Profica’s young talent shines
As assistant project managers with a bright future before them, Balulekile Sanqela and Khutso Selowa are great examples of promising young Construction Management graduates who have progressed through Profica’s skills development programmes to really find their feet in our industry, able to make a valuable contribution to projects across the continent.
Profica is focused on skills development, with a variety of initiatives, including a Vacation Programme, Internship Programme and Bursary Programme, that ensure students and graduates can benefit from valuable work opportunities and that a pipeline of fresh talent is coming into the industry. “Annually, we welcome Construction Management students during the mid-year holiday break for our Vacation Programme, which provides valuable work experience and exposure to the industry, as well as providing a rich source of new talent that will take the business to new heights,” says Profica CEO Tim White.
Once Profica’s Vacation Programme students complete their honours degrees in Construction Management, they become eligible for Profica’s Intern Programme, a six to 12 month experiential training programme, where graduates get the chance to develop their project management skills under the guidance of seasoned industry professionals.
Balulekile Sanqela has a BSc (Hons) Degree in Construction Management from the University of the Witwatersrand. Balu joined the Profica Family in January 2019 as an intern and has since worked on numerous local and continental fit-out projects in the Occupier Services space. These range from relocations for Goldman Sachs, IBM, Ericsson and HSBC in Sandton, to working on a series of upgrades for Netcare Garden City, to projects in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. From penthouses to head-offices to intensive care units, Balu put his quick mind, organisational capabilities and people skills to use in making things happen.
“My experience has allowed me to work with people from different countries and backgrounds with diverse style, ability and motivation which improved my teamwork, interpersonal and collaborative-working skills,” says Balu. “With diversity comes adaptability and strong meta-cognitive abilities, which are essential when trying to efficiently solve the complex problems that our clients face. I am passionate about innovation and excellence, which is why I am always striving to be the best version of myself by constantly learning and improving.”
Khutso Selowa, another Wits graduate, first arrived at Profica in June 2018 as a Vacation Programme student before taking a fulltime internship in January 2019. He cut his teeth on the transformation of the traditional retail mall at Vodacom World into a digitally connected one-stop tech innovation hub, before working on the sizeable Chartwell Summerset Village residential development. His is now gaining specialist healthcare sector experience working on the construction of a new 400 bed hospital.
“When I joined Profica I knew my career was in good hands, and with hard work and dedication, I’d build a strong foundation and experience,” says Khutso. The Vacation Programme helped me visualise what I was learning at university. Not only was it good exposure for the role I would eventually play when I graduated, but it provided a different understanding of the courses I was being taught and ultimately a strong academic advantage when completing my BSc (Hon) Construction Management. Profica were able to recognise my research skills from university and let me lead the BIM and Smart Technology Centre of Excellence, further harnessing my potential.”
“We look forward to welcoming our 2021 Profica interns as they develop valuable skills and springboard their construction project management careers,” says White. “We’re happy to be a part of their success and enable real transformation and skills development in the construction project management industry.”
