I have seen so many threads on "I need a job please" or "My CV this or that", so I decided to write this down. I'm not selling anything, I'm sharing what I was taught, what I have learnt and what I have experienced.

Some weeks back, my company conducted interviews. Out of 10, only 1 guy was selected. He seems nice, but the other 9 were not right for us. And the problems they have, I've seen in a lot of Nigerians. So let's address them:

1. Your qualifications yes, a 2.1 and a 1st class (notice the order I put them in, that's how unimportant I think a 1st class is) will open the door to an interview for you, but will NOT guarantee a job. Same with your Masters degree (I've seen a B. Sc from Imperial College UK not be able to get a job in an OnG firm). You need to focus on certification and Masters from the RIGHT schools. Don't come and show me a MBA from Leeds and expect me to value it the same way I will value MBA from Pennsylvania.

2. What do you know? I have met countless Nigerian youths and I am constantly amazed at HOW LITTLE they know. As in, most girls don't know about the Power Generation coys in Nigeria, most guys don't know about the Agricultural explosion in Nigeria, yet the girls can tell you the last post on Linda Ikeji and the guys can quote Football scores in their sleep. Those skills are great, if you wanna be a Blogger or a Footie commentator on the radio (btw, those 2 career prospects are overcrowded right now).

3. What do you read? You should be reading all sorts of books. Nope, not Self-Help books (never met a successful person who read those, they usually WRITE those), but any type of book and website. I was the kid that read Shakespeare, Soyinka and romance novels, jacked Encarta like I was studying for an exam, read Wikipedia and did research like crazy for no other reason than wanting to learn and watched BBC with her dad. I am very smart (I'm not boasting). Every single employer I have ever met refuses to believe I don't have a Masters from an Ivy League. I mean this. THE BEST EDUCATION IS FREE.

4. What have you done? How do you spend your holidays? Lazing away at home? My dad got us all jobs (he packed us off for summer, we worked retail!). It taught us the value of earned money and gave us work experience. It exposed us. My brother hiked a volcano in Hawaii, I like sightseeing and museums, another brother visits museums and likes modern Art. And in Nigeria, my sister used to be in charge of her church choir, my boss has done the "Walk for Breast Cancer", I've volunteered for Charity groups. Most of those things we did, didn't require a ton of cash (they're usually free to participate).

What does this all mean? Let's put it together.

4. What does your CV look like? I'm going to let you in on a little secret: there's no formula for writing an award-winning CV. There maybe a format, but there's no exact rule to it. That's it. NOTHING MORE. Instead,

a.)I see CVs that are badly written, filled with mispellings or so bland and looks like everyone else's, that after 20 other CVs, I skim through yours and unless I read something interesting, I don't give you a call.

b.)I see CVs with email address of "Nneka41@yahoo.com" instead of "nneka.okote@yahoo.com" which sounds more professional.

d.) I see new grads who tell me the primary school they attended (if they had spent their holidays working, even doing internship at an IT firm, then studying Computer Science in Uni is better than doing NOTHING, they would have been able to put it on the CVs, to show that they are go-getters, instead of siddon-wait-for-miracle-to-land).

e.) I see experienced people put their Education first before their experience(if you have work experience of at least 4 yrs in the industry you're applying, write that down FIRST before your degree, on your CV. An employer cares more about the fact you've worked somewhere and done a good job than if you came out with 2.2 degree 5 years ago).

f.) I see that in your hobbies section you write: Reading, Singing, Football (now compare that to mine which will say "travelled the world including the following countries" or "physical sports including Tennis, Football, Athletics and F1 Motorsports", which of us sounds more interesting and would make an interviewer want to call me for an interview, just to see the person that does all that shiii )

g.) A [b]cover letter [/b]which says "I am responsible and hardworking, a team leader".

Let me rewrite that sentence for you, describing my boss "I am responsible and hardworking, I have always gone for positions of leadership in my personal life including my time as a member of Naomi and Ruth Group in my church, a society where we work closely with old and young widows, helping them to rejoin society and get back on their feet".
Abeg, please tell me who sounds more like a responsible, hardworking team leader!! Your cover letter should have all you have done in steps 1-3, I should read that cover letter, see you have achieved so many little victories, and I promise you, I won't really care about your 2.2 degree or lack of Masters.
Remember that brother of mine who likes Modern Art? He's a lawyer who had a 2.2, was President of his class and his Law society in school, liked Art and English culture (he knows his wines like a Sommelier). His first job was as a junior guy at a law firm whose senior partner likes WINES, ART and ENGLISH CULTURE! They had so much in common, 2 years later, my brother is the Head of his legal team for an Oil and Gas company! Still no masters!

If you are interesting with a lousy degree and lots of certifications and lots of personal achievements, I will call you for an interview so you can explain yourself, I will give you a chance to show me that maybe you were young and made mistakes. But if you are bland with a 2.1, you are NO different than every other person who crammed and achieved 2.1. A 1st class shows that you are diligent, not that you know the job, that's WHY employers like 1st class, they still have to retrain you after they hire you!

Almost all my friends wrote KPMG exam (they had 2.1), out of 150, they took 6. That's how little room there is up there. Your CV and cover letter is your advert, you better make it an interesting one.

5.) When you go for the interview, what's the important thing to do and know? Why, about the company of course! I have aced interviews by walking in, telling the interviewers about recent policies the company just executed and we discussed it, like it was an internal meeting. None of them asked me about my degree, I sounded too smart in front of them, they assumed it was Naija-factor that caused it to drop. Better read up about the company you wanna work for, know their CEO/MD, know if they're listed on the Stock Exchange, find out if they've just acquired new assets (and congratulate them). You will sound like you already work for them and they will find it easier to hire you.

Don't go in and say "I need this job for the money", we know you do, but saying and emphasizing on money makes you sound like you don't care about the job and may leave us in 3 months if a better offer comes. So why should we waste resources training you?

6.) Have you ever thought about taking the alternative route? 2 of my friends don't have a Uni degree, both earn $3,000 (yes, you read that right, they get paid in dollars in Nigeria) for their jobs in Lagos. They're in IT, one dropped out of uni to go to APTECH, he's a mad gamer, loves games, writes his codes for games, studies anything IT-related freely. And one more thing: he's very reliable.


Meanwhile, at my company, the Graphics Artist guy we give contracts to, is the most talented guy I've met, but is the biggest flake in the world, job of 2 days delivery, takes his 3 weeks and more, he won't pick his phone when we call to check. We just took a very big job from him and gave it to a not-so-talented but more reliable fellow. So, are you a flake? Are you shooting yourself in the foot by being unreliable and expecting people to keep giving you work? That's the problem with Naija, almost nothing gets done well and on-time.
Also, get an accountant if you run your business. You need someone to explain to you how Profits/Loss works. And be tell yourself: my business must be able to sustain me in 2 years' time and yield profits in 3-4 years.

I'm going to write some more. I realise that people will say "oh you sound priviledged, where am I to volunteer for this and that", my dears, they've been announcing on the radio about charity walks, social media, BBC, AlJazeera, CNN website is free, even travelling to all 36 states of the country makes you sound interesting (I know a girl who did that during her NYSC), she made the interviewer laugh with all her stories and she showed how resourceful she was, by achieving it. She got the job (2.1 in Textile Design).
Even going for all these things and being active in your church is BUILDING YOUR NETWORK. Which you will need, you know people, you get money.

Most employers in Nigeria complain graduates are unemployable and end up selecting the best of a bad bunch. So they use age and criteria to weed people out. These tips are ways to avoid that happening to you.

ok

Thank you for this. I LIKE YOUR EMPHASIS ON KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS RATHER THAN CERTIFICATES ONLY. Passing exams is one thing but knowing how to learn on your own is totally different. And with 90% of jobs, you are going to be learning somehitng new. Thanks. Nice post.

What an eye-opener of an article this is *thumbsup* wow!!! Thank you for this information.
In the spirit of sharing and helping, here is a free resource I know about for us job-seekers : www.jobsmaster.com.ng

I don't know why graduates are unwilling to say "I trained myself through schooling/university". I and at least 70% of employers WILL HIRE you based on that information. Because it shows that you are hardworking and determined to succeed! You should proudly state that in your Cover Letter. Because it's hard to do and you ACHIEVED that.

All this time at home, go offer your services at a minimum wage (N40,000) to a company in the industry you want to work in. It gives you experience that looks good on your CV. A young man worked for a Advertising firm, he was one of the best artists but because he didn't have NYSC, they were cheating him and paying him N20,000 monthly. He swallowed it, worked his butt off and each quarter asked for a raise. Once he had experience of 2 years, he moved to another company, for a salary of N85,000. His old company started trying to win him back for N70,000. See? In this era of no jobs, a man is getting 2 companies to offer him work. This man leveraged on his experience and ended up getting the new company to finally agree to pay N100,000. See the difference experience and skills added to him.

Onegai: I don't know why graduates are unwilling to say "I trained myself through schooling/university". I and at least 70% of employers WILL HIRE you based on that information. Because it shows that you are hardworking and determined to succeed! You should proudly state that in your Cover Letter. Because it's hard to do and you ACHIEVED that.

All this time at home, go offer your services at a minimum wage (N40,000) to a company in the industry you want to work in. It gives you experience that looks good on your CV. A young man worked for a Advertising firm, he was one of the best artists but because he didn't have NYSC, they were cheating him and paying him N20,000 monthly. He swallowed it, worked his butt off and each quarter asked for a raise. Once he had experience of 2 years, he moved to another company, for a salary of N85,000. His old company started trying to win him back for N70,000. See? In this era of no jobs, a man is getting 2 companies to offer him work. This man leveraged on his experience and ended up getting the new company to finally agree to pay N100,000. See the difference experience and skills added to him.

I wanna learn from masters keep it coming ma'am. God bless

I wish 'they' could all read and learn from this. Thanks Op

Lol, I'm sadly not expecting them to read it. It's easier to not do much and expect the "miracle" to come, instead of working hard and improving their chances by at least 70%.

It is very sad for our country that a very useful thread like this has only had 65 views after 24hours
Thankfully Seun has the Share feature, which I have used and hopefully others will stray here to draw from your well of knowledge that you have taken time to put together and make available to inspire others out our collective lethargy.

Onegai: You need to focus on certification and Masters from the RIGHT schools. Don't come and show me a M.Ba from Leeds and expect me to value it the same way I will value M.Ba from Pennsylvania.

BTW, I think you meant the Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.) above.
Cheers.

lol

@Onegai, great piece. Your username sounds like Japanese.

Joenice: @Onegai, great piece. Your username sounds like Japanese.

It is.

Onegai:

It is.

Ok girl.

God bless u Op.. Ur head dy dia abeg

Kinda lengthy. Will come back to read.

Isiterere: thanks op. Surely going to share this.....


ALL IZZ WELL

tnkx 4 sharing dx awesome piece with me. This is indeed educating!

I wonder why important info's like this dont make frontpage... such an eye opener...

A great writeup.

Highly essential not only for job searching buh for day-to-day human survival.

Onegai: Lol, I'm sadly not expecting them to read it. It's easier to not do much and expect the "miracle" to come, instead of working hard and improving their chances by at least 70%.

thanks for this lifting and inspirational text.
indeed it has touch and rebuild my aspiration.
thank you ones again.

to Tgirl4real thanks for sharing this. you are a wonderful woman.

hmmmmmm

op, I wish I could have the opportunity to attached atleast an experience as you inquire in the write up but life is not a bird of roses as the says goes, but will try and do justice to that at the place of my primary assignment to my fatherland.

going through uni all alone was heavily demanding, life just too unbearable. if not the grace of God a bad story I'll it call for myself.
with my 2.2 i will keep on the hardworking and I pray God crown my effort. amen

Write up worth reading!!!! BOOKMARKED

I'll really love to go hiking across a volcano...

Onegai nice piece. Better suited for the career/job vacancies/business sections. All the same, arigato.

@onegai, I so much appreciate your effort in passing these tips across, may your well of wisdom never run dry, Amen.

Cool info

First time I am willingly using my share button. Beautiful piece even though that for business owners was tiny compared to that for job seekers.

Wonderful piece!

Thank you Seun for sharing with me

@op, Good writeup! He who stops learning, automatically stops existing. If u r not informed, u r deformed. Enlightenment via information helps. Keep it up!

MODs, can we move this to the Jobs section? Thanks.

Business owners, this is for you:

I believe the worst thing for a business owner is to have the "Boss Mentality". That means constantly thinking you're better than your employees, which is wrong, you're as good as your employees, not better. A leader must be as good as his followers, but be accesible: Christ came to earth and didn't come and sit on a physical throne. So, respect your workers and their input. Work harder than them and work beside them, listen to them. Listen to your customers, don't assume YOU KNOW ALL THEY WANT.

Get an accountant. I'm serious. Earning N5mil per annum in a business IS NOT A PROFIT unless it is N5million after all expenses used to run the business have been paid off.

As a business owner, you have to invest in your business. Constantly look for ways to do things more efficiently.

Does your business run on offering a service? Then let me say this to you:

UPGRADE THE QUALITY OF YOUR SERVICES

Over 70% of services offered in Nigeria are mediocre. Case in point, I don't believe we have good carpenters in Lagos, their workmanship is so shoddy, so I will never pay fullprice for one. Tailors are beginning to smarten up and do quality work (and charge premium): my friend goes from Festac to Agungi to meet a tailor that sews beautifully, finishes the fabric neatly and never disappoints.

So offer a quality service, not noise and no content.

Onegai: Business owners, this is for you:

I believe the worst thing for a business owner is to have the "Boss Mentality". That means constantly thinking you're better than your employees, which is wrong, you're as good as your employees, not better. A leader must be as good as his followers, but be accesible: Christ came to earth and didn't come and sit on a physical throne. So, respect your workers and their input. Work harder than them and work beside them, listen to them. Listen to your customers, don't assume YOU KNOW ALL THEY WANT.

Get an accountant. I'm serious. Earning N5mil per annum in a business IS NOT A PROFIT unless it is N5million after all expenses used to run the business have been paid off.

As a business owner, you have to invest in your business. Constantly look for ways to do things more efficiently.

Does your business run on offering a service? Then let me say this to you:

UPGRADE THE QUALITY OF YOUR SERVICES

Over 70% of services offered in Nigeria are mediocre. Case in point, I don't believe we have good carpenters in Lagos, their workmanship is so shoddy, so I will never pay fullprice for one. Tailors are beginning to smarten up and do quality work (and charge premium): my friend goes from Festac to Agungi to meet a tailor that sews beautifully, finishes the fabric neatly and never disappoints.

So offer a quality service, not noise and no content.

Many of our jobless "graduates" need to find their ways to vocational schools & technical colleges or some workshop to learn skills they can work with rather than wait for some uncle, auntie, extended relation, neighbor etc to "bless" them from what they have stolen "on their behalf" therefore depriving us of =>

- electricity,
- TAP water,
- free education for ALL our children,
- free primary health,
- good roads etc

and making all of us the SCUMS of the earth

N nawa o....this post since sept 12, never pass one page of replies....I have read the OP once, I want to read it a second time...and a 3rd time too....

Oga seun thank you for sharing o....thank God I'm following better person....

I like these portions "2.1 before 1st class"..."1st class only shows you are diligent"....."Have an interesting cover letter and CV, to have a chance with an interviewer, before you get the chance to tell your story of how you ended with a 2.2, maybe na age or na mistake you make wey cause 2.2"....."Too bad most of us fall into the trap of sitdown-and-wait-for-miracle" #paraphrased

I sha don start tailoring for now pending the time I go go for service...not what I would have loved dearly to do sha....would have loved to get an hands-on experience with an IT company, even for as low as 10k per month (just for transport and lunch).....


I sha know I'm destined for success....with write-ups like these pointing me in the right direction....

Thanks to onegai....may ur well of wisdom never run dry....

E don tey wey I open nairaland last o...my account don gather dust sef....

God na ur hand I dey o....