Erick Ong'au

Head of Deprtment

It’s estimated that of all the graduates who graduate from the TVET institutions, less than 10 per cent are absorbed in the job market. It’s against this background that the Ministry of Education through the State Department of Post Training and Skills Development launched the Office of Career Services (OCS) in 2019.

The Office of Career Services at Kisii National Polytechnic assist trainees and the general public in choosing suitable courses and providing information on career pathways and progression.

At final year stage we share with our trainees the soft skills essential when seeking job opportunities including preparation for an interview, writing a good resume, job search methods and how to write a cover letter.

We run a mentorship program whereby we invite industry players to the institution for a mentorship sessions. From these mentorship sessions, our trainees are able to know the competences valued by employers and at the same time get a glimpse of the job market.

We have established an alumni data base for all our departments. The data base enables us to track our graduates (Tracer Study). This gives us feedback from both the employers and our graduates about the quality and relevance of programs offered at our institution. Lately the Ministry of Education State Department of TVET introduced a graduate versatile data base system whereby we upload details of our graduates to the system so that employers in need of new recruits can easily access details of our graduates.

Through a variety of social media we are able to reach our alumni for networking purposes and sharing openings in the job market as soon as jobs are advertised in the print and electronic media.

In the year 2021 our office spearheaded the establishment of the Kisii National Polytechnic Alumni Association. The association is currently bringing on board more alumni and already a good number of our trainees have gained attachment placements and even employment opportunities through the members of the association.

The high school students are our future clients. We do conduct high school career talk’s exercise by visiting schools in neighboring counties. We enlighten the learners and staff about the courses offered at our institution and their entry requirements.

Our activities revolve around the following seven fundamental areas:

1. Academic Advisory

2. Counseling Services

3. Graduate Tracking Services

4. Industrial Linkages

5. High School Recruitment

6. Alumni Networks

7. Entrepreneurial Incubation