Wednesday, July 25, 2007

The D-Day, 16 July 2007

My first day at my host organization started at 8h00 am. I was not sure about the dress code. To be on the safe side, I went for formal outfit.

There were ten of us – three males, myself included and seven females. During the gathering of the ten interns a human resource manager, Mr Alfred Tau, gave a presentation about the organization and the code of conduct, among other things. He highlighted that systems in the public sector are the same. That is, it does not really make any difference whether you are in the Health Department or the Department of Housing, procedures in the public sector are similar. He went on to mention that in the event of dismissal on grounds of misconduct it will be impossible to find employment in the public sector as all details about each government employee is kept in a single data base. Alas!

Then came, Terrence and Poppy, human resource representatives who grouped us according to our respective expertise and later on sent us to different Directorates. I was sent to a unit called Governance, Policy and Research which falls under Intergovernmental Relations (IGR)

Mankwe and I were the only two interns in the IGR unit. Upon our arrival work stations were already in place. Moreover, we had already been allocated a mentor, Mr Johan Beukman. Mr J. Beukman is a manager in the unit. At 4h30 pm we knocked off.

After work I went straight to bed as I was not feeling well. I had contracted flue – both my nostrils were blocked. But before I succumb to bed I took some medication.

6 comments:

Susan Arthur said...

Hey Bruce, good to hear about your work. How are you finding your colleagues and your mentor so far? What kind of work have you been given to do? More detail please!

Thomas Michael Blaser said...

At least something is being done to remedy the skills shortage in the public sector. Your units sounds interesting. I will be looking forward to reading about your work experience.

Bruce said...

It's been three weeks so far and I have done a lot of things - compiling a report on the situation in one of the provinces in the country. I have also written two stories about articles that appeared in local publications - the first one was about South Africa's readings on World Bank Governance Indicators - the other was all about the findings of TNS Survey's research on the state of service delivery in South Africa.

Valentin said...

I am glad about you new work and you experinces there!
Wish you all the best!

Valentin said...

Keep us informed how it's been at the new job lately!

Ijeoma Uche-Okeke said...

Hey Bruce, great to know that you are finally 'wetting' your feet in the waters of internship.I look forward to following your progress there. All the best.