As I promised last week, here are a few more mails on this matter. Many thanks to Tunde Simoyan who runs an executive search firm, Pastor Emeka Ndu, Mr. Fisayo and Kunle Elebute for their responses.
Youth unemployment is as hydra-headed as its many causes and away from jobs not available, one respondent to the issues, Christian Anozie has spent a considerable amount of time in his mail explaining how most young people do not take time to acquire additional value-add skills after their degree and NYSC. His mail below throws more light on this. I recall during one of my visits to Nairobi, a lecturer friend of mine at the University of Nairobi was explaining to his students how Nigerians are different from them and our love for education. “You are completing your first degree and you think you are hot and all that. Go to Nigeria, almost everyone has a Masters degree and some of them cannot find a job. Some degree holders are sweeping the streets and are security men.”
Over the top but true in some instances. That tells us that Christian Anozie is right when he says, “no soft skills”, “no value-add”. The competition out there is fierce and you do need to acquire extra skills, do more, get professional membership to step up your game. The nine persons you are competing with for a job have these added spice and you think you stand a chance with them with a degree and NYSC?
That said, who is educating young persons about what they need to do to improve themselves, to give them added advantage? We must also not forget that there are still lower class degrees getting jobs they are not qualified for ahead of those with degrees and skills based on ‘ima mmadu’ (i.e, ‘Man knows man’).
Here are some other mails as promised:
Hello Madam,
Your back page column on the above subject for BusinessDay, Friday, Nov 6, 2015 is thought-provoking. I am afraid we are headed for a monumental crisis when this current generation of leaders exits the scene leaving behind a catalogue of failed system for the upcoming generation.
The causative factors of unemployment in Nigeria are numerous and distinct to Nigeria. Aside from the fact that companies aren’t springing up, the worrying factor is dearth of employable Nigerians. Our educational system is churning out half-baked and uninformed youths as graduates searching for jobs. How do the few companies in the sphere recruit them? I am a HR practitioner and a certified recruiter with close to a decade experience recruiting, so I can tell you what I see every day at job interview rooms.
Guidance and Counselling departments are no longer there in our school admin setup, so how do teenagers set themselves off the right career path early on?
I and a few HR practitioners are setting up a Network of Employable Professionals in Nigeria with our virtual office coming up in 2016, where we aim to first separate the wheat from the chaff in the job search market in Nigeria and give employable Nigerians opportunity to be noticed. I am sure your time on the screen was a combination of education, skills and dexterity but you can’t deny your passion and talent also set you to make it on TV. The other time also you wrote on how you have to add effective French to your skill as the demand for it increased in your industry. That is hands-on training and pre-emptive move to stay relevant in the industry.
I found a number on LindaIkeji’s Blog; the person was seeking for a job. As a concerned citizen and a recruiter, I sent a text message to the number asking her to forward her CV. What I got on employability status rating is just 2/10. Her only point of being eligible for a job is: she’s a graduate with an NYSC certificate, no soft skills, no professional certification, no added skills, etc. The truth maybe: She’s passionate and given to work but can she compete with others in the interview room? Thanks and best wishes always.
– Christian Anozie.
…………
I am one of your fans too that read your column. As an entrepreneur, I would recommend that your ward should stop looking for a job with his degrees. He should start producing SOAP, DETERGENTS OR LUBRICANTS. The problem of unemployment is worldwide.
– John-Bede
Eugenia Abu
