One of the highlights of President Obama’s Africa visit last month was the announcement of the newly created Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, a program designed to annually create mentoring, work, and funding opportunities for 500 Africans leaders between the ages of 25 and 35.

Although the application for the program does not come out until later this year, now is the best time to start thinking about your application, when there is no stress or anxiety of a looming deadline. We have compiled a list of ideas to help you start preparing an application that sets you apart from other applicants and highlights your most important achievements.

Do you have your references?

For a fellowship program such as the Washington Fellowship, you can certainly expect the applications to require at least 2 or 3 letters of recommendation from respected individuals who can attest to your character, professional achievements, and skills. So, here’s the question to think about: do you have people who can write your letters of recommendation? Remember, that uncle of yours who always stands as your reference will not make the cut for this application.

You want to seek recommendations from professionals such as your boss, a professional mentor, or even past professors who can write convincingly about your knowledge, successes, and the value you bring to the fellowship program. Make a list of the individuals who you would like to potentially ask for a recommendation letter. Don’t forget to consider issues such as their personal time and how to get in touch with them. For example, would your boss be too busy working on a project when applications come out? Or will he or she be out of town on a family vacation? If you choose a professor, can he or she remember you and exactly how you stood out in their class or in your research?

Can you describe your past achievements?

The Washington Fellowship is seeking individuals who can demonstrate their leadership in public service, business or entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. You should be prepared to write personal essays and answer questions that show your involvement in any of these areas. The emphasis is on show.

Most times people make the mistake of telling instead of showing. In order to write a persuasive essay that shows the depth of your knowledge, skills, and experiences in these areas, you need to reacquaint yourself with your current and past work experiences. Prioritize your experiences– not every experience is necessary. But don’t discount failures. Remember failure is only disguised growth if you took away a new lesson from the failure and have grown as a result of that lesson. Focus on those experiences that explicitly describe the range of skills that you have acquired and consistently developed. Articulate what you achieved or learned through those experiences where you utilized your skills. Most importantly, explain the importance behind what you did and what you accomplished. What was the impact on individuals, your community, an organization, or even your country? Don’t forget to draw connections to the bigger picture of public service, business, or civic engagement.

What is your vision for the future?

You might be wondering what this question has to do with preparing your application. But don’t overlook it just yet. The goal of the fellowship program is to aid in the development of the next generation of leaders across Africa. Now, what do leaders have? Leaders have vision. You should have a vision that you can communicate in your application. Can you communicate how the fellowship program will help you achieve this vision? Give thought to the connection between the fellowship, your past and current experiences, and your future ambitions. You should aim to present the fellowship as the thread that connects your past and present with your future.

For more career development resources, visit our website at www.professionalnaija.com

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Now that lectures have been cancelled due to the on-going indefinite strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the government’s intransigence and failure to meet a previously agreed upon contract, students have once again found themselves with free time that they did not bargain for. If you are a student who is affected by the strike and is unsure of what to do with this unwanted free time, we have put together three ideas that would keep you stay productive, avoid the trap of idleness, and improve your skills over the course of the strike.

Invest in your hobby

We are not necessarily talking about investing money here. If you have money to invest in your hobby, that’s great. But that’s not our focus. Invest your time in your hobby. And remember time really is money. Thus, when you are investing your time and energy in your hobby, your goal should be on continuous improvement and gaining mastery of whatever your hobby is. By getting better at what you do, you increase your personal satisfaction and also create the potential to turn that hobby into a revenue generator. For example, consider Folake Coker, the founder and creative director of the internationally recognized brand Tiffany Amber. Folake Coker never set out to become a world famous fashion designer. Instead, designing and sewing women’s clothes were simply a hobby that she invested in on the side while pursuing a law degree. She eventually turned her hobby for sewing women’s clothes into a lucrative business. But that transition was possible only because she became good at what she did. Becoming good or an expert at anything requires a time investment. In Folake’s case, the long breaks in-between law school gave her the time to invest in her hobby and gain expertise.

Read, Read, and Read

In your lifetime, you’ve probably heard someone complain about the lack of a reading culture in Nigeria, and the blame is usually pinned on the lack of infrastructure such as libraries or our broken education system. Well, here’s the kicker: in today’s competitive workplace, you cannot afford to have poor reading skills. Employers are seeking employees who can read critically and analytically. In fact, CEOs and HR managers across Nigeria constantly complain about the poor reading and writing skills among recent graduates. The good news is that these days, there is no excuse to not develop your reading skills, because a library is no longer needed to gain access to books. There are many ways to get reading materials. Thanks to the Internet and our mobile phones. Read the newspaper every day. You don’t need to buy a newspaper. All the major newspapers in Nigeria have websites that readers can access for free. You can also read articles in foreign newspapers, such as the Guardian and the New York Times, free of charge. Yes, free of charge. It’s worth repeating. But don’t just skim through the articles. Read critically. Ask yourself questions as you read. Do you agree with the point of view of the author and his or her claims? Try writing or coming up with rebuttals or responses to the editorials and opinion articles.

Now if you would rather stay away from the news, you can gain access to free and cheap books through websites and apps such as Amazon and Okada books. You can get a book for as little as 75 Naira on Okada books and open up a new world of endless imaginations and knowledge. (And yes, just 75 Naira! Our mouths are open too. That is only a fraction of the cost to see a movie, get on a bus, buy meat pie, or better yet, pay for a weave).

Get Involved in your Community

Finally, go out and volunteer in your community. You can seek volunteer opportunities with a local nongovernmental organization (NGO), or company. Just be ready to show them how you can add value to whatever they do. And before you say “volunteering isn’t a Nigerian thing. No organizations are looking for volunteers,” remember this: if you don’t ask the answer will always be no. So go out there and ask for volunteer opportunities with the organizations you admire. Alternatively, you can create an opportunity for yourself by doing something that makes a difference in your community. You can start the change you have been yearning to see in your community. It doesn’t matter how big or small the difference you make is. What matters is that you will be having an impact and touching lives—including yours. Your student government may be an excellent place to start. Help your student government organize protests and demonstrations against the ASUU strike. Something as little as coming out and holding a placard can help motivate your friends and other students to join in the protests. Together you can start a movement, and cause the government to take action.

So, don’t be a victim of the ASUU strike. Keep idleness, lack of productivity, and even worse learning loss, depression, trouble-making, and crime at bay by taking control of what you do with your time during the strike.

For more career and business resources, visit our website at www.professionalnaija.com

Unemployment remains a huge problem in Nigeria. Every year Nigerian universities continue to churn out thousands of new graduates with freshly minted diplomas who join a competitive job market with bleak employment prospects. If you are among the 25 percent of unemployed Nigerians or perhaps one of the approximately 45 percent of working age Nigerians who have given up hopes of finding a job in a job market that seems to be tilted in favor of the connected and returnees with shiny diplomas, questionable accents, and exotic work experiences from abroad, here are five things you should know:

1.Think Global.
Now is not the time to begrudge the rich and fortunate who can afford to travel abroad for work and educational purposes. Just because you come from a poor or middle class socioeconomic background does not preclude you from opportunities abroad. In today’s hyper connected global landscape, what you know is more important than where you come from or your socioeconomic background. Take advantage of globalization and develop a global mindset.

A global mindset in the employment context is about developing your skills and applying them wherever they are needed around the world. For example, are you an unemployed Political Science and policy graduate who grew up in the North and who have mastered the cultural factors and dynamics that influence behavior and day to day living in the North? While a bank or oil company in Victoria Island may not necessarily value this in you, your perspective may be invaluable to an International Development agency somewhere around the world that is focused on resolving the conflict in Northern Nigeria and other African countries undergoing similar challenges as the North. Similarly, are you fluent in Arabic? As a bilingual Nigerian, your English and Arabic skills maybe highly appreciated by a U.S. contractor in the United States or the Middle East. There are many instances where the skills we take for granted in Nigeria are actually appreciated around the world. Rather than sinking deeper into the pool of unemployment in Nigeria, broaden your horizons by thinking about how your skills may be applied beyond the shores of Nigeria. Think about teaching English in countries with emerging economies, such as Brazil and China. Most of these English teaching jobs will usually have a preference for people from the United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia; however once you can demonstrate that you know English just as well, you also have a fair shot at these jobs. Apply for fellowships and programs such as the Atlas Corps, which provides work opportunities in the United States to individuals from around the world. Take advantage of the aging populations in many countries and apply for skilled jobs in these countries. Some countries with aging populations are seeking qualified people to join their workforce and pay taxes.

2. Update your skills and competencies.

Just because you are unemployed is not a reason to set your alarm clock to 10:00am every morning. You have to do what you can to improve your chances of landing your next employment opportunity. And updating your skills set does just that. If there is any benefit to being unemployed, it is the time it allows you to do things you may otherwise not have time to do when you have a job. Now is the time to get that professional certification you have been putting off, return to school for a graduate degree or certificate program, and learn skills that will distinguish you from other job applicants.
3. Learn to tell your story: an engaging C.V or resume and clear cover letter is the key.
A common mistake most job applicants make is to underestimate the power of a good CV and cover letter. Your cv and cover letter is your ticket to landing an interview and a potential job. It also represents your brand. The secret to writing a powerful CV and cover letter that would make recruiters remember you, even after reading hundreds of other CVs and cover letters, is to think about your brand and the value it represents. Don’t just list all your past places of employment and job description or few assignments and chores you did there. Instead, write about how whatever you did added value to the organization. Remember that you don’t need to have had the fanciest title or position. It all depends on how you sell it on your CV and cover letter. When writing your CV and cover letter, establish a clear link between whatever you did and the bottom line of the business. Show your impact.
Consider an example of a secretary whose only responsibility was to pick up coffee for a physician in private practice. Although her tasks may seem menial, such a secretary can show her value on her CV by explaining how the coffee she sourced enabled the physician to stay alert and perform more than two surgeries a day. And by performing more than two surgeries a day the organization brought in X amount of money. She can also explain that by bringing in coffee every day, she enabled the physician to concentrate fully on patients, provide the best patient care, and increase patients’ satisfaction. In this example, the secretary has shown how her role contributed to the bottom line.

4.Think outside the 9-to-5 box: Don’t be ashamed of unprofessional jobs.

At one point or another, we have all been guilty of tying our self-esteem to our jobs. And so when we suddenly find ourselves unemployed without a traditional 9-to-5 professional job, our self-esteem plunges, and then we vigorously look for another 9-to-5 job. Our society has typically regarded bankers, doctors, lawyers, telecommunication workers, and oil company employees with a lot more respect than individuals in other professions. But here’s the deal: there is a lot of value and learning opportunities that can be gleaned from nonprofessional jobs that can help you get your next professional job. The financial rewards and respect may be minimal, but your professional growth would be enormous. For instance, by selling goods as little as recharge cards and even pure water, a person can learn highly valuable and sought-after skills such as customer service, interpersonal skills, and supply-chain management. Moreover, the experience provides good information and answers for behavioral interviews in which recruiters ask for specific life examples or situations of when you exhibited certain skills and capabilities. Again, it all depends on how well you are able to articulate these skills on your cv. and cover letter, and how you can translate the lessons learned from a nonprofessional job into a professional situation.

5.Volunteer and make a difference in your community.

Volunteering helps to keep the mind engaged and it can be a potential differentiator between job candidates. When a recruiter is presented with two identical job candidates, the person who has volunteered and made a difference would be preferred over the person who remained idle and done nothing since being unemployed. Volunteering can also help you shake off the self-pity, shame, and laziness that unemployment sometimes forces upon people. Rather than eating nkwobi, drinking stout, and complaining to friends about how hard it is to find a job in Nigeria, get up and start making a difference in your community. Something as little as cleaning your street can snowball into a nonprofit or nongovernmental organization. Don’t underestimate what you can achieve simply by getting started.

For more advice and resources for career growth, visit our website at www.beyondbetterbridgesafrica.org

Leadership is one of the most important skills for career and business growth today. A question that often arises in people’s minds whenever the subject of leadership is raised and that sometimes prevents people from becoming the leader they aspire to be is “can I really be a leader?” When we think of some of the great leaders who inspire us, it is easy to become intimidated and doubtful of our own leadership capabilities. And then leadership becomes something that seems beyond us—something that we are only meant to admire from a distance but never aspire towards. But the truth is everyone has leadership potential. We just have to develop the traits that lead to effective leadership. Here are some tips to help you activate that leader within you.

Become authentic.

Before you can lead anything or any other person, you must first be able to lead yourself. This requires authenticity. Authenticity is about coming into a true and profound knowledge of who you are and what you stand for. Once you discover your authentic self, the next step is to ensure that you live it on a daily basis. By living an authentic life, you communicate to others exactly who you are and what you stand for.

Become Solution Oriented.

A major factor that differentiates leaders from the pack is their solution-oriented mindset. Having the ability to uncover problems before they are problems is often not enough to develop or sustain leadership ability. But often times this is where most people stop. They either become intimidated by the problem or they feel satisfied with simply announcing problems no one knew about before or cares about. If you always discover problems but have no solutions for them, no matter how important the problems you uncover are, it will only be a matter of time before people begin to perceive you as negative and start to avoid and resent you. In which case it might even be better not to disclose the problems you find. However, leaders don’t just announce problems; they offer solutions for problems they and other people find. Over time, people begin to see and label them as solutions—to both known and unknown problems. Such leaders gain people’s trust and confidence and are effective, because people know they will be safe with them and seen and unseen problems will be adequately addressed.

Develop Empathy.

Empathy is about looking beyond the superficial and understanding the underlying emotions and experiences that drive people’s behaviors and shape their worldview. We admire some leaders because we believe they understand us. They seem to know exactly how we feel at any given moment and they understand why we feel that way. This ability allows them to interact and communicate effectively with different people. Learning to resist and suspend judgment is the key to developing empathy. This requires patience, open and honest communication, curiosity, as well as an ability to not jump into conclusions.

For more leadership advice and resources please visit our website.

By now you probably know that President Obama visited the African continent last week. President Obama made some significant announcements during his visit. The announcement of the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders was of particular interest to us.

Under this new initiative, every year about 500 young African leaders will be given an opportunity to enhance their skills through a 6 weeks fellowship at an American university or college. The fellowship will involve mentoring and training with top faculty and leaders with specializations related to the fellows’ areas of interest. It will also provide opportunities for the fellows to acquire new skills and leverage their current skills through the provision of internships at both private and government organizations in the United States and throughout Africa. Some of the organizations that have partnered with the program to provide practical work experience and training for the fellows include Microsoft, Boeing, and the Export-Import Bank.

As part of the program, the U.S. African Development Fund and the U.S. Department of State will fund businesses, ideas, and organizations developed by the fellows.

In order to qualify for the Washington Fellowship, applicants need to be between 25 and 35 years old. Applicants must have a track record of leadership in public service, business or entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. The fellowship is open to only citizens of sub-Saharan African countries who are fluent in English. U.S. citizens and permanent residents are ineligible. Applicants must also be committed to returning to Africa and applying their skills on the continent.

For more information about the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders visit the website.