What kind of opportunity is this?
Adverts use these words as though they were interchangeable. They are not — they differ in what you are paid, what you hold at the end, and what you are committed to. Each page below sets out one of them.
Learnership
A learnership is a structured programme registered with a SETA under the Skills Development Act 97 of 1998. It is not a job with training attached — it is a qualification you earn by doing the work. You sign a three-party agreement between yourself, the employer and the accredited training provider, alongside a fixed-term employment contract that lasts as long as the programme does.
What a learnership actually is →Apprenticeship
An apprenticeship is the route to a recognised trade. It runs considerably longer than a learnership and ends in a trade test at an accredited trade test centre — a practical examination you either pass or repeat. Passing is what makes you an artisan; time served alone does not.
What an apprenticeship actually is →Internship
An internship is a fixed-term work-experience placement for someone who already holds a qualification. Unlike a learnership, it does not award a new qualification — its purpose is to convert a certificate, diploma or degree into the experience that entry-level adverts keep asking for. In the public service these run for a set term and are generally not renewable.
What an internship actually is →Bursary
A bursary is funding for study, not employment. It typically covers tuition and may extend to accommodation, books and a living allowance. Many bursaries carry a work-back obligation — a commitment to work for the funder for a period matching the years funded — and most require you to maintain a minimum pass rate to keep it.
What a bursary actually is →General Worker
General worker posts are entry-level roles that ask for little or no formal qualification. They are among the few routes into an organisation that do not require experience first, and in government they are advertised on the same salary scale and with the same application rules as any other post.
What these posts involve →Permanent
A permanent post is ongoing employment with no end date, carrying full benefits and, in the public service, a defined salary level with annual notch progression. These are advertised competitively and the selection process is considerably more formal than for programme placements.
What this kind of post involves →Contract
A contract post is employment for a defined period or project. The work and the requirements are usually identical to a permanent post at the same level — the difference is the end date. Contract staff generally receive the same salary scale, sometimes with benefits paid as an allowance instead of a fund contribution.
What a fixed-term post involves →Volunteer
A volunteer placement is unpaid work, sometimes with a stipend for transport or meals. It is worth taking seriously only where it gives you documented experience, a reference, or access to a field that is otherwise closed to people without it.
What a volunteer placement involves →