BEFORE THE POP – PREPARING FOR AFTER SERVICE YEAR

INTRODUCTION
The after service year is one full of challenges as one is not sure about what the future, especially the labour market, have in stock for one.
Everyone’s eyes are let open immediately the passing out ceremony is over as this also brings an end to the monthly allowance collected by corps members. It is on this premise that one has to prepare very well before it all comes to an end. National service year is being tagged “National Year of Strategic Contemplation”.
Above all, one major reason one also needs to plan very well is the fact that parental support might be minimal or no more available. Every parent believes he’s tried enough for you and its high time he started reaping the fruit of his labour and investment in you since you were brought to this world. A very wise person, after understanding this, will never give room for dilly dally but will take necessary steps and strategically widen his or her horizons that will give him or her a niche when there is need for it.

PRESENT SITUATION
You may either agree or disagree that there is not many jobs in this country of ours. Despite many promises by successive government about job creation, much is not still done to ravage the menace of youth unemployment by the government. It is estimated that over 40 million Nigerian youths are unemployed and the figure is set to rise in subsequent years if the government does not take steps in curbing the ugly trend.
The ugly situation has motivated some youth to float an organization tagged National Association of Unemployed Graduate (NAUG) in a bid to stem unemployment and issues mitigating youth employment in the country.

LITTLE HOPE
Despite the norm that there is no job or there are limited jobs, there still exist vacancies that one could grab. We must understand that we need a knowledge economy. An economy where innovation and knowledge are given credence. An economy where the knowledgeable and the most innovative are reckoned with. An economy where the best brains are trained, recruited and absorbed into the labour force.

THE YOUTH PROBLEM
Every now and then, youth have always complained about government not providing conducive atmosphere for them to explore their entrepreneurial talents and skills if at all they can’t create jobs. In this case, many youth are found wanting as they hardly meet up with job requirement whenever the need arises. Many still live in the glory of the past by not updating their knowledge and skills to those needed in the competitive labour industry.

SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU SECURE A JOB
Connect with well-to-do relatives and contacts. Apply to Professional companies or organizations. Start with anything legal. Anything they say is better than nothing.  Make use of your smart phone to track job vacancies and opportunities, not just to Facbook. Deploy the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, etc. Volunteer in an organization to gain skills and talents pending when you are going to secure a job The God factor – Prayer  

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR FUTURE PROSPECTS 

Capacity building is an on-going process through which individuals, groups, organization and societies enhance their ability to identify and meet developmental challenges.  

TIPS FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
The value of specialized knowledge: Career opportunities are enhanced through specialized courses that differentiate workers, thus, giving them edges over their contemporaries. Then make it a continuous of lifelong learning. Read wide, be hungry for knowledge: Be versatile and creative. You don’t have to be a genius. Aspire to learn everything about something and something about everything. A human resource expert reported that poor reading culture and improper presentation of ideas by applicants (graduates) have been identified as some of the causes of unemployment in the country. Arm yourself with valuable skills: Employers requires graduates who know how to learn, relearn and unlearn, who can read, write, and possess computational skills, who have great listening ability and public speaking skills, who can adapt to situations by solving problems and thinking creatively, who possess developmental skills for personal and professional growth, who have excellent team work, and high influential skills for effective leadership. Position yourself with IT skills: The contemporary world is driven by ICT and the best way of adding value to yourself as a fresh graduates who wants to make headway in the labour market is to make acquire ICT training. All fields of human endeavor have been shaped by IT skills for effective service delivery. It baffles me sighting graduates who hardly know a bit of computer or knowledge on the use of Information and Communication Technologies tools.

Learn to think critically: Ability to decide whether a claim is true, to think clearly and rationally. It includes observation, interpretation, evaluation and explanation.

CONCLUSION
Opportunities await those who are prepared for them. Give the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you. To be able to get the best, it is certain that you have to pay the price. Then by God’s wiling, you can win the prize.

Abdullah Abdulazeez Olalekan

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 Abdullah Abdulazeez Olalekan is an information enthusiast adopting the spirit of information to inspire.