BY Farah Khalfe 3 MINUTE READ

The job application process for South African youth is set to become a whole lot simpler and effective thanks to a new partnership forged by online identity verification portal MyImprint and youth employment engine, Lulaway.

MyImprint simplifies the process of verifying fingerprints, criminal records, location and other data points involved in the job placement process through an innovative digital consent verification system – the first of its kind in South Africa.

After registering on MyImprint.co.za, fingerprints are cross referenced with the Department of Home Affairs and the South African Police Service, making the secure and completely paperless system ideal for young entrants into the job market.

With over 240 job centres situated across South Africa, Lulaway functions as an employment hub, allowing candidates in various communities to access job opportunities close to where they live.

With this new partnership, Lulaway will become one of MyImprint’s National Capture Locations, with the ultimate goal of complete integration between MyImprint and Lulaway databases, allowing for an all-round synchronised service that accelerates young talent being infiltrated into the work force.

“Job seekers can have their fingerprints captured at a Lulaway job centre while they create detailed profiles, complete basic assessments and receive a full colour professional looking CV. This end-to-end solution will speed up the process and be attractive to employers needing immediate sourcing solutions,” says Lulaway CEO, Jake Willis.

“Making fingerprint capturing and criminal record verifications easily accessible to the youth through Lulaway job centres, close to their community, means employers will have a larger, verified talent pool and can place more qualified members of our youth in the right roles for them. We are excited about this partnership as we believe in the power of technology for positive socioeconomic change,” he adds.

By streamlining the process of companies and employers performing mandatory criminal and background checks on potential employees, it not only speeds up the job placement process but helps foster positive change to reduce barriers to employment for South African youth.

In recent research conducted by Lulaway, it was reported that approximately 3.3 million youth are currently unemployed or not partaking in education or training (NEET). Additionally, there are approximately 9 million people overall who are unemployed. It was found that the barriers to employment are comprised of four core factors, including geographic locations, lack of support, insufficient experience and/or skills and, in the case where candidates do have the skills, an ability to match the labour with adequate jobs.

Geographic constrains are predominantly made up of transport costs, whereby youth are limited to the areas in which they can apply for jobs as transportation to areas with higher employment rates is becoming increasingly costly and unaffordable. Youth also experience a lack of support when attempting to enter the job market as many are unaware of help services that are available to them, or how they can access it.

Another source of difficulty lies with employer expectations. Employers will sometimes compare the skills and experience of young candidates to that of the older workforce and in doing so, regard them as costlier to the company due to the investment and training they require over the long term.

MyImprint services began to integrate with Lulaway job centres from November 2018 and have planned to add at least 10 locations by the end of the year, with an aggressive roll-out strategy on the horizon for 2019. As a value-added feature, candidates will receive a ‘verified by MyImprint’ flag on their CV, eliminating the need for prospective employers to do the background checks and reducing the time-to-hire.

Connect with MyImprint and Lulaway online at myimprint.co.za and lulaway.co.za