Finding your first job in South Africa is frustrating when every company asks for three years of experience. Instead of guessing which companies are hiring, thousands of students check Puff and Pass internships every day to find the latest graduate opportunities.
This website is not a company that hires you directly. It is a massive online notice board. Their team searches the internet to find legitimate learnerships, bursaries, and trainee programs from top companies and puts them all in one place.
Using this platform saves you a lot of time. Instead of checking 50 different bank and mine websites every morning, you can just scroll through their daily feed to see who is taking in new trainees this week.
A big advantage of this site is that they usually break down the hard requirements. If an advert is only looking for people from a specific rural municipality, the platform highlights that upfront so you do not waste time reading the whole thing.
However, because it is so popular, the competition is huge. When an opportunity goes live on their site, thousands of graduates see it at the exact same time. You have to be fast and have your certified documents ready to apply the same day.
Our Honest Take: Aggregator Sites vs. Direct Portals?
Our Analysis: Portals like Puff and Pass are excellent for “discovery”—they show you companies you didn’t even know existed. However, because they are just a mirror of the original job, the links can sometimes be outdated by a few hours. Direct corporate portals (like Absa or Sasol) are the “source of truth,” but they are harder to navigate if you are searching for multiple jobs at once.
Expert Pro Tip: “The 24-Hour Rule.” If you see a hot internship posted on an aggregator, do not wait. Aggregators drive massive traffic, and companies often close their application links within 48 hours because they get overwhelmed. Use Puff and Pass to find the lead, but apply on the company’s official site immediately.
Job Overview: Stipends & Allowances (2026 Estimates)
| Qualification Level | Est. Monthly Stipend (ZAR) | Programme Type |
| Honours / Master’s (NQF 8) | R10,000 – R15,000 | Corporate Graduate |
| Degree / BTech (NQF 7) | R7,000 – R10,000 | General Intern |
| National Diploma (NQF 6) | R5,000 – R7,500 | In-Service Trainee |
| Matric / NCV (NQF 4) | R3,500 – R4,500 | SETA Learnership |
Which Categories Are Most Popular? (2026 Breakdown)
The website organizes jobs by sector. You can use their search menu to find the exact industry that matches your studies:
1. Heavy Industry & Engineering
- Target Audience: Engineering, mining, and safety graduates.
- What you will find: They constantly post apprenticeship and graduate links for massive companies like Eskom, Sasol, Transnet, and Anglo American. These are usually highly technical roles based at factories, power stations, or mines.
2. Banking & Corporate Finance
- Target Audience: BCom graduates in accounting, finance, and economics.
- What you will find: Every major bank (Standard Bank, FNB, Absa, Nedbank) runs an annual graduate intake. Puff and Pass tracks exactly when these banking portals open and close, making it easy to apply for financial trainee roles.
3. Government & Public Sector
- Target Audience: Public administration, health, and education graduates.
- What you will find: Government departments (like DPSA or local municipalities) release massive internship circulars. The platform takes these long, confusing government PDFs and breaks them down into simple job posts so you know exactly which Z83 form to fill out.
The Reality of Using Job Portals
Using an aggregator website makes your job hunt much easier, but you need to understand how the system actually works behind the scenes:
- Expired Links and Full Systems:
Sometimes you will click a link on the site and the company’s page will say “Error” or “Closed”. This is not a scam. It just means the company received 10,000 applications in two days and decided to close their portal early to stop the system from crashing.
- They Do Not Keep Your CV:
You cannot make an account on Puff and Pass and upload your CV there. They are just the middleman. You always have to send your documents to the actual employer.
- Avoiding Fake Jobs:
Puff and Pass is very good at filtering out scams and only posting real jobs. A golden rule to remember: a real company will never ask you to pay money for an interview, a uniform, or a background check. If an email asks for money, block them immediately.
Featured “Hot” Search: Business Administration Graduate
One of the most frequently posted and searched roles on the platform is general administration. Almost every company needs organized graduates to help run their daily office tasks.
- Estimated Stipend: R6,000 – R8,500 per month.
- Location: Nationwide (Listings available across all 9 provinces).
- Requirements:
- A completed Diploma or Degree in Business Administration, Office Management, or General Commerce.
- Basic computer skills (typing, sending emails, Microsoft Office).
- Must be a South African citizen.
- Usually, candidates must be currently unemployed with no prior corporate experience.
How to Use the Platform Correctly? (The Application Process)
Puff and Pass does not collect your CV. They just point you in the right direction. If you try to message them on Facebook or email them your documents, you are just wasting your time. You have to use their leads to find the real application door. Here is how you actually use their platform to get a job:
The ‘Official Source
When you find a job on their site, don’t just look at the summary. Scroll to the very bottom and look for the ‘Source’ or ‘Apply’ link. This usually takes you to the company’s own career page (like the Sasol or Eskom portal). A pro tip: if the Puff and Pass link is slow, go directly to that company’s website and look for the ‘Careers’ section. Often, the job is listed there too, and applying directly on the company’s portal is much safer than using a third-party link.
Watch the Closing Dates
Because this platform has millions of followers, a new post can get 5,000 applications in just a few hours. Many big companies use software that automatically stops accepting CVs once they hit a certain number, even if the ‘Closing Date’ is weeks away. If you see a hot internship posted in the morning, your CV needs to be sent by lunchtime. If you wait until the weekend, the ‘Apply’ button will likely lead to a ‘Page Not Found’ error because the system is already full.
Join the Email Mailing List
Instead of manually refreshing the website every hour, use their email subscription and Facebook alerts. But here is the trick: once you get an alert, don’t just hit apply. Quickly check if the job requires a Z83 form (for government) or a specific reference number. Puff and Pass users often make the mistake of sending a generic CV without the reference code. If that code is missing from your email subject line, the company’s automated system will skip your email entirely.
Thabo Mandla is the lead Career Guide Expert at DurbanTalent.com. With over 10 years of practical experience in South African recruitment, he specializes in connecting professionals with top employers in Aviation, Finance, and Hospitality. Thabo combines his background in Human Resources with direct insights from local hiring managers to provide job seekers with accurate, actionable, and reliable career advice. He is passionate about helping candidates navigate the Durban job market and achieve their professional goals.