What it does: manufactures passenger and commercial vehicles.
Best known for: being the largest automaker in the world.
Staff stats: Approximately 15,000 employees in South Africa.
The good bits: Opportunity to gain experience in a company that fosters international standards in the automotive sector. Hard work turns into payoff in terms of bonuses, and perks.
The not so good bits: Long work hours. Stressful and demanding roles.
Volkswagen translates to ‘people’s car’, in Germany, and the word itself stands for the advertising slogan of the brand. Founded in 1937, the initial purpose of the company was to produce cars that more people could afford and find a use for. The corporation has factories in many parts of the world including Mexico, the United States, Slovakia, China, India, Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya and South Africa.
Volkswagen Group South Africa is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Germany, established in 1946. This company is the largest investment by Germany in South Africa and is a huge contributor to direct foreign investment. Around 123,854 cars were manufactured in Uitenhage, out of which 69,192 were exported abroad.
Since Volkswagen is an international brand, potential employees must be prepared for a fast-paced work environment. Some employees might find the workplace too stressful along with long work hours, but there is a tremendous payoff to working hard at Volkswagen. Good performance is rewarded in the form of perks, bonuses, and promotions. For nine years before 2019, Volkswagen SA received the Top Employer Award by the Top Employers Institute, which stands testament to a work culture that fosters teamwork, employee growth and satisfaction.
In South Africa, Volkswagen has almost 20 projects that focus on different sectors like education and science, health, equal opportunities or regional support. For instance, under their initiative Blue Bikes, they provide robust new bikes to young students, especially girls, who would otherwise have to walk to school. More than 1,100 bikes have been sponsored by Volkswagen SA as part of this project. Other than this, the VW Legacy Literacy Program aims to help students up to the age of 15 to be able to gain skills in reading and writing by setting up literacy centres, training teachers in rural schools, conducting parenting workshops, and providing books.
In spite of long work hours and a fast-paced, stressful environment, working at Volkswagen can prove to be a good experience for those looking to work in an international corporation.
All the job opportunities are online through Volkswagen Group South Africa. This process is streamlined and easy to follow through. If you find that the available job opportunities are not for you, you can also drop your CV into the Strategic Talent Pool for consideration in the future.
Aspiring candidates can also go via the route of an employee referral, or a recruitment agency. Candidates can expect to hear back about the job application in one to four months. Needless to say, the way in which candidates will first be filtered is by looking at the various aspects of their CV. It would be advisable to make sure that your CV is accurate, neat, and to-the-point.
The interview process may be varied depending on the role. Generally, Volkswagen conducts telephone interviews, most likely conducted by a senior manager or HR professional. This interview includes basic questions about work experience and the role. If the candidate clears this round, the next round might be a more technical phone interview or an assignment spread over three to five days.
For the latter, the candidate will be given an assignment they need to complete and turn in within the stipulated time, followed by an interview with questions regarding the assignment. Candidates are advised to prepare thoroughly for the assignment, as it is supposed to gauge their comfort with the subject. It should also be mentioned that due to the high number of applications that Volkswagen gets, it is possible that you will not hear back from them in case of a rejection.
You can expect that Volkswagen pays according to or higher than the industry standard. For instance, senior engineers can earn anywhere between ZAR 19,000 - 40,000 per month. Management roles particularly pay very well at Volkswagen.
Volkswagen is an international brand which aims to foster global standards within the company. The company places a lot of focus on training individuals to take on leadership and problem-solving roles. This is evident from their Graduate Training Programme which trains students with management processes. With a challenging job, working at Volkswagen can prove to be a good start to the career, where graduates can learn a lot in a fast-paced, global environment. That said, progress within the company might be slow. If graduates don’t find the promotions they seek at Volkswagen, it’s possible to make a move, as former employees have done, switching to companies like Volkswagen AG, AUDI AG, Shatterprufe Windscreens, and Mercedes-Benz South Africa.