Zambia - Gaining an early international exposure
Youth Inclusion and Education - Committed to empowering socially at-risk young people
Total’s innovative Young Graduate Program enables graduates from African universities to work in one of 40 or so countries thereby gaining valuable skills for future employers. Livhuwani Nembliwi talks about her experience.
After earning a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Limpopo’s University of Venda in 2013, I saw this Total Young Graduate Program whilst browsing the Internet so I applied, like nearly 10,000 others so far, as I wanted the experience and challenge of working in a different country. I was one of the lucky 100 chosen! I spent six months in Johannesburg with Total South Africa in the Internal Control and Internal Audit departments, learning how to undertake a full audit. It was very nice because I had worth-while tasks to accomplish and help was always at hand if necessary.
Learning from another country
Now, I’m in the second phase of the program. I’m working as an auditor in Zambia for a full year and I have already completed my first audit on my own. I had to audit two service stations, one about 150 km from Lusaka and the other twice as far. I spent a week in each and the whole thing took me about a month. I was very nervous because I’d never done an audit alone before. The station dealers looked a bit surprised to be working with a young woman but it was really helpful being South African as they were impressed that Total had sent me from so far! They were very kind and friendly.
If you are looking for a challenge, then this is the program that you should take.