Q

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KGOTSO KOBO,

FOUNDER OF SKILLS-R-US

What inspired you to launch your graduate

placement portal, Skills-R-Us?

I spent a few years in Germany studying and working, and they

have a good strategy for employing graduates. When I came

back to South Africa I started working as a banker, and one day

when I was coming home from a work function my Uber driver

showed me a Masters qualification of his younger brother,

who was still unemployed after looking for a job for a year. It

dawned on me that it was time I did something about the idea

Bridging the SKILLS GAP

The way individuals sell their skills, and the way they are found

and used by those in need of them, has changed dramatically.

In a disrupted recruitment sector, we chat to entrepreneurs who

are building businesses doing just this...

I had in mind. I handed in my resignation, cashed in all my

savings and a month later started conceptualising Skills-R-Us.

At first I wanted to design an app, but the idea of a website

portal gained more traction. Getting an angel investor made all

the difference, and so in six months' time my business was a

reality, matching graduates with companies looking to hire.

What marketing tools have you used and what has

the response been like?

Social Media like Twitter and our Facebook Page has helped

in spreading the word. We also have been in most commercial

and community radio stations as well as campus radio stations

to attract both the employer and graduates. The response has

been great, especially by graduates – we now need to focus on

companies registering. We are approaching 1000 registered

graduates, and have assisted 50 graduates with jobs.

What is your business model? Do candidates and

employers pay a fee to be represented on your site?

Registration for candidates is free; all they have to do is

register their profile on our site and search for jobs and we

also assist them in this regard. Employers pay a 5% placement

fee after the graduate is employed. Companies also post

jobs on our site, starting from R225 to R1200 depending on

how many jobs and days they want to put up. All prospective

clients are offered a free job listing for the first time. We also

offer training solutions to companies who want us to train

graduates on basic things like organisational culture, time

management, planning, excel and PPT advanced, dressing for

the job and presentation skills etc.

Can you describe a key challenge on your business

journey so far, and how you're overcoming it?

From the employer side, corporates have been sourcing

graduates in the same way for years, so we're trying to change

their perceptions and introduce them to this new way of

attracting graduates. With graduates, the challenge so far

is reach. We want to make our platform accessible to rural

people and those who have been previously disadvantaged,

but it requires data to register so this is proving to be an

obstacle. We are also trying to train our graduates as many

have unrealistic expectations, and we are mentoring them to

understand that they need to prove themselves first and then

take it from there.

Kgotso Kobo