Ms Sylvia Naris, Recruitment & Selection: Manager

Tell us about yourself? Background, where you were born, your high school years, university etc.

I am Sylvia Naris, born in 1980 and grew up in Walvis Bay.  I attended primary and high school in Walvis Bay and matriculated at Kuisebmund Secondary School. In 1999 I came to the Polytechnic of Namibia to study for my National Diploma in HR which I completed in 2001.  After completion of my Diploma, I went back to Walvis Bay and started working at Hangana Seafood and later went on to work for the Walvis Bay Municipality.  I later came to the Polytechnic and was employed as an HR Officer in November 2004.  In 2005 I enrolled for my Bachelor degree and completed it in 2 years.  I started as a Recruitment Officer and in 2007 I decided to go study for a Master's degree at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology for 3 and half years.  I was the first student to graduate with a Master's degree in my class.  I came back to the Polytechnic in 2009 and I was appointed as Senior HR Officer.  In March 2012 I was appointed as Recruitment Manager.

What are your expectations for NUST and how do you think it will benefit you as an individual?

It will just grow me as an individual.  It is good to see that we are going through the transformation and it is also good to see the old going and the new introduced.

Please share with us your success habits

I would say three things:

• To believe in prayers because we need to ask for guidance from the Almighty.
• To be committed and staying focused as an individual because you can easily be distracted.
• To know your goals and work hard towards achieving them.

What is your motto in life?

All dreams can come true through courage; you need to have courage in order to pursue your dreams.  You can dream but if you are not courageous about your dreams, you will not achieve anything.

If your life could be a newspaper heading, what would it be?

"Woman making a difference in society"

Any other thing you would like to share?

I really appreciate the opportunity given to me by the Polytechnic of Namibia.  Being a student here and growing up as a mature individual woman make me feel that the Polytechnic has given me opportunities.  There are a lot of opportunities out there and thus we just need to grab them and study because studying is the key to success that every youth can have and education is very important to all of us.