I think this Friday would be a good time to review the career activities for this week. I don't know how many interviews you've attended, but we need to go back to the drawing board and answer some question. One of them is "Am I really Employable?"

It took me some time to figure out the answer to this question “Am I really an employable graduate?”. This question finally became the life-changing question I needed to get my ax together and aim for the sky.

I met a man at one of the conferences going on at the popular Eko hotel and suites in Lagos. As we sat together, I discovered he was the current GMD of a popular IT firm on the Lagos Island. I quickly coordinated myself, arranged my CV inside my bag, rehearsed my introductory line, and was ready to fire my sales pitch to him.

One of the seminar speakers cracked a joke, and I immediately seized that opportunity to deliver my well-crafted sales pitch.

“Hello Sir, my name is Mike, and I just finished university with a second class upper degree. I see you manage an IT firm, and I would love to be part of your setup” I said perfectly. The old man looked at me and smiled. He was probably amazed as to how a small young man could muster up the courage to sell himself within few seconds.

“Meet me at the office tomorrow morning by 11 am,” He said to me as he handed over his card to me. I immediately stood up and switched seats, before he starts having a change of mind. I got to his office the next day, and after much discussion, he dropped the sacred question.

“Are you an employable graduate?”



I had no connection – a lot of people don’t have and won’t have. All I had was my results and secondary school certificate. And I wanted him to hire me in his organization. Maybe he should have considered me, but in business, emotions are kept aside.

All my efforts to convince him that I was an employable graduate was refuted with the answer “Prove to Me”. “How can I do that?” I asked myself.



I was just a Fresh graduate who just finished service, and someone wanted to see my 5 years education as worthless by asking if I was an employable graduate? No Way!!! It wasn’t going to be possible. I talked and argued and tried convincing the old man, but he kept smiling and dropped another bombshell which was “why should I hire you?”

You see, a few years later I remember that scene, and I get to know what passes through the mind of every interviewer when they see your resume.

The question “Why should I hire him/her flashes through their mind in quick seconds”

Do you know that for every job application, there are over 10,000 people (without connection) seeking for the same job role? Then you add it up with the 100 people (with connections) seeking for that same job role.

No wonder we hear every day that “there are no jobs” You should have the mind that the jobs are meant for two people;

-The Well Connected

-The Skilled ones.

Before you ever submit any job application, I beg you to ask yourself one last question which is “why should they even hire me?”

If you can answer this question convincingly to yourself, then I see no reason why you can’t convince the interviewer to hire you.

There are so many ways to make yourself prepared. There are limited jobs out there, but we can’t continue to blame the govt. It is either you set up a business yourself, or you make yourself valuable to any employer.

The question now is how can you make yourself an employable graduate?

“Didn’t I go to the university?”

“Didn’t I graduate with a 1st class?”

“Haven’t I gone for my NYSC?”

You should know that every year, the country produces nothing less than 1,000 First class graduates. In fact, first class (1st class) is now so common that employers now see it as second class upper (2.1).

How do you differentiate yourself from the other graduates? See you in my next article for answers.

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lalasticlala, seun

source: http://topwritersden.com/are-you-really-employable/

I must admit, I'm privileged to see this thread. OP thanks for revealing the secret to the age long challenges people have been going through.