I was invited by the Local Inspector of Ijebu North East to deliver a talk to the 2019 Batch A Outgoing Corps Members at the Ijebu-Ode Local Government Hall on the 21st of February 2020.
The talk was titled, Job Advisory and Counselling Lecture, with a focus on life after youth service and youth unemployment in Nigeria.
These are my key takeaways:
- The first thing you should do is to make your one-page CV error-free, spell-checked, and presentable. See this post I wrote one time talking about how to respond to job applications in 2019, it is still valid till 2030. Learn how to sell yourself in 60 seconds or one glance on your CV, online and offline.
- My advice to you is to also optimize your social media profiles (have a good profile picture). I know they are called social networks, but you should know those prospective employers now look at your timelines to see what you post and how you engage with other people on your feed. They are looking to get a glimpse of your personality, see what makes you tick, and essentially what you spend your time on. Take time to update your LinkedIn profile as well. With the recently launched Facebook Jobs, do you still think FB is a social network?
- Be wary of those you follow on social media, I see a trend today where our people are very active on social media, not for productive purposes, but to be able to jump on any trend, or comment, that flies around in cyberspace, and these trends never stop, it is always one trend today or a few days, and another the next. Do yourself a favour by not getting into this bubble. Ensure that every second you spend on the internet adds some value to your life either by learning something new, networking or engaging constructively on topics that matter with other internet users.
- Learn Basic Digital Skill: this is undisputed today, regardless of the field of work you find yourself today or the path of learning you want to take, you cannot survive without knowing and knowing well basic computer concepts, like how to use cloud storage, Microsoft office tools, some google products, email communications, social media, and perhaps also, basic programming if it interests you.
- I know a lot of you would also be interested in entrepreneurship and it is not uncommon for people to say “I want to work for myself“. I hope for your sake you are prepared. Being an entrepreneur means you have to be skilled at your job, it is still a job, if you seek to scale, be prepared to learn the duties of bookkeepers, management, HR, and lawyers too (you need to understand Nigerian business laws, tax laws and how it concerns you) and be prepared to work round the clock to make your business succeed. Click here for a link to the Free Entrepreneurship course that may guide you in this journey.
- Learn how to write reports and document your stories, selling any product or service today requires the art of telling a good and captivating story to your audience. I also wrote a guide one time about how blogging can be used for empowerment, click here to read this.
- Learn to work with your own time, do not work with the time of others. There is time for everything and everyone. Each and everyone here has a different race to run and a purpose to fulfill on earth. Do not jeopardize your life with dishonesty or greediness. Be contented with what life has blessed you with and strive to be a better human every day.
- My last advice today is ATTITUDE & MINDSET, yes I am shouting here. The world is constantly evolving and it may interest you to know that you may be the best-skilled person in the room but your attitude and mindset is what will stand you out from the crowd & make people want to work with you! We are increasingly getting to the stage where employers and business partners are not interested in your polished resume. They want to see what you can do, how you work in teams, how you communicate, your attitude towards your job, and how you treat your co-workers.
Hope this helps someone out there! If this helps you – feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or question and I will be more than happy to respond.