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We all had lovely images of life after university; a high-paying job with fat bonuses, a beautiful family and a lovely home; the system made us believe that the key to a beautiful life was a great CGPA. It was an obvious lie the best graduating student of your set has been a regular at almost all job interviews you’ve been to. What is even more mind-boggling is how the most unlikely of your course mates are celebrating one or two years on roles with your dream companies. It was supposed to be a seamless transition, no one prepared you for the bustle of job hunting in a highly competitive and largely unfair system. What then is the value of an education in today’s world? Could it be a spell of misfortune? Unfortunately, we won’t be conducting deliverance today. Instead, we will consider the stats and attempt to provide a clear perspective into the reason why after x-years, you are unemployed or underemployed by suggesting a different approach.

Employability can be defined as a person’s capability of gaining initial employment, maintaining employment and obtaining new employment if required (Hillage and Pollard, 1998). You are underemployed if you do not have enough paid work or you are on a job that does not make full use of your skills and abilities.

As a premise for our discourse, let’s consider the following statistics:
• An estimated 1.6 million graduates join the labour market annually (Nigerian Bureau of Statistics).
• According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, the total number of jobs generated in the second and third quarters of 2016 stood at 342,670 with the informal sector recording a larger share of new jobs.
• Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 13.9 per cent in the 3rd quarter of 2016 (NBS).
• In 2015, an estimated 1 million applications were received to fill 725 positions in the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) recruitment exercise.
• About 80% of available jobs are never advertised (Forbes).
• Many companies use talent-management software to screen resumes, weeding out up to 50% of applications before anyone ever looks at a resume or cover letter (Forbes).
• What do employers look for before making an offer? About 36% look for multitasking skills; 31% look for initiative; 21% look for creative thinking; and 12% look for something else in the candidate (Forbes).

THE APPROACH
If you want to land the ideal job, you have to start doing less of what everyone else is doing and more of what 90% of job applicants are not doing. Increase your chances of securing your ideal job by considering the following:

1. Recognize that job search is a separate skill and process. The where-to, how-to and when-to is a skillset that can’t be developed overnight. You will have to invest energy in the learning process. Simply put, job search is a job on its own. You have to put in enough time weekly and not just depend on subscription-based job placement mails. There are professional HR firms established to genuinely help job seekers secure jobs. You can have your CV developed or reviewed by a credible CV writer and explore career counsel.

2. Make a list, do some research. Draw up a list of 15–20 companies you’d like to work in. Research them thoroughly and find out the best 10 that fit your career objectives. Research their previous recruitment exercises to know when next they’ll likely be recruiting, the likely roles, the nature of the recruitment process and the skill set and certifications that will make you the best fit for the role. Develop yourself along the line of your findings, don’t be in a hurry to apply. In addition to you standing out from other candidates, you’d be better prepared during interviews.

3. Only apply for jobs you are qualified for. Of course only few candidates can meet all the requirements on the job posting, however, identify the key requirements and duties and if you are convinced you can make a significant contribution on the role, then proceed with your application. Applying for jobs you’re unqualified for can hurt your chances at future positions with the company too.

4. Use different approaches to job seeking. The regular approach is to send in a resume and cover letter in reply to a job posting; that’s what everyone does!

• Find positions by reaching out to colleagues in your field and asking for informal advice. According to a survey we conducted, this is twice more effective. Remember 80% of jobs that are not advertised will be discovered through your network.
• Explore working on a contract or temporary basis with a target firm. If you can afford it, offer to work for free with the company and after 6 months to 1 year of valuable service, re-negotiate your terms of stay.
• Learn how to use platforms like LinkedIn to connect with HR managers of your target firms, find job offers and build your network (we can help). Twitter is also a good place to find ‘not so popular’ job postings.
• For Digital marketers, developers and creative design professionals, master the art of identifying defects in the digital campaign of companies, draft a cover letter or proposal that emphasizes on the value they stand to gain by hiring you to fix the problem.
5. Refine your CV to suit the role you are applying for. Using one generic resume to apply for numerous jobs is already limiting your chances. A resume that is tailored and specific to a job will always stand out from the crowd of generic applications, and that’s how you can make it to the job interview. Sending out more applications doesn’t increase your chances of getting hired. Sending out better applications does. In addition, you are likely to be more successful applying for 2-3 similar roles than applying for multiple roles across different sectors.
• Include a job title and other relevant keywords as used in the job posting. Your resume should match the role that you’re applying to. With this practice, you stand a greater chance of being among the less than 50% that beat the talent-management software used by many companies as stage one of the screening process.
• Similarly, even if you have the qualifications for the job, if your career objective doesn’t match with the role, you’re unlikely to be hired for it. It gives the impression that you would be a bad fit for the job, and that you wouldn’t stay very long in the position.
• Avoid listing just your duties on previous roles but instead focus on your achievements. Organizations want to know what results you can deliver to them – present the added value that you specifically brought to your role by describing them in such a way as to highlight their relevance to the challenges of the job you’re applying to.
6. Acquire extra skills and certifications. Many entry-level applicants are perceived to be unemployable because employers hire value not grades. This is not to say that you can’t secure a job with just your degree but to stand a better chance of not just getting hired but landing a befitting role, you should be able to offer something extra. We recently developed a resume for a client who had a Second Class Lower degree in Marketing but had acquired the following certifications during his service year: Project Management Professional (PMP), HSE Supervision Course (Level 3), Human Resource Management Professional, Basic Fire Safety Course, Onshore/Offshore Health, Safety and Environment (Level 1 & 2), Quality Assurance and Quality Control Course (QA, QC) and Customer Care Professional (CCP). With very little work experience, we channeled attention to this achievement in the design of his resume and presented him as an Occupational Health and Safety Professional. He got the job! Enroll for a professional course today and get certified. Some of these courses can be taken online on platforms like EDX and Cousera.
7. Stay updated with trends in your industry. What new trends, technologies, or jargon do you need to be aware of? What companies are up-and-coming (and may be hiring)? Are there any specific skills that you need to improve to be competitive in today’s job market?

Written by Split Digital Solutions Limited with excerpts from the following sources:
Nigerian Bureau of Statistics
Forbes
https://www.interviewsuccessformula.com
http://careers.workopolis.com

Split Digital Solutions Limited offers CV, proposal and business plan writing services. We also provide interview coaching, business and career counselling. For enquiries, contact +234-703 747 2007 or info@split.solutions