The services sector is one of the largest sectors in terms of size and scope and, therefore, offers a number of diverse occupations one can choose from. The sector is home to occupations that provide services or intangible goods to businesses and customers. For this reason, a vast majority of economic activity occurs in the services sector. Some services qualifications and occupations are administered by specific SETAs such as banking, insurance and social services. Services not specifically catered for by any SETA fall within the scope of the Services SETA.
With so many choices at hand, choosing a future career can be confusing for young learners. This guide aims to inform you about career options falling within the Services SETA’s scope.
It is important to always remember that a viable economy is made up of skills mix that include individuals who use their hands to create goods and services. We call them artisans. Most artisans work for companies as employees but, through the valuable skills they possess, they can also earn a living through running their own businesses. Think of a hairdresser, a dry cleaner or a management consultant. On this site we show you occupations and services you may pursue within the sub-sectors of the Services SETA scope.
The cleaning services subsector includes the provision of cleaning services to individuals, households and businesses (contract cleaning). There are many types of cleaning services offered in the industry. Some of them are specialised. Other companies in this subsector specialise in the provision of cleaning equipment and supplies required to clean effectively. The overriding objective in the cleaning industry is meeting and maintaining good hygiene and sanitary standards to promote the health and well-being of everyone in the country.
The cleaning sub-sector provides services for other sectors such as the Health, Agriculture, Chemical Industries, Property, Tourism and Hospitality.
Companies operating in the hiring sector rent out a wide range of equipment and machinery to businesses and private individuals. The hiring sub-sector also provides services to the mining sector (plant and operator hiring), construction sector (plant and operator hiring), tourism sector (equipment and miscellaneous hire) and the general business sector (function and catering hire).
Household Services, one of the sub-sectors represented in the services sector, covers garden maintenance. A garden maintenance business provides services that help to maintain the general health or condition, and the presentation of a garden: lawn mowing, lawn repair and renovation, pruning, spraying pesticides, fertilising or soil care, replacing old or sick plants, maintaining indoor plants, tree lopping or tree surgery. The scope of work available for garden services workers includes large private gardens and grounds, small domestic gardens, estate and letting agents contracts, housing and residents associations, flats with shared gardens, property management companies, care homes, commercial grounds, private roads, schools and local councils for public spaces to name but a few.
The qualification for this subsector in under development.
Domestic services refers to the employment of hired workers by private households for the performance of task such as house cleaning, child care, cooking, gardening and personal services. It also includes the performance of similar tasks for hire in public institutions and business including hotels and boarding houses.
Strong communication skills for interacting with homeowners and their children are critical skills in domestic housekeeping. Domestic housekeepers should have strong time management skills, be organized and be self-directed.
A Contact Centre is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving or transmitting a large volume of requests by phone. An inbound call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outbound call centres are operated for telemarketing, solicitation of charitable or political donations, debt collection and market research.
A contact centre, also known as customer interaction centre, is a central point of any organisation from which all customer contacts are managed. Through contact centres, valuable information about the company are routed to appropriate people, contacts to be tracked and data to be gathered. It is generally a part of company’s customer relationship management (CRM). Today, customers contact companies by phone, email, online chat, fax, and instant message.
Working in a call centre requires discipline to follow a flexible schedule, communication skills and the ability to multitask. You will have to help customers while following your company’s policies and you will need to build up character to deal with irate and difficult customers. You need to be comfortable with most desktop environments and have the skill to type fast and accurately on a computer.
Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers in order to sell that product or service. It includes market research & advertising.
Marketing can be considered as an organisational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering and communicating value to customers and managing customer relationships in ways that also benefit the organisation and its shareholders.
Marketing is the science of defining target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer buying behaviour and providing superior customer value.
The set of engagements necessary for successful marketing management includes capturing marketing insights, connecting with customers, building strong brands, shaping market offerings, delivering and communicating value, creating long-term growth, and developing marketing.
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The South African Postal Services delivers billions of pieces of mail, including letters, bills, advertisement and packages. To do this in an efficient and timely manner, the Postal Service employs many individuals. Most postal service workers are clerks, mail sorters and processing machine operators.
Mail sorters, processors and processing machine operators sort incoming and outgoing mail at post offices and mail processing centres. Mail carriers deliver to urban and rural residences and businesses throughout South Africa.
Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening and selecting a qualified person for a job. The South African employment industry drives the existence of a large, dynamic recruitment industry, providing a wide range of services to a very large pool of new entrants, re-entrants, job leavers and others who have lost their jobs. Below are industries represented under this subsector:
These are employment agencies that match employers to employees for permanent positions or vacancies.
This class includes personnel search, selection referral and placement in connection with employment supplied to the potential employer or to the prospective employee. The recruiter is also responsible for formulation of job descriptions, screening and testing of applicants, investigation of references and so on. This industry also boasts executive search and placement activities (head-hunters).
This means any natural or juristic person who procures or provides services for an employer.
These include the recruitment, screening and sometimes training of new employees. These agencies are often outsourced to provide personnel services to organisations that may not have time or resources to fulfil their own staffing requirements.
The firms providing personnel services are also referred to as employment agencies or head-hunters, and range from global franchises to smaller, independent agencies. Some agencies specialise in erecruiting temporary personnel for organisations that only require an employee on an interim basis.
Temporary agencies are employment agencies that find employees to fill short-term temporary jobs. Most of the workers employed by Temporary Employment Services fall in the range of sales and service workers and usually under the youth category.
The Temporary Employment Sector absorbs young people at a far greater rate in the overall labour market than other sectors. Most of young people employed by Temporary Employment Services are absorbed either in medium or low-skilled occupations.
These organisations facilitate the negotiation process between unified employees (typically trade unions) and employers. A bargaining council must be registered with the Department of Labour and should comprise one or more registered trade unions and one or more registered employer organisations. Their responsibility is to:
Typically, bargaining councils are mandated o ensure compliance to conditions of employment and dispute resolution within the industries they operate. Therefore, practitioners in the industry need to possess comprehensive knowledge and experience with regards to Collective Agreements, Labour Relations Act, Employment Act, and other related legislations. At the same time, they should also be able to provide high levels of customer service and sales aptitude. It is a highly legal environment that requires potential employees to possess diverse skills to make bargaining councils more dynamic. Candidates need to have a post-matric qualification, a passion for working with people and a thorough knowledge of the legal environment.
These bodies consist of a group of associated persons who meet from time to time because of common interests, objectives or profession. There could also be organisations representing interests of special groups or promoting ideas to the general public. These organisations typically have a constituency of members, but their activities may involve and benefit non-members as well.
Generic Project Management provides common standards for projects to be conducted in a disciplined, well-managed and consistent manner, and to be completed on time and within budget. Large, complex projects require a more rigorous application of management processes than small, well-defined projects with readily achievable goals.
Event management involves studying the intricacies of the brand, identifying the target audience, devising an event concept, planning the logistics and coordinating technical aspects before launching the actual event. Post-event analysis and ensuring a return on investment are a priority for the event management industry.
Under this sub-sector there are quite a number of industries represented ranging from quality, NGO management, general consulting and many others. Below is a list of all industries represented:
This includes imports of coal, fuel and components such as raw materials. Products include steel plates, hot-rolled steel sheets, square steel, round steel, wire, cable and ferrosilicon. Some materials include copper, aluminium, brass, stainless steel, computers and metals.
This refers to activities that facilitate refreshment of one’s mind or body after work. These activities can be communal or solitary, active or passive, and can be done indoors or outdoors. They include activities such as listening to music, gardening, hunting, swimming, hiking and travelling.
Any business enterprise with the primary purpose of providing personal services. Personal-service activities encompass a wide range of professions, including law, medicine, engineering, design, finance, accounting and even performing arts.
This includes the management of any non-profit, voluntary citizens group at a local, national or international level. This field attracts task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest. NGOs perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions, bring citizens’ concerns to governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information. Some champion specific concerns such as human rights, environment or health. They provide analysis and expertise, serve as early-warning mechanisms and help monitor and implement international agreements.
A beauty therapist specialises in beauty treatments for the face and body and is responsible for helping clients make the most of their physical appearance and more importantly help clients to feel less stressed and more confident. The beauty industry is constantly evolving and developing and there is a constant flow of new products and services introduced to the market place. The number of new salons and spas opening illustrates the enthusiasm in this industry, and as a result, many exciting job opportunities have become available. Extensive knowledge of the body is required, specifically the anatomy and physiology of the skin along with the products used. A beauty therapist knows the different types of body massages and facials. A nail technician knows how to do different applications on the nails of a person such as acrylic gel and nail painting etc.
Within the Services SETA, fashion and modelling is made up of modelling agencies and fashion design. A modelling agency is a company that represents fashion models to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income through a commission, usually from the deals with the model and/or the head agency. Modelling agencies train models, get test shoots, layout portfolios, and put together composition photo cards and other printed materials models need to market themselves in the industry. They find work for models by presenting them to designers, photographers, and advertising agencies. The agencies are also responsible for booking the jobs, billing for the jobs and eventually paying the models for their time. The industry is very competitive and fast-paced. Modelling agencies generally work round the clock, handling emergencies such as cancellations or rush jobs. Fashion designers begin their careers as apprentices to professionals with more experience in the field, working as pattern makers or sketching assistants. After acquiring more experience in the field, the apprentices eventually become supervisors and even chief designers for big fashion houses.
The Services SETA has not yet developed qualifications for modelling agencies and fashion design not related to clothing sub-sector. However, private and public institutions of higher learning normally require newcomers to have at least a matric as a prerequisite for entering the field.
Funeral practices and rites vary greatly along cultural and religious lines. Although the South African population is diverse, funeral practices usually share some common elements: transferring the deceased to a mortuary, preparing the body of the deceased for burial, performing a ceremony honouring the deceased and addressing the spiritual needs of the family and, finally, carrying out final interment. Funeral practitioners arrange and direct these activities for grieving families. The actual interment is carried out in various ways or methods, depending on the cultural beliefs and values of the family of the deceased. These include natural burial, a process of returning a body to earth so it could decompose naturally, over time, underground. Then there is cremation, which is the use of high-temperature burning, vaporisation and oxidation to reduce the dead human body to basic chemical compounds such as gases and mineral fragments. There is still embalming or mummification, which entails the inclusion of personal items such as jewellery and positioning the body of the deceased in a manner demonstrating respect and adherence to the deceased’s religious beliefs. All this work is done by morticians, a viable career many young South Africans would be well advised to consider.
Hairdressing is a trade. After a learner has undergone theoretical and practical training, he or she needs to obtain workplace experience for a specified period before he or she is eligible to write a trade test. After garnering enough experience in the workplace, a learner can then apply for a trade test which, if successful, gets he or she to be registered as a qualified artisan under the Department of Higher Education and Training.
Image consultants are professionals clients (companies or individuals) hire to assess, improve, enhance, upgrade their appearance to ensure their image corresponds with their roles and goals in life. An image consultant assists people develop a professional or updated appearance. The areas of specialisation include personal stylist, personal shopper, identity coach, fashion stylist, corporate stylist, retail Image, shopping consultant, social etiquette and public speaking. Most of these practitioners are self-employed and spend a great deal of time marketing themselves and finding new clients. Opportunities for starting your own business and be independent are very high. Internationally, people in this position typically have relevant formal training and certifications offered by accredited skills development providers and some image consulting associations.
The Services SETA has not yet developed qualifications for image consulting. However, we are in the process of registering an occupation on the Organising Framework of Occupations (OFO), which will, in turn, be utilised to develop an occupational qualification. No registered standard education requirements exist for image consultants, but various unaccredited, non-credit bearing training programmes are available in the field offered by private institutions and related associations.
Real Estate refers to property: land and buildings, and anything else affixed to the land. Property practitioners and brokers use their skills to match prospective buyers with new homes, apartments, business space or lands. Property practitioners can choose to specialise in one of the mentioned property types or they can limit their business to a specific location.
As part of the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) statutory mandate and legislation, it is the requirement of all estate agents wishing to operate within the real estate property industry to be in possession of a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC).
A Fidelity Fund Certificate is valid between 1 January and 31 December of any given year. Estate agents are, therefore, required to renew by no later than 31 October of each year to obtain a Fidelity Fund Certificate for the following year.