STARTING YOUR CAREER EARLY IN LIFE

The general notion about youths is that their career begins once they are through with their NYSC and they are already in the job market. But the truth is that if we wait till we get our first jobs before we start building our career, then we are not proactive and we are allowing the economy dictate our career paths. The truth is a lot of people out there know what they want already. They already have a plan in their head based on the course they studied but that may not necessarily be what they will do after school due to the economic situation and competition in the labor market.

Therefore these are the following advices I will give to students in school:

Don’t be too rigid with the course you studied.

 You may be totally in love with your course and you may want to consider sticking to that but have you considered searching deep to other skills you have that may be an advantage and you may consider pursuing in case you eventually choose another career path. I feel as a student, you should be an all rounder. Join student bodies, a fellowship or be actively in a part of something that you can acquire skills that may come in handy in future.

Be ready to still study after school.

 A lot of graduates get lazy after BSc. Be ready to take professional exams that will launch you into the career you want to go into. A Masters is good ONLY if you have proper direction because I have realized that a lot of graduates do masters and still struggle with BSc. holders to get a job so I would advice a professional exam or a certification that will give you an added advantage.

Utilize you holidays well with internships. 

As students, you have the time and advantage and people won’t give you many responsibilities especially financially because they know you’re still a student. Internship during school is like sowing into your future. It gives you an added advantage just like the way first class students have an advantage. A lot of companies are looking for people with experience even if it’s few months so that they can build up from there. Therefore, internships is like a foundation for you career.

So dear students take the bull by the horn and start planning your career from your first year in school and don’t let the economic difficulties catch you unawares when you finish NYSC so that you won’t be among the people that will be complaining that there is no job when others are changing jobs.

Article by Yewande Jinadu for careerlife.com.ng/