Fresh Graduates In Nigeria: 6 Things You Need To Know Before Embarking On A Job Search

 

 6 Things You Need To Know Before Embarking On A Job Search

 

FACT: NYSC IS A SET BACK FOR MOST NIGERIAN GRADUATES.

 

I want to start off this blog post by saying the NYSC does not prepare people for the reality of the economic situation. The truth is seventy percent* of people who finish NYSC are unlikely to get a decent** job within two years of finishing their service year.

Sorry if that sounds a bit pessimistic but if you are about to finish NYSC, a bit of realism is in order. That, of course, does not mean you can't get a job. You can. You will. You should.

However, you need to put certain things in place before embarking on that job hunt.

Here are six seven points you need to consider before joining the Aptitude Test Crowd.

* 38 % of all statistics are made up on the spot.
** Decent Job is defined as a job that pays at least 1 million a year net.

1. KNOW THYSELF

This is the most important of all the aspects we would be discussing. A wise man(Socrates, perhaps?) once said, know thyself. To a  young graduate searching for a job in the brutal Nigerian economy, that may not sound like useful advice but it is. You need to do something you are 1, fit for and 2, happy with.

When I was in the University, I noticed a lot of people applied for medicine. Needless to say, they were summarily pushed into less glamorous courses(Agriculture, Botany, Zoology, Industrial Edo language, Advanced Ibo Literature). These people usually bemoaned their fate.

The truth is: most of the people in this situation wouldn't have made good doctors in the first place. They didn't look like doctors. They just didn't fit.

So as you start your job search, ask yourself if you really want a job. Can you work in a bank? Wouldn't you be better doing some kind of independent work? You are applying to that consulting firm? Can you pass their tests? Can you work till 9pm?

So examine yourself and not just take a scatter gun approach in your job hunt.

2. POLISH THY CV

Even if you have never applied for a job, you would have heard of the CV. Curriculum Vitae. Or resume, as the Americans call it. It is not your life history. It is just a tidy way to get information about you.

Since the CV is the major tool for job hunting, then you must take care to produce a winning CV although in Nigeria, a winning CV may not be what you think. Still, you need to put your best effort into the writing of the CV.

3. TEST THYSELF

Yes, tests.

SHL Tests, GMAT, Dragnet, Workforce, etcetera etcetera. It is impossible to go to a Nairaland Job Thread without seeing requests for test materials.

Most major companies in Nigeria would ask you to take an aptitude test or a personality test. This is perhaps the most objective stage of any recruitment exercise so you have to give it your best shot.

So start getting test materials, learning test techniques and answering sample test questions. Practice, as a wise man once said, makes perfect.

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This article would be continued in a subsequent post.