Forty alumni from the IIE’s Varsity College Gauteng and IIE MSA campuses attended a regional Alumni Connect Breakfast hosted by the IIE’s Varsity College Sandton and the IIE MSA’s Career Centres.
The purpose of the breakfast was for the alumni to network and engage with their peers and to meet new people with similar career aspirations and interests.
Themed, Building your professional influence for career success, keynote speaker, Bohlale Paile, a graduate recruiter and development manager, empowered the alumni with various ways in which they could build their professional influence for career success.
“Each time you enter a room, observe it, as this will help you identify where you fit in. Be self-aware, invest in yourself, and learn to understand people, as 90% of the time you will be dealing with people, and stay away from office politics,” he told attendees.
Thabiso Rampedi, an alumnus of the IIE Bachelor of Commerce with Honours in Management at the Sandton campus said, “The moment I received the invite, I was not sure if I wanted to attend the event, as I was not sure what to expect.
Rampedi added he was happy that he attended, as it turned out to be a great chance for him to network, engage with his peers, and enhance his networking abilities.
“My biggest takeaway from the event was the advice from Bohlale regarding professional growth – not being too comfortable and needing more perseverance. The fact that we could engage with her and ask relevant questions was the best part of the event.”
He concluded he was currently working at Netcare in Sandton in the finance department, and his career aspiration was to one day pursue a career in business finance and possibly look forward to getting his MBA.
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