Umlazi student uses tech to help fight youth unemployment
|Published
Johannesburg – Most of us know the irritation of having a younger sibling or children always wanting to play on our cellphones.
Whether it’s to deplete your battery playing Candy Crush or download music, many of us are filled with dread as soon as they reach their hand out asking for our devices.
Well, maybe we should start encouraging them to explore our mobile devices. After all, that is exactly what sparked the developer of the job-hunting app JOB X, Mzamo Mbhele’s interest in all things technology and ultimately application development.
Mzamo, 22, from Umlazi township in Durban, is a third-year IT software development student at Mangosuthu University of Technology.
Job X helps job seekers find employment by showing them available jobs near them based on their qualifications.
“So you download the app and then you register your details, like what qualifications you have, and then the app will triangulate your location and then the app will start showing you jobs available close to your location based on the qualifications you entered.
“So Job X will show you jobs within 10km and then the search becomes wider as you scroll down,” said Mzamo.
It also streamlines the process of creating a résumé and allows users to scan and attach documents from one single application, saving all documents in PDF format.
Most importantly, the app is zero-rated, which means users don't need cellphone data to job hunt.
“There are so many people who are not tech-savvy, so it’s difficult for them to look for work online, so that’s why an app like JOB X will help because everything is right in front of you. Actually, it’s easier to use than other platforms out there,” said Mzamo.
“It’s free, you can even use it without the internet. It’s completely free. It was important for me for the app to be free because I know how much it costs to print a CV, and the costs of going to the internet café. It cost a lot of money and if you are unemployed you do not have the money to spend looking for work. It was important that it be free so that everyone can access job opportunities.”
The app had been well-received and has attracted over 40 000 users since it was launched.
Mzamo has always been intrigued by how technology works and knew very early on that he wanted a tech career. He even began repairing phones at the age of 11.
“I learned how to fix phones from my uncle – he used to fix computers and stuff. So I would sit with him and he would teach me a few tricks in terms of how to repair. At some point I had a lot of spare parts, which I used to put together a Samsung A250 to test my apps,” he said.
For Mzamo it was not enough to just play on a phone, he wanted to create his apps.
“In terms of developing stuff, I actually learned that on YouTube. It was during the early days of YouTube back then, but this information was already there, you know. So people were just sharing how to build this and that.”
“I remember Mxit was a very big app back then. So I could even build my own themes and all that. It made me love building stuff even more,” said Mzamo.
It was never going to be easy for Mzamo to make his tech career dream a reality, as his parents could not afford his university tuition, so he applied himself to his studies so he could get a bursary.
“I knew early on that my parents would not be able to afford my fees so I applied for a bursary with Absa. I had to maintain a 75% average. I studied hard to make sure I achieved my goal. Without the bursary I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing,” he said.
With youth unemployment reported to be at 46.5% in the second quarter of this year, he believes the key to eradicating it is through education and the transfer of skills.
“It all boils down to education and skills development. Once the youth acquire skills surely they can build (or) create their own work opportunities and employ each other. Getting educated will help solve a lot of problems,” Mzamo concluded.
vusi.adonis@inl.co.za
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