₦airaland Forum

amosisinsin: . Greedy Mumu! Olodo rabata!..... How does d number of gate crashers reduce ur performance? Dat means u are not confident of ur self ni? Abi u won carry first ni? Go call police den!

CoolHunk: Remove the superfluous "t", mister. Are you trying to embarrass us?

Claroo: Gud Mornin ooooooo

Jarus: I once got to an interview only to see that the CV I sent to them did not contain the name of the organization I had worked. It was mistakenly deleted in the process of editing the CV before I sent to them. The interview began and I told them I had x years experience on Y company. They asked, where's that on your CV, I told them it's there; wanting to show them, I collected it, only to see that the company name was not there, although the position and years were ther!!!

I told them it was an error. "Oh, that's an error, it must have been mistakenly deleted"

xfire: Hey bro, sometimes we are too hard on ourselves. I gone for two interviews after which I thought my performance was below par. Guess what? I was scaled through and the feedback I got was that I was one of the best in both cases. Sometimes, we set high standards for ourselves. So keep the hope alive.
It's also important you learn from your mistakes. Every interview is a learning opportunity. ALL my interviews without any exception were learning opportunities. Keep improving. You will achieve your set goals.


Cheers......

xfire: Hey bro, sometimes we are too hard on ourselves. I gone for two interviews after which I thought my performance was below par. Guess what? I was scaled through and the feedback I got was that I was one of the best in both cases. Sometimes, we set high standards for ourselves. So keep the hope alive.
It's also important you learn from your mistakes. Every interview is a learning opportunity. ALL my interviews without any exception were learning opportunities. Keep improving. You will achieve your set goals.


Cheers......

Claroo: This Hype is too much jawe.

guttentag: Will that bring an end to ebola virus?

xfire: Following my recent write-up in the Nairaland thread ‘'Top 10 Most demanded jobs in the oil and gas industry”, and other posts and articles I have written in the past, I have received several questions that indicate that some fresh graduates still have a few misconceptions about what it takes to compete and succeed in the labour market. I decided to write on 3 misconceptions that some fresh graduates make, and hopefully this will be beneficial to many.

Misconception #1: I must have certifications to get a good job in Nigeria
This is not exactly true. You do not necessarily need certifications to get a job in Nigeria. There are countless number of established and experienced professionals in the manufacturing, banking, construction, oil and gas, and other sectors who do not any certification at all. I personally worked in the FMCG industry before moving to the oil industry. I am on my third job. I do not have any certification whatsoever. Most of my past and current managers do not have any certification. All they have is their wealth of experience and the several trainings they have attended during the course of their career in same company. Maybe I will get some certifications along the way as I progress in my career. Being employable as a fresh grad in Nigeria is not about the number of certifications you gather. I know people with wonderful certifications who are still unemployed or underemployed. I am not entirely ruling out the relevance of certifications. It is important in the IT industry, for instance. Even then, a fresh graduate in an IT related course should be more concerned about his/her grade and ability to scale through various recruitment hurdles. A smart and employable grad in an IT related course will get a good job irrespective of whether he/she has a certification or not. Certification becomes more relevant as you gain experience.

Misconception #2: I must have a Masters degree to have an edge over others
Another misconception some fresh grads make. If you want a career in academics, then furthering your studies is essential, if not mandatory. But if you are looking out for a job, a Masters degree will not necessarily give you a significant leverage over others. If you are still young, you may consider a Masters before going for a job. Who knows? Maybe I would have considered a Masters degree if I had graduated at a much younger age. However, have it at the back of your mind that you will still have to compete with every grad out there to get a good and meaningful job. You do not even need a postgraduate degree to work in the respectable and prestigious oil and gas companies. I can say (with no certainty, just personal observation) that about 75-80 % of those in the oil industry did not have any form of certification or Masters at entry point. I can say (with all certainty) that about 75% of the fresh engineers recently recruited by my employers (a multinational oil firm) are fresh grads from school with no MSc.
You do not even need an MSc to get promotion at work. Promotion in organizations is generally based on your productivity and performance, and not your degrees. In most firms, you will even need to get a leave of absence if you want to embark on a full-time Masters after employment, and your job is not guaranteed on returning.
I am not saying a Masters is not important. I hope to acquire one soon. It may be helpful if I am aiming for a managerial role in another organization, or if I am looking forward to a political appointment sometime in the future. Masters degree is great, but grads need to know that it does not necessarily equate to employability. You may decide to enroll for Masters while you continue your search for a job.

Misconception #3: I must press buttons (know people in high places) before I get a good job in this “corrupt Naija”
Another lie from the pit of hell. No reputable private organization, even in Nigeria will risk placing its future on incompetent or untested employees. Every growing organization knows that its most valuable asset is its employees. Companies are always looking out to hire the best hands. Organizations in Nigeria usually have well-structured recruitment processes that make it difficult even for influential employees to slot in candidates. A few public firms, such as NNPC still recruit largely on merit (I know it will sound incredulous for some but that’s the truth). Nepotism is still a cancer in the Nigerian corporate world, be it public or private. But its influence is widely exaggerated.

[size=14pt]What then makes a graduate employable in Nigeria?[/size]
As competitive as the Nigerian labour market is, the attributes that make a graduate employable are still foundational - Good grades, aptitude test writing skills, interview skills, communication skills, basic computer skills. Get good grades. Ensure you are good and prepared enough to pass aptitude tests. Your communication skills (writing and speaking) should at least be above board. Practice well for all kinds of interview formats. You need not have excellent computer skills – just basic. Believe me, you will get multiple offers within a short period. If you have good grades but have poor test writing and communication skills, you will still struggle to get a job.

TRUE LIFE STORY:
I want to share the story of a particular lady who is 3 sets after me in school in the same engineering department. She is quite brilliant. She graduated with a CGPA of over 4 point out of 5, and also clinched a departmental award on convocation day. She was also the best female student in her set. She finished youth service at a relatively young age of 23 years. However, despite numerous job aptitude tests and interviews, she couldn’t get a job for over a year (1.5 years to be exact). She applied to so many firms but she never got an offer. She became so frustrated, and shared her problems with me. She felt she was not getting offers because she didn’t know anyone. I told her not to develop that mentality, if not, she will resign to fate and be defeated. At a time, she considered going for NEBOSH certification (at a cost of about 350k) but I discouraged her because I knew it wouldn’t add any value to her as a fresh grad. That’s simply a waste of resources. After relating with her, I found out that her test writing skill was just a little above average, while her interview skill was particularly awful. I encouraged her to practice sample job aptitude tests more frequently and to pay particular attention to improving her interview skills. She started working on both. Anytime she had interview, she would call me to review her level of preparations. I always found it a bit frustrating because I would need to spend considerable time to tutoring her on interview etiquettes; how to answer interview questions; what to say and what not to say; what to ask and what to ask; what to do and what not to do, etc. I am happy to say that after all the stress she made me pass through, she now has 3 offers she is considering (2 job offers and one scholarship offer). This made me realize her problem was never lack of intelligence, but basic interview skills.

N.B - I am NOT a professional tutor on interview questions and answers, neither am I planning to be professional career counsellor. The true life story was to further drive down my points and enlighten young grads.

Akerry: I rep NOV 9

Jennimma: Today In History!
NIGERIA-The only country that foolishly had a salt bath.

Jakumo: The new rumor circulating Nigeria now is that Ebola fever can be warded off by carrying about a large duck in a basket, while shouting CHAI ! at least 3 times per hour.

curiouses: @dollyptosh, dem Don de call you abi. Bulletin bin sending me mail too but their pay no make sense..

Good morning y'all...Titiluvly my dear I crashed my phone yesterday and since been on PC.

Trendiitee, Hon. Akerry, Sodiqyinka, Rashfat, Jennyesh, Nabsprada, Heineken, Cutekemitola, Noordean, Anugod, Velounie, Deola11, Dania30, AjGentle.

Hope you guys heard about salted hot water as prevention for Ebola.

dolafunmi: I've not been a fan of nairaland... sorry to say.
Its usually too insulting and tribalistic. Usually, it seems like an avenue to display our hatred towards one another[color=#006600][/color]
This group/page is different though.

Idowuogbo: Upcoming

Idowuogbo: Even the smoothest road is full of stones.Confidence is half victory, do not try to fit in, you were born to stand out.

curiouses: You know nah...I be semi-extrovert....You na introvert...

curiouses: Make sense? Don't be surprised when you find out that many of us are extreme introvert...


Well, I'm just saying....

sentaljohn: This thread dey fly..153 pages...arrr arrr!! Diz is interesting..all d same, I hail u guys keeping it lively

rashfat: See humility

Horlawoomey: Any Engineer in the house ?

curiouses: Khalil the Black Spartan....How Lag?

curiouses: Khalil the Black Spartan....How Lag?

curiouses: Yes boss...Iron Lady?....Is that you?

curiouses: Good morning to you all....
Curiouses reporting live from the 'Far Better By Far University'. I'm more than happy to be part of you. Happy Sunday.

IjogzK: So the noise maker just dey turn SAN sinceeeee .. Fashola na en senior self.. Nonsense!!! ..... Was finking the guy would even be considered a chief justice soon.. I no knw sa na my best friend mate en be

trigar12: Gosh. We now have kids on nairaland. Warbish