Year after year, Nigerian institutions continue to churn out
thousands of graduates into the labour market. Rather
unfortunately, statistics continue to show that most of these
graduates are unemployable. However, we need to ask ourselves
exactly what criteria was used to come to this conclusion. If
Nigerian graduates have been classified as unattractive to
employers because of their inability to communicate succinctly in
a 5 minute interview, dress smartly or scale through mind-
daunting blitzes in the form of aptitude tests, then it really isn’t
a case of unemployability (at least in terms of our technical
knowledge), but of our inability to adequately prepare for
transition to the workplace. As you would imagine, this
preparation process should begin from the University.
Again we are suggesting five great moves every penultimate or
final year student should be making to ensure a smooth,
successful transition to their desired industries.
1. Mapping out your post-NYSC route.
The truth is that most Nigerian graduates are unemployed
because they failed to decide what their short-term plans (2-3
years after graduation) would be. For some it would be Master’s,
an Entry Level full-time position or both. This decision is best
made in final or penultimate year in college, so you have enough
time to prepare accordingly. For those plying the Master’s route
abroad, you might need to apply a year ahead of desired intake,
which means you need to decide early. Also some scholarships can
be secured even before applying to postgraduate programs and
final year would be a good time to start. For those seeking
entry-level positions to start their careers, you probably would
want to conclude on this path earlier, so you can refine your
presence for the market place early enough (by adopting the tips
below). Of course, there is another category that would love to
keep options open by applying for Master’s degrees/scholarships
and entry-level positons as well. Same advice applies here.
2. Serious Drills of aptitude tests formats (SHL, Dragnet)
It’s a good thing you have wound up that 4.85 CGPA and are
leading your department. However if you are not able to do
typical SHL or Dragnet tests and score at least 60% every time,
those 3 significant figures might just be for show. Ideally, first
year to penultimate year should be spent building your CGPA, but
if you are looking to transit to the workplace successfully, you
have to change curriculums in final year, ASAP. In addition to
project work, final year should be for practicing such tests as
SHL , Dragnet, Kenexa and Talentq. These are notorious tests that
have ruined the hopes of several stellar-GPA candidates vying
for competitive positions in top MNCs. Conversely, not-so-stellar
GPA candidates who have a grasp on these tests are finding their
way in, and fast. Of course, those going for NYSC immediately
still have ample time to prepare but not after the service period.
A similar Caveat goes out to graduates seeking to do their
Master’s in US or Canadian institutions right after graduation.
The GRE is no mean feat. You should begin preparations as early
as possible, most top GRE scorers start 2 months ahead of test
date to prepare.
3. Taking Public Speaking classes
It is all too common an experience to see very knowledgeable
graduates fumble over interviews after putting in so much effort
at previous stages of the recruitment process. Interviewing skills
are majorly public speaking skills, so the earlier you started
working on your stutters, pause-fillers (em, you know, eh),
verbosity and low-speaking, the better your chances of excelling
at interviews. Most schools have a public speaking class as part of
their entrepreneurial programs and if your school doesn’t have
one, the internet is your friend. Several public speaking tips can
be found on the web, do yourself a favour and explore them.
4. Actively participating in Career fairs/ Networking
Most top Nigerian schools typically have recruitment/ career days
where students meet employers who have diverse agendas, from
workshops to aptitude tests and actual recruitment. Career days
are good avenues for aspiring graduates to initiate relationships
with employees of prospective firms, most of which are alumni of
the school. For schools without such opportunities, recruitment
sites like LinkedIn serve a similar purpose. A good reason for
networking would be that, having such connections can be the
difference between a good and a great candidate interviewing
for a role. While the good candidate has general information
about company A, the great candidate has utilized his internal
network at company A to find out exactly what makes the
company unique. He is also able to get an idea of what the
recruitment process would involve at the company – What kind of
tests? How many stages of interviews? What type of interview
questions (behavioural or Competency based)? All the other guy
(the good candidate) knows is that he has interviews with
company A, and he would prepare for all types of interviews
available – technical, behavioural, competency based etc., a
terrible case of misuse of physical and intellectual resources.
5. Using the Jobs/Vacancies section of Nairaland (Seriously)
And no, I’m not a Nairaland moderator, but this is just as helpful
as any other point hitherto stated. Just like you graduated from
school to the labour market in real life, you also have to
graduate from the education section to the job/vacancies section.
There’s no telling how much useful information you would find
there. From internships (For those that have to wait for NYSC
mobilization) to Full-time Jobs, to NYSC-suited programs (like
the ViMP program of Junior Achievers), there are diverse
opportunities for you to explore right from final year. The truth
is that most of these recruitment processes take as long as 6
months and even up to a year in some instances. So starting to
apply from final/NYSC year would only be strategic in timing.
Moreover, you have the opportunity of lots of real interviews
(and aptitude tests of course) before you graduate/finish NYSC,
so you are much more prepared for your “real” interviews if you
don’t land a job during the period.
These great tips are sure to leave you at the top of your game in
today’s job-market. Success!
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