Until a few years ago, people believed that once you get a job, life is made. However, times have changed. With the workplace becoming increasingly competitive and organizations having to restructure themselves continuously to cope with dynamic and uncertain market conditions, it is naïve to presume that one’s job is stable. In this situation, if you are thinking only in terms of a job, chances are that you are not planning your professional life.

Given the changing nature of the workplace, career planning is not a luxury but a necessity. Its not an ‘extra effort’ that you can make if you wish to. It is one of the essential tasks you must perform to remain employed.

Components of the effective career planning and development process include:

    * Being self-aware: To have an effective career you must be aware of your personality, interests, aptitude, self-concept, skills, etc. Most people try to learn about these by reflecting on their experiences. However, there are many other activities and instruments that can aid you in this process. These involve creating situations that will prod you to intensively reflect on yourself and on your career objective.
    * Getting information on available opportunities: To develop a career path, you need to know what opportunities are available and how you fit into them. For this, you need to keep a track of the emerging jobs, the changing face of technology and its effect on employment, the kind of expertise available in the market for different employment opportunities, etc.
    * Preparing for the opportunities: Preparation for opportunities has two aspects: domain related and non-domain related. The former would require updating your subject knowledge and finding out how it can be applied. The latter includes soft skills such as interpersonal skills, communications skills, teamwork skills etc. To facilitate the process one must undergo skill assessments, network with professional groups and research organizations, do projects with organizations, read business magazines, etc.
    * Developing one’s career: Career development happens when you are fairly confident of your career objective and career plan. Before you reach this phase, you might have hopped from one career to another and in the process might be surer of which career best suits you. If you are still unsure of the career most suitable for you, you can undergo career counseling. Career development may require you to create assignments for yourself (challenging your limits), reflect on and enrich your assignments, develop conceptual models relevant your task area, and so on.



To have an effective career you have to undergo all these components simultaneously.

To conclude, career development is not a one-time activity. It does not depend so much on what a person starts with but how she starts and how alert and learning–oriented she is. To have an effective career a person needs to focus on personal resources as well as environmental resources and opportunities.

http://www.placementor.com/resources/managing_career.htm

Today marks the beginning of another great year and the onus is on us to effectively manage and plan our careers. What are your plans for 2012?

I would like this thread to be a learning thread, providing mentor-ship, advise and suggestions on how to move our careers to the next level. Let our more experienced bros in the house provide us with insights on how they got to where they are today so that the upcoming ones can at least learn from their strategies, mistakes and then plan effectively for their careers. Questions, suggestions and advise are allowed.

Lets have your views guys. It's 2012.

@Chamber2

Happy new year,

I have less than a decade of experience but I have just a few cents to contribute based on my personal experience

(1) Identify your make-up: Who are you? What are your skills and talents? What are the things that make you tick? I am a scientist since I was born(according to my parents) and will always want to find out why and how things work. That led me to study physics eventually at the university.

(2) Build your career around what you love. Get paid doing what you love to do. Life is very boring going to work you hate to do. If you cant find what you love yet, LOVE what you FIND and DO it well.

(3) Whatever your hands find to do, do it will all your might. NEVER accept mediocrity for yourself. Keep raising your bars. ITS EITHER YOU DO WHAT YOU DO WITH EXCELLENCE or you dont even start it. Every work bears a signature/resemblance of who did it. Autograph your work with EXCELLENCE

(4) Make yourself relevant: Its not only enough to know who you are, but how do you make who you are relevant? How will my skills and talents solve any problem? Go to the grave yard, you will see billions of talented remains of once-existed humans. Life is all about value. What will you add to the world around you? Everything of value was introduced/contributed by someone.

(5)Make money from what you have: Look at yourself, look for a problem, find a solution to that problem with what you have. Why should anybody want to give you their money if they are not getting any value from your or you are not solving any problem? Solve a problem that people will be willing to pay for and make legitimate money out of it. For example, I love to teach and I teach as a hobby during leisure hours; and get paid for it.

(6) Keep yourself up to date: The world is changing everyday. What is happening and where is the global/local economy headed? It is very important to stay relevant so that you can best position yourself for opportunities as they present themselves.

(7) Integrity is PRICELESS. Never COMPROMISE your CONSCIENCE for ANYTHING, Regret is avoidable if you will only decide EARLY to ALWAYS DO THE RIGHT THINGS and DO them RIGHT,


My few cents,

Am waiting for posts from others as I want to also move my career to the next level this year,

bukkytroni

Thanks very much for this excellent piece. You did well to provide principles that will guide one to effectively move to the next level in one's career.

Good a thing you studied Physics. There was this thread for Physics graduates, all of them seem not to know what happens next after a degree in physics. They feel that the place of the physicist is in the classroom It will be interesting if you could share a little of your professional experience as physicist. Did you take any professional exams, postgrad degree or are you in a different field altogether?

happy new year

Nice words.
bukkytroni, so you're a physics grad. Why didn't you have a crack at my pop quiz on that Physics thread?

@Topic,
What can I say? In 2011, I think everybody should focus on getting real skills, and enabling themselves much better. The world of Corporate is beginning to crumble. The days of accumulating useless prestige qualifications are coming to an end. Stop priming yourself for the next Corporate suitor. Get real skills, and you are sure to stumble into real opportunities.

@Ajanlekoko, my prestigious and amiable mentor,

Who can answer that your question except, you the (old) wise one.

I seriously have been looking for the time to think on that your question because trust me for now all I can think about is MONEYYYYYYYYY to buy fuel since there is no more subsidy, lol,

@Chamber2,

do you want me to respond about my physics and career on this thread or on the physics thread,

Thanks

bukkytroni:


@Ajanlekoko, my prestigious and amiable mentor,

Who can answer that your question except, you the (old) wise one.

Bros, abi na sis, stop all the stroking. It's a problem that's all over the Internet.
Kind of makes me feel bad sha, after all my defence of Nigerian graduates on this forum.

@Ajanlekoko, That's a challenge.

Trust physicists, we will find a solution,

Aj

Thanks for stopping by. When you say skills what exactly do you imply?Certifications or work experience or both?

bukkytroni

I would rather you answer my questions here

chamber2:

Aj

Thanks for stopping by. When you say skills what exactly do you imply?Certifications or work experience or both?

None of the above.
People need to go back to being doctors, engineers, teachers, etc.
No more easy money from certifications.

AjanleKoko:

None of the above.
People need to go back to being doctors, engineers, teachers, etc.
No more easy money from certifications.

Do we have shortage of these skills? What's the point in people acquiring same skills that they will never use due to the economy in which they compete in. It's like advising people to continue studying to be an electronic engineer in the UK when the country itself is far loosing jobs to places where cheap labour is the order of the day.

Young Nigerians should focus less on prestige of a degree and worry more about the chances they stand in getting a job in whatever career they choose to embark on. This should normally be the deciding factor when people choose careers.

^^
Exactly

The job market is becoming increasingly tough now everybody has to determine what is good for himself not following the crowd

@Chamber2

Its a long story but will summarize as much as possible.

I applied for physics in one of the Federal Universities in Nigeria because I wanted a course that is very challenging and agrees with my make up. I know many physics graduates/undergraduates did not apply for physics, they were given physics, regrettably. No matter what circumstance, my opinion remains that it is a great and noble course to study. I did calculus, statistics, theoretical, quantum etc, Electrical and electronic engineering courses -Circuit theory, electromagnetic theory, Control theory, engineering mathematics, Digital Signal Processing etc, Philosophy, Law and Computer Programming, Physical, Organic and Inorganic Chemistry, Nuclear Physics just to mention a few. So you see, physics exposes you to a wide variety of information and most importantly the ability to THINK ON YOUR FEET, no straight answers to anything (remember questions like: a guy rides a bike in SouthEast direction, the wind is blowing against him in the Northwest direction, while negotiating a roundabout, he falls at a banking angle of 30 degrees, assuming 9.8m/s2 gravity, calculating his speed of falling if his uniform velocity was 15m/s, DO YOU FEEL ME) How do you solve questions like that, you start thinking of all the laws of mathematics, physics, motion, gravity, centrifugal force etc that you know in order to figure a way out.

So you see, physics trains you to think, dissect and analyze situations.

Thats how much I love physics.

Now, I was told that most times, physics grad ended up as teachers and lectures and sincerely I did not want to end up that way most importantly because I wanted to maximize my potentials and also make a lot of MONEY out of my career. We know that in this part of the world, most of what we are being taught is already obsolete before we can even think of what to do with it. I sincerely discovered in my first year in the university that IF I DONT DO SOMETHING, I am headed for a DEAD END. How did I deliver myself from this dilemma.

While in my first year, the school went on 6 months strike and as we were resuming, ASUU went on another 5 months strike.

My friends and I made up our minds that we were going to look for problems and find a solution. What prompted that was the rigor of registration process every session in my school as at then. We began to ask questions, Cant there be a solution where from any part of the world, you can conveniently register online with the advent of the internet, and we have to have casualties all the time while thousands of students were queueing to do their sessional registration?

What was the solution? Computer programming

We designed a top down flowchart of how we were going to do it. We from physics were to come up with a biometric identification system such that students will need to register their finger prints for payment authentication, then computer science friends were to come up with the web application.

That was what led me into compiler construction, Q basic, Visual Basic, C language, C++, C# and Java. You know computer interfacing was a purely hardware programming stuff. I learn fortran, cobol, assembly language, studied A LOT about Integrated Circuits and How to program chips. It was a very interesting though difficult experience because I didnt have anybody to ask who had done such before and had to figure everything out searching online and digging into books(aged) in our school library. If you see machine codes, you go fear. MFC in C++ was also very confusing when I was trying to develop a GUI using C or C++. I used Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 shortly before the .NET platform came out.

You can see why VISION is extremely important in whatever you want to do because without it, your passion will soon quench along the way.

Down the road, I HIT the ROCKS, I couldnt get an IC programmer that I can insert a IC Chip, run my program from the PC and reprogram the IC to do what I want it to do. You know the interfacing circuit must be able to read the finger prints, use Analog to Digital Converter to translate to machine codes, manage all the interrupts, addresses and the GUI must be able to reproduce the same image.

Thats how I hit the rocks o but seriously, our lives never remain the same.

Note that we READ like MAD MEN. Any computer programming/electronics book that can give us further clues, we spent lots of money to acquire them, even shipped in Microsoft.NET Visual Studio from the USA as soon as it came out. Any little holiday, We are back completely to what we loved doing. I remembered that for 4 years, I never went home for CHRISTMAS/NEW YEAR celebrations. I could as well take myself out for a good lunch and get back to work.

We reasoned later that and asked, why dont we use an existing devise that can do what we planned to do. Remember whatever you think you want to do, most of the time, it already exists somewhere.

Thats was when I began to focus on C#/Java and server side programming/wired and wireless computer networking. Did I lose focus? Without defending myself, I will say NO, I only looked in a different direction. ONE QUESTION IS FUNDAMENTAL, HOW WILL I MAKE MY KNOWLEDGE RELEVANT AND MARKETABLE?

I was not fully involved in the finalized project coding because we had other friends on board who were very very smart and good and I dont want to list where they are working right now, doing what they love, CODING, but sincerely, at the end of our 3rd year in the school, the project was finalized and launched the same year. In addition, on several occasions where we met with the management of the school including the Vice Chancellor, we had to defend and explain how it worked to them and take their feedback for necessary adjustments.

To cut the story short, I was involved in the implementation and management of the application and alongside learnt wired, wireless plus fibre optic networking since I had to confront myself that, TRULY, programming was not my natural habitat.

Because of the exposure to hardware programming and interfacing, I became very good at diagnosis, repairs and maintenance of hardwares and eventually became a supplier of laptops, desktops, programming lecture to seniors, colleagues and juniors and later was into sales and installation of wireless routers when the school forayed into provision of wireless network connectivity to the public.

Eventually, I did my Industrial Attachment with the school, developed other programming applications with Visual Basic.Net etc and went into DATA MINING full time. Now that we had a huge database of information, what do we do with it? Hence my foray into Data Analytics/Business Intelligent/Information Systems. I also developed networking skills, contracting, sales, marketing, research etc skills. I had to fix PC for influential people in my school, I would have missed the opportunity to network with them if I didnt learn how to connect with people in higher positions of authority. I also made a few bucks from those relationships.

Summarily, by the time I finished school, I was too busy to think of what to do next with my life.

While doing my research, I discovered that technology implementation especially in Nigeria had moved into  packaged software and rather than bottom up development (banks, telecoms etc). That was when I went into SAP and Oracle e Business suites because they are already perfected softwares that you can use to manipulate and analyse information to the extent that you know how to use them. My sound programming background help with ABAP and I had hands on experience already with MS SQL SERVER, ORACLE SQL, My SQL, ASP.NET, ADO.NET had a tough time understanding Java and JavaBEANS etc so I dumped it and became MICROSOFT/BILL GATES fan for life. TRUST MICROSOFT - EVERYTHING HAD BEEN AUTOMATED, Just Click and connect your database if you are not interested in writing codes (seriously, am very lazy and coding is not fun for me)

I discovered that there are billions of pages of information but who will make sense out of it? That is the niche where I live. Give me sufficient information, using all the tools that technology have, I will tell you in simple sentences what is the best decision to take, What that is called, I dont know , information systems, decision science, executive decision making, strategic analysis, whatever I am still looking for the numenclature that captures that,

I also need to mention here that the one and only hobby that I enjoy doing anytime anyday is READING and RESEARCH, I cant count how many years of my life I have spent on the internet inundating myself with information.

Many years down the line, that is the field I still am today, ANALYSIS, tell my firm what the figures and trends are saying and what is the way to go/STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING.

I want to make a lot of money from my talents and want to stay relevant, any industry I find myself, and thats what led me into writing professional exams in Business Analysis, Data Analysis, Project Management, Information System Management, Finance etc.

If I have opportunity to choose another course, I will go for Quantitative Finance/Physics/Information Systems/Actuarial Science because of the weight of calculations and reasoning that is involved and most importantly it is applicable e.g. Quantitative Finance is very integral to the worldwide financial industry, FX, Hedge funds etc

I love influencing the direction that things go and thats why I want to be a decision maker for individuals, presidents, UN, AU etc

I believe my long story will encourage somebody in their quest for greatness.

Identify your habitat, go all the way doing what you love, dont limit yourself by a limited imagination, Think beyond your environment, Look outside the box, Pursue your dream passionately,

I can assure you that if there is no vacancy for you today, life will create space for you if you stay glued to your dreams, dont stay on the bed, wake up and work out the dreams,

@Chamber2, I rest my case,

^^bukky. quadruple gbosa!!!. you too much.

To contribute, my career plan for the year MIGHT be this:

1. Pass strategic certifications.

2. Network wider within and outside my department.

3. Champion one change within my team/department to contribute visibly and strategically ( safety, process efficiency, staff welfare, cost savings/reallocation etc).

4. Deliver all responsibilities ahead of deadline and above expectations.

bukkytroni

I am completely humbled. Determination can surely take one miles away. Your contribution is highly appreciated. At least, someone somewhere has benefited from the information you shared.

Thanks for sharing

[s]I only wish our other experienced members can do same[/s]

jay bee:

Do we have shortage of these skills? What's the point in people acquiring same skills that they will never use due to the economy in which they compete in. It's like advising people to continue studying to be an electronic engineer in the UK when the country itself is far loosing jobs to places where cheap labour is the order of the day.

Young Nigerians should focus less on prestige of a degree and worry more about the chances they stand in getting a job in whatever career they choose to embark on. This should normally be the deciding factor when people choose careers.

Ironically we do. At least I know there's a serious shortage of teachers at all levels in Nigeria. I know a private university that is planning to bring in Indians en masse.
We're definitely short of doctors in Nigeria as well, as well as pharmacists. The government putting everybody on pause makes it seem like we don't.
What I was trying to say is, there's no new formula to career growth. What has happened of late is, people are seeking short cuts to wealth.

Sort of like that thread where some dude was asking about a switch for medical lab science to agric economics, and people were talking about future careers in banking and finance, if the person got a good degree in the agric economics. I very much doubt that the financial industry will exist in its current form in 10 years. Why not follow through with a career in medical lab science, which gives you an actual skill which will remain in demand, and also provide a definite path towards entrepreneurship?

There is nothing new to career growth. Choose a definite career based on what you think you will be able to do, what can give you independence in the future. Everybody is dreaming of Goldman Sachs these days. Godman Sachs may not even exist in five years. After all Lehman Brothers was a big fish in 2007, five years ago. We need to stop chasing trends. Right now in Nigeria, there is a desperate shortage of people with actual skills in anything, even IT. People just need to put in that little extra.

Career should not limit you to only Nigeria as well. I know someone who read physics at Unilag. Today he has a PhD in nuclear physics and works in Germany. He didn't even make a 2:1. I also know someone who did fine art in yaba tech. He's a user interface designer in the US today, working for a major smartphone maker.

I also know someone who graduated with a 3rd class from a state university, in an arts discipline. He decided to go into marketing, he went all the way to get a Phd, despite his first degree. He lectured in marketing in some UK universities, and is now back in Nigeria, doing both academics and consulting.

Nigerians should embrace innovation and stop trying to adapt and follow trends, in order to make easy money quick. Consistency is all you need. The road might be rough at the beginning, but it is always like that. Don't jump all over the place, CFA today, MCSE tomorrow. Whatever path you choose, stay with it, and earnestly seek opportunities in that area. Nigerians are always looking for quick and easy fixes.

bukkytroni:

@Chamber2

Down the road, I HIT the ROCKS,  I couldnt get an IC programmer that I can insert a IC Chip, run my program from the PC and reprogram the IC to do what I want it to do. You know the interfacing circuit must be able to read the finger prints, use Analog to Digital Converter to translate to machine codes, manage all the interrupts, addresses and the GUI must be able to reproduce the same image.

What were you trying to do here?
Biometrics? You could have bought a biometric reader. They come with their own APIs and libraries. You don't need to go machine-level to do biometric programming.
Tell us more about what you were trying to do then,

Your post, quite lengthy, was very interesting, and there is something there for young people to learn. Sometimes the guidance is not there, which is always the case in Nigeria. I was lucky to meet a few people who pointed me in the right direction early enough. That is always invaluable. But these days you have the Internet, so nobody has an excuse.

AjanleKoko:

Ironically we do. At least I know there's a serious shortage of teachers at all levels in Nigeria. I know a private university that is planning to bring in Indians en masse.
We're definitely short of doctors in Nigeria as well, as well as pharmacists. The government putting everybody on pause makes it seem like we don't.
What I was trying to say is, there's no new formula to career growth. What has happened of late is, people are seeking short cuts to wealth.

Sir, are you linking the shortage to the inability of teenagers to study the right courses at university or the fact that teaching profession is not as noble as it was back in the day. Delving into the possible reason why people run away from teaching profession shouldn't take you long to realise that the paltry salary the profession promises might just be the main course. Mind you, it's the same everywhere so not synonymous to Nigeria only but what other responsible government do is attach some sweeteners in the form of perks so as to make it attractive for graduates.

Also, do you realise the main reason why most doctors are leaving the shores of Nigerian en masses is simply because of the pay condition, you may argue that people in such professions shouldn't really be looking at the benefits of the job rather than the prestige and satisfaction it brings when they see the end results of their respective patients.

AjanleKoko:


Sort of like that thread where some dude was asking about a switch for medical lab science to agric economics, and people were talking about future careers in banking and finance, if the person got a good degree in the agric economics. I very much doubt that the financial industry will exist in its current form in 10 years. Why not follow through with a career in medical lab science, which gives you an actual skill which will remain in demand, and also provide a definite path towards entrepreneurship?

I totally agree with the above. What we need is people with actual technical skills. Technicians are usually the main driving force of any industry and if the nation is serious about being a global player in manufacturing then surely this ought to be developed further.

jay bee:

Sir, are you linking the shortage to the inability of teenagers to study the right courses at university or the fact that teaching profession is not as noble as it was back in the day. Delving into the possible reason why people run away from teaching profession shouldn't take you long to realise that the paltry salary the profession promises might just be the main course. Mind you, it's the same everywhere so not synonymous to Nigeria only but what other responsible government do is attach some sweeteners in the form of perks so as to make it attractive for graduates.

Also, do you realise the main reason why most doctors are leaving the shores of Nigerian en masses is simply because of the pay condition, you may argue that people in such professions shouldn't really be looking at the benefits of the job rather than the prestige and satisfaction it brings when they see the end results of their respective patients.

Let's look at the economic, rather than the emotional impact of your statement.
The truth is,  nothing every stays the same.

Teaching profession 20 years ago was mostly government, and they fixed the wages. Now, population is growing, more private schools up to university level are being opened. Wages will continue to grow in this sector, as the private sector boom will continue. More teachers will be needed.

Medical profession: With the coming of managed healthcare and health insurance, healthcare in Nigeria is growing. Even in the public sector, wages have grown, as some have attested to on the medical doctors' thread. More HMO subscriptions, more money in health insurance, and demand for health care professionals, even if government does not open new hospitals. We saw this a couple of years back when a South African Healthcare group invested around $250m to acquire Total health Trust, a local HMO.

In fact, I predict that specialist doctors will soon start to return from the US to Nigeria, over the next 5 years. If Obama gets re-elected and nothing happens to his Obamacare bill, I wonder how lucrative healthcare practice will be in the US. Already a number of UK doctors are back to Nigeria in one capacity or the other.

As per why there is a shortage . . . the shortage is simply that we are not producing enough of teachers or doctors or any other profession to support our population. This is mostly caused by government; not building and developing existing schools and hospitals, no demand planning of any sort, etc. But the population and economy is growing nonetheless. You can't just write yourself off as a teacher; go out there and look for a job.

My niece underwent a CT scan today in a private hospital. It means there are faciities to do CT scans in Nigeria. Do we have specialists that can operate the machines? Maybe when you look at things from that perspective, you see what I mean by shortage.

The problem we have in Nigeria is perception; I am a graduate teacher or doctor, and already I believe I can't earn 'enough' from my profession. So I have to do something else. That's a bit of a fallacy, because my first job as a graduate engineer paid me less than 10 thousand naira a month. Despite that, I resisted the temptation to chase a banking career. Bankers back then in the 90s earned maybe 3 or 5 times what I did.

A decade and a half later, I earn a seven figure salary on a monthly basis, outside other benefits, from my current position. A banker at the same level I am (i still work in technology) would probably earn more money than I do. But I have no regrets. That's how it should be.

AjanleKoko:

Let's look at the economic, rather than the emotional impact of your statement.
The truth is, nothing every stays the same.

Teaching profession 20 years ago was mostly government, and they fixed the wages. Now, population is growing, more private schools up to university level are being opened. Wages will continue to grow in this sector, as the private sector boom will continue. More teachers will be needed.

Oga, Nigeria is rumoured to have over 150 inhabitant in which 66% of that headline figure is in the labour force.
What percentage of that 66% is attributed to the private sector workforce and even when you factor in the growth rate of private sector on a yearly basis you will still be left with a bigger percentage geered towards the public sector.

If we look at the macro economics even, wage growth will bring wage inflation which in turn will mean less money to play with for the prospective middle class that you are suggesting will boom in the coming years. In my opinion, we will still be left in the same both as more money wouldn't necessarily mean more disposable income as prices will skyrocket and Naira will probably lose it's value.

AjanleKoko:

Medical profession: With the coming of managed healthcare and health insurance, healthcare in Nigeria is growing. Even in the public sector, wages have grown, as some have attested to on the medical doctor's thread. More HMO subscriptions, more money in health insurance, and demand for health care professionals, even if government does not open new hospitals. We saw this a couple of years back when a South African Healthcare group invested around $250m to acquire Total health Trust, a local HMO.

In fact, I predict that specialist doctors will soon start to return from the US to Nigeria, over the next 5 years. If Obama gets re-elected and nothing happens to his Obamacare bill, I wonder how lucrative healthcare practice will be in the US. Already a number of UK doctors are back to Nigeria in one capacity or the other.

I sincerely hope this will be the case

jay bee:

Oga, Nigeria is rumoured to have over 150 inhabitant in which 66% of that headline figure is in the labour force.
What percentage of that 66% is attributed to the private sector workforce and even when you factor in the growth rate of private sector on a yearly basis you will still be left with a bigger percentage geered towards the public sector.

If we look at the macro economics even, wage growth will bring wage inflation which in turn will mean less money to play with for the prospective middle class that you are suggesting will boom in the coming years. In my opinion, we will still be left in the same both as more money wouldn't necessarily mean more disposable income as prices will skyrocket and Naira will probably lose it's value.
I sincerely hope this will be the case

The bulk of that 66% is in the private sector workforce.
You are right about inflation of course. But isn't that the same everywhere? That's not limited to Nigeria. Even in the developed world, as growth plummets, the wage will hold less value. Already some of the European countries are trying to raise taxes and cut social spending, like Spain.

But remember, we are talking about individuals. Nowadays, people tend to spend big on education, not only in Nigeria. The expectation is to earn premium, which won't necessarily be the case anymore. I am saying, be conservative but be focused, and you will see the career growth you are seeking.

AjanleKoko:

The bulk of that 66% is in the private sector workforce.
You are right about inflation of course. But isn't that the same everywhere? That's not limited to Nigeria. Even in the developed world, as growth plummets, the wage will hold less value. Already some of the European countries are trying to raise taxes and cut social spending, like Spain.

But remember, we are talking about individuals. Nowadays, people tend to spend big on education, not only in Nigeria. The expectation is to earn premium, which won't necessarily be the case anymore. I am saying, be conservative but be focused, and you will see the career growth you are seeking.

Any evidence to back it up?

jay bee:

Any evidence to back it up?

None, unfortunately. But we have less than 200,000 in federal government employment, from many government statements in the past.
If we aggregate over the 36 states, we may not get up to 10 million, and 66% figure of employed is around 99 million.
Definitely we don't have half of that 99 million working in the public sector.

According to : http://www.indexmundi.com/nigeria/demographics_profile.html
Age structure

0-14 years: 40.9% (male 32,476,681/female 31,064,539)
15-64 years: 55.9% (male 44,296,228/female 42,534,542) bulk of the workforce is drawn from here
65 years and over: 3.1% (male 2,341,228/female 2,502,355) (2011 est.)

So going by your aggregation and factoring students and unemployment figures then surely public sector workers will be > 50% of the total workforce.
It's so sad that we don't have proper publicized payroll data

^^
Impossible.
Public sector does not employ up to 20m workers nationwide.

^^
Oh okay. I get you.
That aside, i hope you get the general idea of what I've been on about, relating to individuals and career.

AjanleKoko:

^^
Oh okay. I get you.
That aside, i hope you get the general idea of what I've been on about, relating to individuals and career.

Off course i do. I always look forward to reading your posts on NL.
I'm sure I've asked you this down the years before but do you mentor peeps? I think you should

Interesting discussion.

I wish the super moderator can take this to the front page. The issue of fuel subsidy seems to have preoccupied our minds now.

jay bee:

Off course i do. I always look forward to reading your posts on NL.
I'm sure I've asked you this down the years before but do you mentor peeps? I think you should

The issue of mentoring is what most Nigerian peeps are lacking. Aj has done well in this regard through the career section. I am also looking forward to PM him one day in this regard if he wouldn't mind

Generally, the current generation seem to be in a greater dilemma other than the issue of learning specialist skills. The schools are not properly equipped to train students on the skills sets required to function optimally in their chosen fields.  This kinda of makes them more confused of what to do upon graduation.

jay bee:

Off course i do. I always look forward to reading your posts on NL.
I'm sure I've asked you this down the years before but do you mentor peeps? I think you should

In a way I do. I work with an NGO that helps youth corpers get their bearing.

AjanleKoko:

In a way I do. I work with an NGO that helps youth corpers get their bearing.

Super nice.
How can we help those in SS3 ?
Perhaps Setting up a career advice NGO ?

Certification!!! when will u try ur hands on some of these enterprises and make out a living for urself and others! U wl be surprised how successful u will become if only u plan pretty well. Try being an entrepreneur; it pays off these days!