Jobs are Looking for you!

I don't know if it is right to write this; but I know that to right the wrong impression, it is the right thing to right.

By virtue of my position, I get opportunities to answer questions daily from young engineers. One of the complains I hear often is that there are no jobs! Interns are complaining, Corp members are complaining, fresh graduates are complaining. But this is not always false. Indeed, there are no jobs! 

The reality of our country today is that jobs are hard to come by. You see many young people on self driven initiatives; To find job, to survive through entrepreneurship ventures and to make the best out of their situations. 

But worse than lack of jobs is unrealistic expectations and lack of preparation for the expected job.  In a country where graduates outnumbered jobs, and the rate of matriculation is geometrically proportional to the rate of establishments of new industry, the environment is now effectively for the survival of the fittest.

And here is where the trouble lies. How do you rate who is the fittest? How do you prepare to be among the fittest? There is really no straight answer. Sometimes luck plays a part, and sometimes it is just 

Many young people adopted various approaches. From going spiritual to being outrageously selfish, lying about experience and skills on their CV, over-packaging the CV etc. Indeed, at a time, and even for now, CV can be primary license to your securing the job. But many competitive companies now use other means like aptitude tests (many of these tests are just to screen off the applicants). The increasing use of aptitude tests has led to candidates working harder to prepare for it. there are also companies that shortlisted through demand for higher qualifications or  preference for specific universities. All these were made to reduce the influx of application letters 

As with Newton third law of motion, actions and reactions are equal and opposite. When recruiters impose strict conditions for shortlisting, applicants reacted by ensuring they rise to that challenges. 

Despite all these, the search for jobs is becoming an intriguing science, where the scientists sometimes have to skip their formula for success in favour of  . But in my humble view, I think jobs are searching for jobseekers! There are many jobs positions that are unfilled because qualified young people do not fancy the jobs or are not close to the locations. Added to this is the myth that one can only get jobs in a megacity like Lagos. So most young people focus their attention on such cities and bigger companies.. In truth that is a mega stress to both employed and unemployed.

So this morning, I got a good news from one our young members. He has secured another employment having rejected precious one for lack enough salary. He is still awaiting his NYSC. 

I recalled few days ago we had one on one talk about this and I explained some of the factors against him. I had told him my part. Fortunately for him, another job came and he was selected among the many  who applied. 

What makes his own caught my attention is not that he got the job but that he came down all the way from the north to get this job. Before he came this position was available and there are dozens of young engineers in that domain who have seen it. Even those with NYSC. They were not selected or they didn't fancy it.

I remember similar one happened when I was told by by a friend to help get passionate young engineer to work in his company. Of course I get so many VB but I couldn't selected anyone! Those that met the criteria are not willing to make sacrifice, In the end, the one person who got it came all the way outside Lagos 

Jobs are looking for you. If you are unemployed and flow with the general defeatist mindset that there are no jobs, you may likely end up as a social media growl while those who believe get the job that are closer to you. I am not saying there are jobs or there now no cheats about employersn I am saying that many young people are not ready for the jobs they seeks!

During the lockdown, we took it on ourselves to help some willing young people. The training was free. It was AutoCAD and Fusion and solid work. All online. Many took it for granted while Anny silently used this to be launchpad to a new career an opportunity. Of course some are able to develop more and secure job with the skills.

There was a mentee I'd mine who I am hoping to mention, he read Agricultural Engineering. He used to be like those who growl about lack of jobs. I impressed it in him to pick a skill and get it right. He followed and eventually found his calling. An opportunity came through an online training on coding. He grabbed it. After six months, he was selected for job and eventually moved to Lagos to start a new career.

While many young people ar elamenting lack of jobs, what they refused to do is to pause and assess their own skill set and opportunities around. Many of them left university and polytechnic with a single ideas to become a certain kind of professional. Upon getting out of ivory towersoon find that there are no such things as they planned. Rather than adjust and develop, a lot of them begin to blame the country and went of the country. Some are smarter and acquire new skills to fit into new roles. They succeeded whr3 many are still find ING means 

Indeed networking is good, connection can do it but your preparation for the opportunity too everything you can ever conceived.

Jobs are looking for you,the questions is,are you ready to grab them? What are you doing right now now to grab them?

My name is Isqil Najim and I tweet from isqilnajim