Career, Education, Student Finance, Startup and Gap Year Features

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Test Drive a Top Company; Published: 03 June 2009; Last Updated: 18 November 2015

FMCG stands for Fast Moving Consumer Goods - deodorant cans, ice creams, hair gel, basically stuff you can buy off the shelves at the local supermarket. It is a big industry to be involved in, with big players, diverse opportunities and global reach. The FMCG industry is definitely a trendy and an awesome one to be apart of!

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Test Drive a Top Company; Published: 03 June 2009; Last Updated: 16 November 2015

A big debate the editorial team had whilst trying to sub categorize this industry and make sure there was no overlapping here. The Information Technology (IT) industry is defined as being the combination of the installation and expansion of computer systems and applications (extremely broad but this industry is huge!).

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Ultimate Careers; Published: 06 April 2009; Last Updated: 17 February 2016

A University of Johannesburg Grad and current candidate attorney, Talita Myburg gives us her take on the legal profession!

So you watched Boston Legal and now you’re already having your bespoke suit ordered and attending toast masters? Legal practice in South Africa is not what you see on television. A lawyer is fundamentally a problem-solver, people come to you for advice on issues that very often have profound effects on their lives. Your run of the mill general practitioner that handles divorces, wills etc. is faced with people who are sure as hell not happy to have to come to you – it’s a grudge purchase with returns entirely dependant on the skill of the lawyer involved. But the rewards are there if you’re into it; designing that iron clad ante-nuptial contract which gets you the nod of respect from your fellow legal colleagues, achieving that very rare thing called justice for someone wronged or just the relief of someone who can finally put his divorce behind him.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Test Drive a Top Company; Published: 03 June 2009; Last Updated: 16 November 2015

Despite what most people think about lawyers being tough and ruthless, it is really a powerful industry. Knowing the law and being able to put it into practice is awesome. The studying can be heart breaking but reading for a degree in law is definitely up there as a huge accomplishment - well at least once you finish the degree that is. The areas vary from private practice, corporate law, maritime law etc.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Ultimate Careers; Published: 05 April 2009; Last Updated: 17 February 2016

2009 FirstStep.me Career Article of the Year!

Dialectologist (pronounced “di’ a-lec-tol’ o-gist”.)

Dialectologists, or linguists, as they are more commonly known, study the origins, structures and development of human languages, be it for schools, universities, or a country’s government. A mammoth and heavily specialised task I’d expect, given how I have trouble just pronouncing the job title. Some of the things that dialectologists do include studying a language to determine the way it is used, how certain words in that language came about, how/why a language has changed over time, and how the exact same language can differ between regions (i.e. differing dialects and the like). For example, how did the words “mojo”, “phat” and “wop” come about? Did the word “picnic” really come about from brutal acts of racism? Was the word “nice” really an insult at some point in time? It’s a dialectologist’s job to find all of this out.