Matrics Making Money from Helping Matrics Find Jobs

What are matrics going to do after matric? Will there be jobs for matrics in South Africa? Well this idea is sort of like the movie Inception – a dream within a dream, except that it is more like a matric job within a matric job or matric project:

South African matrics or teenagers starting to look for jobs for matriculants in South Africa take note:

This matric job within a matric job idea is best started before you start matric, even as early as when you are still in grade 7, 8, 9, or 10, but if you’re struggling to find work in South Africa after finishing matric, then you could still consider trying this idea anyway.

The worst that could happen from going ahead with this idea?
Gaining a lot of knowledge about the work options available to matriculants in South Africa

The best thing that could happen from going ahead with this idea?
Finding the perfect solution to your finding a job in South Africa, by finding the perfect job for you for which you apply, and get, or, becoming a South African blogger who makes money from your blog

Come on, you’re either still in school or fresh out of school and you are used to doing projects and homework exercises – this is the perfect time to do this kind of research work, and then either make use of it and get a job, or display your research findings online in a blog, monetize your blog, and make money from your blog – of course both might even happen: you get a job, but can still work at making money with your blog in your spare time

The ultimate school project, that may help South African matriculants earn money or find a job:

So, what is the rubric or criteria, and some tips, for this project?

You will not be displaying your project in a flip file folder, file, booklet, brochure or on a poster; you will be displaying your “project” in a blog, online on the Internet, and each page should have about 300 to 1 000 words – more “points” for longer articles – write well, giving sub headings and points too – make your articles interesting and easy to read; get ideas from other online articles and websites or blogs, but never copy and paste; your writing should be unique and original, written in your own words:

Get either a free Blogger blogspot.com blog (learn how to create a free Blogger blog)
or
a unique .co.za domain name (a domain name is a website address/URL) WordPress.org type of blog (one that needs a domain registered and needs hosting, so this option is not free) – through us, TnT, it costs R420 per year for a .co.za WordPress.org blog set-up, where once set up, we send you log in details and you log in and start working at your blog

Before getting the blog, whether it’s a free one or not, think of a name for your blog that relates to matrics looking for work in South Africa – think of a few names as many may already be taken, and if you find your favourite one is already taken, then choose your second or third favourite name etc

Get used to the dashboard of your blog and read through everything there, or search for tips on the Internet, so that it will be easier for you to add articles to your blog without making too many errors and having to go back and try sort it out later – you do not have to know html website design coding to put articles on your blog, but you still want it to look nice and be free of errors, so learn all there is to know

Suggested basic pages for your blog:

Home, About, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy

(Do research on what should go into your Disclaimer and Privacy Policy pages, by looking at other sites that have a Disclaimer and Privacy Policy)

Your About page could just be about you and why you have the blog and why the contents of your blog may help matriculants looking for a job in South Africa

Your posts are going to be the articles you write, as if they were pages in a school project, and the rubric or criteria for this “project” is about 20 to 30 posts – the more the better, but the initial project criteria is for 20 to 30 – you can and should continue to add posts to your blog as often as you can after the initial project is over, even if it is just in your spare time in evenings and weekends

The topics (or subjects) you are going to research and write about on your blog:

in a nutshell, any topic that can help matrics find a job in South Africa after matriculating, or topics that give them more information about their options once matric is over (or for if they start looking at options for South African matriculants even before their matric year is over)

but to give a bit more detail, to help you write a large variety of articles that may help South African teenagers looking for work or options for after they have matriculated (or that may even help parents who are helping their children look for ideas, jobs, or options) ….

further studies?
where? locally or in another town? from home? online?
entrance requirements, costs, subjects, length of studies or course, what do students obtain at the end of their studies?

loans matriculants can apply for, for further studies?
requirements, how to apply, and pay-back procedure?

online places to look for jobs?
research, list and give summarised details of sites like classified sites or job sites that list jobs, jobs that may be suitable for matriculants who have not studied further or who do not have a degree

for those matriculants who still do not know what they want to do
list a few career ideas, perhaps in separate sections, some for matriculants who do have a degree, and some for matriculants who just need their matric certificate to apply for the work

The importance of enjoying the work you do
Why being stuck in a job you hate is bad for you, and/or why doing something you love makes your work easy and enjoyable

apprenticeship jobs
what and where apprenticeship jobs are, and how to go about applying for an apprenticeship

how else South African matriculants can look for work besides online?
newspapers, magazines, advertising that they are looking for a job – both offline and online, approaching businesses directly via letter, email, walking in, or making an appointment

writing a good CV
what the CV should contain, how long the CV should be, and who to give it to

employment agencies
list some employment agencies in different towns or just in your town, their requirements, what to give them, who to speak to, how to speak

gap years
what to do during a gap year, volunteer programmes, travel – and all the requirements and ins and outs

job interviews
whether that job interview is in person, on the phone, or via email, how to conduct yourself and what to say

still living at home while working or studying
your contributions to the household and what might generally be expected from you

if matriculants cannot find a job
ideas on what to do from home – crafts to make and sell at a flea market, or services to offer from home, or freelance writing, or other freelance work, or making money from a website or blog

Note:

If you carefully study each of the subjects above, you will note that each one could possibly have 20 to 30 pages written about it, (you don’t think so? – think of related topics or sub headings for each main topic) but for starters, do just a few pages about each topic, even just one or two pages, so that you can have a wide variety of topics as you work towards your goal of 20 to 30 articles in total – you can come back to adding more pages to each topic once your initial project is complete.

Once you have written 20 to 30 articles and have published them on your blog, your “project” is not yet complete – 4 more main requirements to successfully complete your project:

1.
drive traffic to your blog
a list of 42 free ways to advertise your blog should help, and reading the list is part of the rubric or criteria for this “project.”

2.
Add Adsense ads and Amazon ads to your blog
Once you have an average of 50 visitors to your blog per day, get an Adsense publisher account and an Amazon Associates affiliate account. If you are not yet 18, ask a parent or older relative to assist – they get the Adsense publisher account and Amazon Associates affiliates account until you turn 18 and can get your own

3.
Read, learn, and edit
This part of the rubric or criteria for your “project” is not just to complete your project, but is also meant to help you do a good project, a project that may even earn you some money. Once done reading, you may want to use some of the ideas and tips and see that you may want to edit the articles you wrote, to improve your “project” and to also improve your chances of making a bit of money from your blog

The articles to read:
How to make money with your free Blogger blogspot.com blog
I am earning R350 per month off a R35 per month investment
How to make money with a website in South Africa
R300 per month passive income to R1 200 per month passive income
How to make good use of free advertising sites in South Africa
How to make money with a free website
Jobs for matrics and ways to make money after matric
How this site makes me money
Get a blog and make money blogging
Got matric but can’t find a job in South Africa?
Steps to make money writing online

4.
Right now, finish reading this entire page, all the way to the bottom

Who marks your project so you can know how well you did with it?
Nobody. This project should be rewarding all on its own:

• you are realising how your background of doing projects at school can help you (and help others) in the real working-environment world
• helping other people (matriculants or soon-to-matriculate teenagers, or even their parents) learn more about looking for jobs for matrics in South Africa should be rewarding in itself
• to thoroughly complete the project, and to complete the project well is quite hard work and gives you a taste of what the real working world is like, better preparing you for it
• after successfully completing the project, you will have gained much knowledge about looking for and getting work in South Africa and if you have paid attention through it all, you will be better equipped to find and get a job that suits you
• after successfully completing the project, you are in a better position to make some money from your blog, or may even have started to already!
• after successfully completing the project, and having gained a lot of knowledge about the Internet while doing the project, you will be better equipped to continue with the “project” in your spare time – to continue providing information to help teenagers (or their parents) when it comes to looking for work in South Africa after completing matric, as well as to continue earning money from your blog, or to improve the earnings you make from your blog
• after successfully completing the project, whether you choose to continue with it (as suggested in the above paragraph) or not you will have a better understanding of the Internet and what it can be used for, which should come in handy no matter what line of work you eventually get involved in, as more and more people and businesses are using the Internet for their advertising, or even to actually conduct their business.

 
Conclusion:
There are many good reasons to do this project, and not only to just do this project, but to do it as soon as possible, or to at least start working on it as soon as possible – parents: encourage your teenagers to do this project

Another way for teenagers to make money from helping matrics find work options or work:
If you are 16 or older, you can advertise a service on your blog too: the service of doing Internet research related to options for matrics and jobs for matrics, and then deliver the findings to the client (the client possibly being a recently matriculated person who is struggling to find a job or who just wants to know more about the choices they could make regards studying or working, or the client may even be the parent of a recently matriculated person or of somebody who is in their matric year) – this Internet research service is obviously something you charge a fee for and could later become an Internet research service where you do Internet research (and reports on findings) on any topic – read this article to get more ideas about offering an Internet research service Offer an Internet Research Service

Further:
The entire procedure as laid out above, for this project, can be applied to just about any blog – so for those of you looking for a way to earn some extra income, go through this procedure too, but you can choose a different topic to write about, instead of writing about matrics finding jobs in South Africa

Disclaimer:
There are no guarantees as to how much you might earn from your blog, but I do know that the harder you work at it, the more likely you are to do well
also: I am in no way encouraging people to just about live in front of their computers – get out and about and exercise too! I am also not encouraging people who have a dream to follow a particular career path to give up on that dream! This article is meant to be informative only, and nobody has to do the “project.”

Inspiration:
Be inspired by the amounts that successful bloggers earn

SA’s ten most influential bloggers

Make money blogging: Top bloggers and how much they earn

30 top young bloggers of 2010

An interview with a 17 year old blogger, Onibalusi, from Nigeria who earns roughly $3 000 per month online (currently roughly R22 000 per month)

Read Onibalusi’s traffic and earnings report for August 2011

Read Onibalusi’s article about 10 bloggers that are even younger than him!

© copyright Teresa Schultz 2011

FURTHER READING:

What can I do during a gap year after matric?

Thinking about what to do after matric