Opinion: UCT Career Expo—Is There Hope for Humanities?
By Georgina Wraith
Three times a year, the UCT Careers Services hosts a Job Expo to bring employers and students together. On 16 and 17 April, they hosted their first Expo of 2025. The Expo boasted big names like Allan Gray, Old Mutual, FNB, Ernst and Young, Shoprite, and more. It is an amazing space for engineers, computer scientists, and commerce bros—but what about the other faculties at UCT?
As a humanities girl, I have done three expos over the past three years, where I have watched countless faces fall at the words “Bachelor of Arts.” Last year, Bacardi said if I switched to marketing, then they would hire me. They gave me a branded glass to incentivise me. I still have it. Even if I can’t get a job here, I sure can take advantage of the freebies of Expo Day. As I write this article, I am using a Shoprite highlighter while my friend sits across from me, shading his face with a Boston Consulting Group hat.
At the expo, I spoke with one of the women facilitating the Careers Services stand about what she had seen all day. To my dismay, she recounted seeing countless discouraged humanities students who left feeling worthless. She said that there is an inherent limitation in events like this. They are incredibly helpful for lots of students, but most of the spokespeople manning the stands do not work in recruitment at their respective companies and are looking for very specific students. But, as she said, “a company cannot all be accountants.” I thought this incredibly true, and the non-accounting positions were just not being advertised because they are too niche for an expo of this nature.
A humanities student I spoke to at the Shoprite stand felt incredibly underrepresented at this fair and said that “every fair is the same”—there is nothing for humanities. Once again, we are being told that we are largely unemployable because our world is not built for people who are human-centric. Again, he was left feeling rejected and hopeless at his prospects. He felt that UCT’s Career Services should be reaching out to more non-governmental organisations and companies that do recruit humanities students.
I spoke to Bianca Rousseau, graduate recruitment coordinator and facilitator of the Expos, to gain insight into how these companies come to be at this expo. She said that UCT does not reach out to any companies to be a part of the Expo days—rather, it is the other way around. Companies get in touch with UCT and the Careers Service staff build intentional and mutually beneficial relationships with them, where companies find employees and students find jobs.
When asked which companies they choose to entertain, Rousseau described the process as “more organic.” Some companies just put in more effort than others. As a result, our Expo days are more populated by commerce and engineering companies. According to Rousseau, humanities-based organisations typically don’t have the budget for new graduates.
I must say, there were definitely more options for me this year than last year. Re/Max was particularly keen when I mentioned my interpersonal abilities. They were tempting me with the idea of earning a good salary, something I know I will not be getting in my field of choice. Another option was eStudy, which provides opportunities for students in whatever field they studied.
An interesting choice I found was Ernst & Young (EY), one of the big four auditing firms. I did not start my CV sales pitch very well—I asked who EY was and the response was “You don’t study accounting, do you?” Fair, I do not, in fact, study accounting, and I never will. My brain is not meant for that type of work. So, naturally, I took the accounting-bias on the chin and prepared to walk to the next stall.
Then, the woman asked me what I did study (Political Science, Media, and Multimedia Production, with a postgraduate in Business Communications) and then offered me a business card. I was shocked, confused, and incredibly cynical to say the least. Does a big auditing firm want me? What could I possibly do at their company? I am not an accountant!
“We have a graduate program in Climate Change and Sustainability Services. You should apply,” she said. This made me giggle internally. Ah, I thought. You need me now to make your company look good. Finally, it seems the tides are turning for us humanities kids as companies begin to realise that it’s no longer about profit, but people and the planet. Things we’ve known and been advocating for years—inclusivity, sustainability, and a general care for those around us—are being picked up by the big companies. On their flyer, it did say you needed a Bachelor of Commerce degree, but with experience in fields like social science. I will take this as a win. Things are looking up for us social scientists! Soon, we will run this world, I guarantee it.
So, representation is not equal. This we already knew. But I spoke to a student in finance, and she said she also felt demoralised! Every employer at the expo was looking for a very specific individual—typically accounting students and engineers. If even a commerce girl felt rejected by the companies available, is there any hope for me?
Something I would love to see, and I think we would all benefit from, is a tailored humanities career event. Even if it is how to market ourselves to companies so we can eventually get hired. All this rejection is making me stronger and bolder, but even I, as a journalist who is used to a lot of rejection when interviewing people on the streets, reach a point where I am fed up.