- Don’t wait for opportunity…
This particular edition of ‘Graduates without sense’ is garnished with the vital information you need to become ’employer of labour’ rather than just being job seeker. Many a time we wait for opportunities to come our way before maximising our potentials, especially when such opportunities meet our preferences in life. But we forget that opportunity don’t always come all the time except by ‘chance of time’ hence, we must not relent in attracting opportunity rather than waiting for it.
As a graduate, you don’t need to be told that jobs are limitless before you start thinking on what else to do to meet your set goals. The system is not spacious enough to accommodate the teeming population of youths graduating on a yearly basis and as such, there is need for you to be well calculative and timely in terms of what to do to gain employment. It makes no sense when a graduate who should be employer of labour is now waiting for someone somewhere to be sending job updates or interviews before deciding on what next step to take in the quest of job hunting.
You can’t be watching movies on Netflix 24/7 and be expecting someone to be wasting his data sending you job updates and yet it doesn’t interest you to google websites you can find these opportunities by yourself. Nigerian graduates must stop depending on friends or family before making the big moves themselves. You need to be more passionate and determined about your job searching than never before. No one will be held responsible if you fail to get it right at this time of your life. Think deep!
‘What to do to attract opportunities’
There are 1001 things you can do to attract opportunities and in turn, maximising your full potentials. It pierces my heart to see graduates begging for jobs when they have all it takes to be ‘job givers’ as a result of their potentialities. But the problem is, we have not started making the big moves to attract these opportunities.
While going through Lekan Otufodunrin’s THE JOURNALIST YOU OUGHT TO BE, I stumbled upon a story of a young graduate who according to the author should have been rejected by a news outlet but later considered fit for the job following her active Facebook page with huge followership. The lady was employed to be adding to the traffic base of the company’s site through her Facebook page. Just imagine she has been posting irrelevant things on her timeline, she would have missed the opportunity. I don’t believe the essence of your social media handles is to be slaying or posting photos just to attract likes or gain popularity. Have you think of posting stuff just to attract opportunities? If you have not started doing that, please start now. Your social media handle is a sure bet to get you that desired job if only you harness it in the right way.
Most graduates today find it difficult to build an online profile that would have in turn give them edge in terms of job searching. If a potential organisation google you today, what will they find about you online? Will they find works relevant to your field of study or vise-versa? This is the time to begin to build your online profile. You don’t need anyone to do that for you, the ball is right in your court.
I know a friend who got a job through his social media engagement and now is a millionaire in his twenties. The opportunity you’re looking for is right with you but you’ve not started doing the things that will make it visible. I know you may be saying ‘it is easier said than done’. Yes, it is but you must understand that nothing works without following the laws of process. Don’t relent on your effort if you must get the job. It takes determination and strong will to be great in life. Be pragmatic in your approach!
At this juncture, I employ us to start offering value and stop waiting for opportunity to come before making every moment count. What attracts opportunity to us is our ability to harness the available resources at our disposal to proffer solutions to human problems. What are you doing to solve the needs of your immediate environment? Imagine a graduate who still find it difficult to operate computer in this jet age where the world is now more digital-inclined. It is high time you started learning relevant skills that will make you industry-compliant rather than being a rejected stone when opportunity comes.
To be continued…
– Arogbonlo Israel
