One Of The Best Gifts I Received Was A Year’s Subscription To The Economist And

During my days as an intern I was called into the office of the CEO to have a meeting with her. She was telling me about my potential but then asked me about my reading habits. I told her I like reading, and I read the newspaper here and there, and then she proceeded to tell me that I must make it a daily habit to read something SUBSTANTIAL everyday.

I looked at her kind of funny and wondered what she meant by substantial. Eventually she ordered me a years worth of The Economist, and I can say that was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

It is okay to get news from websites such as Bella Naija and Nairaland, but to make you a well rounded person include other reputable newspapers. This may sound like a simple statement, but you will be surprised how many do not make reading the news a daily habit. Do not just read only Nigerian news, because you will only see things from one perspective.

The power of the internet now enables people to have access to places like WSJ, The New York Times, and Financial Times. Make sure to also incorporate industry news. In my professional I have a list of websites, and blogs I go to daily to keep up on current trends.

You will be surprised on how much reading daily helps you start conversations at networking events, or help initiate a conversation at an interview. Also, reading the news gives you a holistic view on the different components of the business and the factors that influence it.

Some people will say well I do not have time to read daily, but I beg to differ. Instead of searching around on facebook take that time out to read the news paper or something pertaining to your industry. What is your favorite daily read?

Original Source

Quite right.
Our media in Nigeria is crap. Coupled with the fact that there are almost zero trade magazines and periodicals. Though there are a plethora of dodgy IT magazines. In Nigeria, the only professional publication that is not bad seems to be Financial Nigeria.

However, you can get a lot of Internet-based subscriptions. I am subscribed to hundreds of newsletters, journals, and periodicals, all Internet-based, and all free.

We dont have too many trade magazines in Nigeria.

Generally, publications that are related to your niche market are very useful.

AjanleKoko:

Quite right.
Our media in Nigeria is crap. Coupled with the fact that there are almost zero trade magazines and periodicals. Though there are a plethora of dodgy IT magazines. In Nigeria, the only professional publication that is not bad seems to be Financial Nigeria.

However, you can get a lot of Internet-based subscriptions. I am subscribed to hundreds of newsletters, journals, and periodicals, all Internet-based, and all free.

can you share some links please

Good point, western media is very professional.

Dailymail, Huffingtonpost, New York times et cetera.

quite true

Need to get a tablet PC. Perfect for reading trade publications and newspapers.

Huffington post ke?

In nigeria if u like read economist ,you no go get job unless u get leg

Thats not true reading the economist will increase your vocab, give you points to discuss while networking, and makes your more of an intellectual who is aware of the issues

true. I added nl to my list of websites to frequent.

Reading generally is quite helpfuL because it keeps you up-to-date.

I will be watching this thread to see how we all are going to contribute to it and also to balance our individual contributions to it in relation to our post on issue that relates to religion and ethnicity.
Naijacarerist, a million thanks for this post

A cup of coffee pls!

Naijacareerist:

One Of The Best Gifts I Received Was A Year’s Subscription To The Economist And

During my days as an intern I was called into the office of the CEO to have a meeting with her. She was telling me about my potential but then asked me about my reading habits. I told her I like reading, and I read the newspaper here and there, and then she proceeded to tell me that I must make it a daily habit to read something SUBSTANTIAL everyday.

I looked at her kind of funny and wondered what she meant by substantial. Eventually she ordered me a years worth of The Economist, and I can say that was one of the best gifts I have ever received.

It is okay to get news from websites such as Bella Naija and Nairaland, but to make you a well rounded person include other reputable newspapers. This may sound like a simple statement, but you will be surprised how many do not make reading the news a daily habit. Do not just read only Nigerian news, because you will only see things from one perspective.

The power of the internet now enables people to have access to places like WSJ, The New York Times, and Financial Times. Make sure to also incorporate industry news. In my professional I have a list of websites, and blogs I go to daily to keep up on current trends.

You will be surprised on how much reading daily helps you start conversations at networking events, or help initiate a conversation at an interview. Also, reading the news gives you a holistic view on the different components of the business and the factors that influence it.

Some people will say well I do not have time to read daily, but I beg to differ. Instead of searching around on facebook take that time out to read the news paper or something pertaining to your industry. What is your favorite daily read?

Original Source

@OP

You couldn't have said it any better!

The benefits of subscriptions to Foreign Magazines & Industry Newsletters can not be over emphasised. One thing i've noticed is being abreast of developments across the globe either within your career track or across economies as a whole always gives you an edge in Networking events.

In addidtion, a lot of these knowledge is also very useful at work during discussions spanning global best practices especially if you're working with a Multi-national. . .A lot of our youths these days are heavily into social networks -FB, Twitter, BB etc at the detriment of their personal development and others are fully fixated on acquiring professional certifications, thinking that's where it ends.

To develop along career lines effectively and even as a well-rounded  individual, we need to broaden our horizons & release ourselves from the 'silos' mentality. Read about shared Global best practices, developments & innovations as these keep changing daily and will go a long way into even making us more versatile & competitive in our careers.

My 2 cents . . . . . .

One habit I inherited from my father is The European Economist, The American Time magazine and The American Newsweek. I have editions dating back to 1991.
It has never helped me get a job but it has undeniably made be a better person. When it comes to conversations you really find out that you know a lot about many subjects. And most especially it gives you a global perspective. For example on the day of the world trade centre bombing in New York. I told my friend that Osama Bin Laden was behind that because I already knew of Osama Bin laden before then, I recalled that in the midst of Bill Gates and Monica Lewinsky saga Bill Clinton ordered the bombing of a base where they thot Osama was hiding but dey did not get Osama. I knew of Barack Obama when he was contesting to become of Senator in the US and that Barack Obama never really had a good political challenge until Hillary Clinton and of course History seems to be repeating itself with the fact that there are to strong challengers in the republican party right now as Mitt Romney is not really loved by the people.
What I'm trying to say is that reading all these foreign journals makes you a better person when dealing with foreigners. Like a can easily discuss with an American Briton or a European quite easily. And one other things I like about Foreign journals is that when they pick a topic they really study and lay it out. To me reading the American Times was getting a very interesting textbook. I even studied about handguns from an edition of the American Times. I followed up the break up of the USSR and the rise of the Oligarchs. I know that the Russians still dream of a time when they will be a world power stronger than the Americans and how this affects their foreign policy.If I hear a piece of news I can tell if its coming from the American Press or the European press because their basic mentalities also plays out in their news reporting.
If you have the opportunity to read these foreign journals news magazine please do because it will no doubt turn you into a better person.
But as for getting a job Thats another thing.

I've always been fascinated with the foreign media from my primary school days. In fact, you don't often find me quoting articles from Nigerian media. I read from big news sources like Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Real Clear Politics, The Spectator, BusinessWeek, Forbes, The Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, New York Times, Daily Telegraph to smaller blogs like PJMedia, FoxNation, RedState, Politico, Townhall, MichelleMalkin, Dailybeast, American Thinker, Newsbusters, American Interest, among others.

Going through my Facebook page, Samuel Sir'Mo Ogundipe, will give you a better perspective on how much I like sourcing my news from abroad.

I salivate to read weekly columns from conservatives like George F. Will, Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hanson, Daniel Henninger, Charles Krauthammer, Walter Russell Mead among others.

And if you want professional analysis on all sorts of sectors of Humanities, check think-tanks like the Heritage Foundation, Brookings Institution, Manhattan Institute, CFR, Eurasia, AEI, Cato Institute among others.

Now, does that mean I don't read our local sources? Absolutely not, in fact, I'm a registered blogger at the Vanguard. But I just like foreign media for its professionalism.

Well done guys and a special thanks to the poster.
Before i opened this thread, I knew it will not extend beyond page 1 despite being up on the front page for sometime now.
It does not talk about sex, football or phones and so it will be avoided BY THOSE WHO NEED IT THE MOST.
You guys don't realise what this thread has done to me. I flew into Nigeria to hold our International Young Leaders Academy last August in Ilorin and the very first assignment I gave was for the 30 or so participants to read and summarize articles from a newspaper. I was shocked to hear from all of them that they were reading a newspaper for the first time. And these guys were SS3 students. So I wondered why they got their information from? I almost lost hope but with this thread I know there are people out there doing the right thing.
Knowledge is power as they say. Read to gather information.
Whenever you have the opportunity, google any subject. Thank God for wikipedia.
I currently use You Tube and Google to do extra lessons for my 7 year old son. Even though we live in England, I have shown him what a Tsunami looks like from You Tube videos.
We have not flown in the Airbus A380, but I have shown him official videos of what the plane looks like. There are too many tools out there for anyone to feign ignorance.
Believe it or not, there are news magazines that you will read and at the end of it all, you will sound more coherent than a masters degree holder from our Nigerian universities.
And just to add that if you desire to speak properly, spend time listening to radio - BBC World service. At least you don't DSTV for this. Listen and imitate the way the presenters speak. No funny gobble. Just plain simple English.

@Shinor, I couldn't agree more with your analysis. Indeed, I found this line accurate with my own experience "Believe it or not, there are news magazines that you will read and at the end of it all, you will sound more coherent than a masters degree holder from our Nigerian universities."

I'm not trying to hype myself but what you wrote is so spot on I couldn't escape but say this.

There's a professor from OOU that relies on me for everything foreign news and ideological politics. He would call me at least 5 times in a month to find out one of two things about the events around the world, the history preceding them and how to summarize them into a nutshell. The same goes to tonnes of my friends and neighbors.

Am I a Ph.D. holder? No. Was I born with this knowledge? Of course not. I haven't been to these countries and I didn't get my knowledge from school either. But I'm just an average Joe who's obsessed with one thing: reading.

Suffice it to say that you're doing a great service to your child by teaching him those habits from such a minor age, most importantly because in contemporary Nigeria, you only get to hear about Facebook and Pinging when it comes to the use of Internet. Overwhelming majority of my contemporaries have no idea what the Internet can be used for outside the aforementioned scope.

@Samoo01. Thanks for your contribution.
I couldn't help but respond after reading your line that what most people use the internet for in Nigeria and indeed a greater part of Africa is socializing. This is really unfortunate. As the world grows smaller everyday via these same devices, a lot of people are failing to realize that we are all being judged with the same yardstick. If companies can relocate their call centres from the US to Ghana, why won't they judge a Ghanaian or Nigerian graduate against a US graduate? At the end of the day, it's either you are in or you are out. If you can't measure up, you'll fall out. It is left to individuals to equip themselves. We can no longer blame the university we attended.
But as you rightly stated, to them its all about pinging, EPL or La Liga.

^ The "blackman" will always be "black".

Nice thread. I cant but imagine how people who do not read and widen their horizon intend to develop. There are hosts of things that we will never be taught in school and we need to know them.

Yes, you're right