Assistant Documentation Officer Internship

The Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) is a registered NGO providing social and technical support to two national social movements: Federation of the Urban and Rural Poor (FEDUP), a network of woman’s collectives mobilising around savings schemes and housing construction via the enhanced People’s Housing Process (ePHP), and Informal Settlement Network (ISN), a network of informal settlement organisations mobilising around issue-based and in-situ informal settlement upgrading agendas in the five major metropolitans in South Africa. This alliance is associated with the global network of the urban poor in 33 countries, Shack / Slum Dwellers International.

CORC is looking to appoint a self-motivated and organised recent graduate with a background in housing studies, development studies, geography, economics, social sciences, public administration, project management or other related fields. Initially the candidate will be appointed as an intern on a 4 – 6 month contract, with prospects of working full time after review. The candidate will be based in Mowbray, Cape Town with a possibility to travel between Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. The candidate should own their own laptop / computer for at least the first 4 – 6 months of the internship. This is a full-time internship.

S/he will assist the Research and Documentation officer to build a legacy database drawing together six activity streams, carry out a rigorous and transparent approach to monitoring and evaluation and improve the flow of information through the organisation for better decision making support to community leaders and NGO staff.

Requirements:

  • Batchelor/post-graduate degree in above mentioned fields
  • Ability to interact with a vast array of stakeholders, including community leaders, CORC social and technical coordinators, government officials
  • Experience in GIS software is advantageous
  • Experience in project management and monitoring is advantageous
  • Ability and willingness to travel to diverse parts of the country

Competencies:

  • Good command of the Microsoft Office package (Word, Excel)
  • Proven writing and communication skills
  • Planning and organising
  • Data collection, analysis and processing
  • Working with diverse array of stakeholders (fluency in English and another South African language is necessary)

All candidates should submit the following:
- most up to date CV
- with a letter of motivation outlining how skills fit the above profile.

Email CV and letter of motivation to Walter Fieuw at walterf@courc.co.za.

CORC will only be in correspondence with shortlisted candidates.

Closing date: 15 April 2013

Definitions:

Internship:

There are basically two types of internships:

  • The Undergraduate Internship: Usually with bigger organisations that pick undergraduates to attend the internship. It often takes places during the holidays and the average durations is a few weeks. In most cases the intern will receive some sort of stipend or salary and this type of internship may lead to a job offer to the intern once he / she is finished with their studies.
  • The Graduate Internship: This type of internship could be paid or unpaid and it is to gain practical work experience after the qualification has been completed and in a job related to the qualification. It could be from a few weeks or even one or two years long. This type of internship could also lead to permanent employment.

Learnerships:

A learnership is an occupational qualification and it consists of theory and work-based experience and practical skills, with formal assessment and a qualification. At the end of the learnership the candidate may be offered permanent employment.

In-service training:

In-service training is to gain practical work experience during studies. It usually takes place after a few years of theory has been successfully completed. It is essential work experience that is part of the qualification and the in-service training is necessary to achieve the qualification. It could be paid or unpaid.