are useless to the organisation. Thus, flexibility, willingness to learn, learning through mistakes and admitting the mistakes and working over them might help to make one’s life easy as the new employee. Dan Sonnerberg’s also indicated that making assumptions on the given task might lead one into wrongdoing. Therefore, asking questions before making a decision can be a good idea and at the same time could prevent you from making serious mistakes. Therefore, flexibility in a work place could save one from creating wrong impressions about you and also learn from others.
The other interesting point for me was about thinking beyond yourself or working in teams. Most of us believe in competition or doing better than others in everything. I liked it when Lesley emphasized on working as teams and not trying to compete with each other but being a resource for each other. This happened during Lesley’s session, when the task was assigned to two groups and the other group was trying to compete with the other by finishing faster than the other team. I believe this point changed many people ‘s attitude of being better than the other. I assume this point has also motivated us in helping each other in sharing information, views, commenting on each other’s work with the intention of helping one to improve in communicating and writing skills.
However, one observation about this week’s sessions is that, there were some contradictions from some speakers. Whilst all the speakers emphasised on being ourselves, or being real and not pretending to be someone else, there were some contradiction in terms of dressing for employment. Some speakers emphasised on being real even in terms of your dressing, arguing that you need to dress what you feel comfortable with and the employers has to take you the way you are. On the contrary, other speakers mentioned of dressing according to the requirement of the job description. I found this confusing; any way the decision lies in me.
Nevertheless, I appreciate and enjoyed every session for this week and looking forward to the other following weeks.
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