The Nation Newspaper

Tag: employed

  • Dislodged militants now employed as guards, drivers to spy on targets, Lagos police warn

    Dislodged militants now employed as guards, drivers to spy on targets, Lagos police warn

    Lagos residents have been warned to ensure circumspection when employing domestic workers, and to allow proper profiling of their domestic employees by the police.

    Commissioner of Police (CP), Mr Fatai Owoseni gave the warning yesterday, disclosing that some of the militants/kidnappers dislodged from creeks now disguise as private security guards.

    Owoseni said the police were already taking census of some of the estates where these kidnappers have been posted by their firms as guards, without knowing they were spying on victims.

    He also disclosed that cases of criminality perpetrated by domestic helps were on the increase especially with respect to drivers fleeing with their employers’ vehicles.

    The police boss warned estate managers, private guards to stop denying policemen on patrol, duty access into the premises, adding that the command was working with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to address anomalies.

    Owoseni said: “Criminal elements and suspected militants/kidnappers have found themselves enlisted into services of private security company, where they choose the estates they want to go and work.

    “It gives them platform to do monitoring and then give information to their cohorts outside. The command wants to advice Lagos residents on the need to profile domestic servants and drivers they employ.

    “By doing that, they would be helping to secure themselves, protect valuables and assist the police in its quest to reduce crime to minimal level in Lagos.”

    Giving details of arrests made by the command between Tuesday and yesterday, Owoseni said a syndicate that advertises and present themselves as drivers in order to steal from their employers was apprehended.

    He said: “They do so in connivance with guards in some of the houses they work as drivers. We got four members of the gang after a Hyundai jeep which was stolen from the owner’s home, was intercepted at Ondo State, enroute Abuja.

    “Through diligent investigation, kingpin James Jacob was arrested. During interrogation, three others were arrested. On a serial basis, they give out themselves as drivers. After working for the family for sometime, they steal the car or connive with guards.

    “They have confessed that there are five other cars stolen in that manner. James Jacob has been paraded last year for a case of rape and stealing of vehicle. He raped his boss’ house help and stole the car. He was charged to court but unfortunately, he got bail and refused to learn his lessons.

    “The gang had number plates belonging to government offices, which they use to move stolen vehicles to places they sell them.”

    Owoseni also said the command through the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), arrested four suspected tricksters, armed robbers, who usually shoot their victims after luring them to particular locations under the guise of buying wares from them.

    Wilfred Ehi, 30; Bright Eloho, 24; Olanrewaju Kamilu, 33 and Ekeme Gbmedu, 22, were arrested at Olamoti Hotel, Iyana-Iba by a decoy team.

    They were said to have shot a policeman, who disguised as a phone seller and stood at a place they asked him to stay with the phone.

    According to Owoseni, the command has received about 13 reports on the activities of the suspects, prompting an undercover operation to arrest them.

    He said: “They ask the sellers to bring phones to the hotel. Once the person got there, they fire the person and collect the phone. They fired one of the policemen who carried phones to them as a seller. He was shot in the leg in the course of the operation.

    “Police eventually had upper hand and kingpin of the syndicate was nabbed, leading to arrest of three others.

    “A KIA Optimal saloon car, four expensive telephones, two wristwatches, a cannon E087D camera, laptop, WiFi and a wrap of weeds was recovered from them.

    “We also arrested three suspects including the brother of producer, Seun Kareem alias Egbegbe for being his accomplices. The suspects, Lawal Kazeem,  Olalekan Yusuf and Muyideen Shoyombo have confessed to the crime and would be charged to court.

    “Five members of a syndicate that specialises in faking to be haulage contractors were arrested. The command has been on their trail until the last operation where the command worked with victim.  “They present themselves as haulage contractors to big companies and individuals wanting to transport goods from Lagos to other parts of the country. They use their trucks or those of victims to carry goods, which they divert and sell around Shagamu and then, they take the trucks away.

    “RRS tracked and arrested five suspects. Two of the diverted trucks were dismantled and sold to different spare-parts dealer. The two have been recovered. They confessed to other trucks they have diverted and butcher like that.

    “Flour that was given to them to transport out of Lagos has been traced to the receiver. It has been recovered and worth N46m.”

  • Employed, empowered not engaged

    What is the value of a Nigerian to Nigeria? Are we really engaged with the Nigerian Economic Train (NET) or are we misguided by our biggest economy in Africa syndrome?

    The major sectors touted as having been significantly transformed over the past few decades are banking, aviation, telecommunications and entertainment.

    While the banking sector employs a lot of people, empowering them to earn bonuses and commissions with dividends to shareholders while busy declaring profits, their Letters of Credit for imports, rather than support our own export trade are simply contributing to the 92 percent import and eight percent export ratio that we are currently running.

    Repeating this template is the aviation sector where most of our cargo planes come laden with imported goods but leave almost empty.  These same planes go to Cameroon and Ghana to pick up cargo but nothing from Nigeria.  But we have a population more than the whole of West Africa combined.  All the aviation sector contributes to Nigeria is to transport us to Abuja to get contracts, move to Lagos to clear imported items to transport to the rest of Nigeria and hop over to Port Harcourt in ancillary support to the oil and gas sector. Apart from the support it renders to workers in Port Harcourt and its environs who are employed and empowered, hardly much is engagingly added to the value of Nigerian citizens.

    Completing this tripod is the telecommunications sector which basically provides the network connectivity cable for all the ATM and online connections to make efficient connections to move funds around both locally and abroad to Mr Chen in China, Mr Singh in India and Mr Kim in South Korea. The difference between now and 25 years ago, is that the foreigners are now happy for connecting to us better and receiving their payments faster –making us excellently connected and disengaged ‘killers’ of ourselves economically.

    Nollywood on the other hand does add to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) with the actors/actresses in the movie industry, artists in the music industry, comedians, etc.  These are Nigerians earning for Nigeria through their direct sweat both at home and abroad while employed, empowered and engaged with the Nigerian Economic Train.

    While banking, aviation and telecoms are playing out their non-productive private sector roles, this is simply replicated by the public sector in Lagos – aiding our import consumption through the outposts of the Lagos Ports of Tin Can and Apapa; Abuja – controlling and distributing the proceeds from petroleum via the civil servants to the state and local governments with all their attendant emoluments; and Port Harcourt – the goose laying the golden eggs for the nation.

    Our economic and financial policies revolving around monetary interest rates, money supply or inflationary control measures, fiscal/taxation policies, currency valuations or devaluations, buying or selling of treasury bonds or other financial directives are only of relevance to Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt and hardly touch the other 34 states of the federation.

    In all these employment activities and empowerment initiatives, nothing of economic value is added to Nigerians engagement with their nation and underpins the low productivity of the GNP of our nationals.

    The government has duly identified mining and agriculture as our options where our nationals can be usefully engaged. The challenge is that these sectors need finance, technical expertise of the populace, connection with the education sector, transport infrastructure and power availability.  Power alone needs billions of dollars in investment.  Overcoming these obstacles might take about a decade but the earlier we start the better.

    Ditto with agriculture where we need to identify the products/produce with competitive advantage, setting up of cooperatives locally and regionally, keying in the public sector civil servants proactively.

    Overcoming these can only be done by directly engaging the human capacity potential of the Nigerian people.  This cannot be done without the entrepreneurial role of the governors, reorientation of the civil servants up to the local government level and bringing in the traditional and religious leaders who play about the most directly relevant role with the rural populace. Nigeria’s fate lies in the rural sector of the rest 34 states of the federation and not in Lagos, Abuja or Port Harcourt nor in the state capitals all waiting to be bailed out without having contributed that much value-added activities to the economic train.

    Tapping into the role of the various rural entrepreneurs in the agro-industrial sectors is more than enough to boost rural employment and rural development, increase internally generated revenue, reduce dependence on Abuja, stem rural-urban migration and promote intra and inter-regional trade to culminate in export of our products/produce.  Ambassadors and those in the Diaspora should be our national salespersons while at the same time drumming up investment opportunities to foreigners to come to the country.  In this regard, the encouraging roles of the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEXIM Bank, Customs and Excise being more supportive of export than import policies as Colonel All (Rtd), the Customs boss recently alluded to, cannot all be over emphasized.

    The education curriculum, one of the major – if not the major – root cause of our dysfunctional and disjointed economy should be directed primarily towards the agro-entrepreneurs and rural industrialists rather than the multitude of ‘pentrapreneur’ professions that adorn the education sector right from the primary to the secondary and tertiary institutions.

    As we have seen all too often, those lucky enough among the letter would be chasing the immigration recruitment exercise annually or the best of them would ‘Andrew’ out to seek employment outside the country but disengaged from ‘Naija Inc’ and of no employment or empowerment value to Nigeria.

    Well executed and implemented rural development policies would ensure that the income generated and any development that takes place would be from the engaged sweat of the people.  At this level, we would have a higher GDP based on the GNP of the employed and empowered nationals rather than on a GDP which is propped up by foreigners’ activities which we manage to distribute to our economy.

    Gainfully, the nation should reduce imports, increase exports and earn foreign exchange, improve foreign reserves, command a better currency value which will grant us access to international finance at favourable rates once our credit-worthiness is rated better. It is at this juncture that we can have better access to finance for our mining and agricultural long-term projects.  Countries would be begging to come in rather than our propensity to seduce them with incentives.  All our ambassadors would have to do is advise which areas to invest in instead of having to go a-bowl-a-begging with a wish-list about our potentials for them to come and dictate where to invest in. We would be employed, empowered and engaged as the lynchpins for attracting foreign investment with improved access to international finance at favourable rates – thereafter, our banks can offer lower interest rates…and not before.

    • Owolowo can be contacted on owolowo.dele@gmail.com

     

  • Getting graduates employed: the oil, gas industry template

    Getting graduates employed: the oil, gas industry template

    Graduate unemployment, especially among those with the requisite skills set in the oil and gas industry, has been a challenge. To solve this problem and grow indigenous manpower in the country, relevant government agencies such as the NNPC, DPR, CAC and others have a role to play, Gbubemi Peter Agbowu, writes.

    Nigeria is a petroleum rich country, and an oil and gas producing member of Organisation of Petroleum Corporation (OPEC) since 1969. The advent of oil production turned Nigeria from a multi-sectoral economy to a mono-economy, with oil and gas providing about 95 per cent of export earnings and 70 per cent of government revenue.

    This is an obvious negative economic trend, known as the ‘Dutch Disease”. Pundits have agreed that for the country to attain its true growth potential, it must rekindle other sectors of the economy; sectors for which it ironically had comparative advantages, in the not so distant past, before petroleum.

    One effect of our mono-economy is the lack of a diverse enough economy to accommodate the ever growing diverse Nigerian population; majority of which are youths.

    The age structure of the populace is as follows: 0-14 years account for 43.2 per cent, 15-24 years account for 19.3 per cent, while 25-54 years age group accounts for 30.5 per cent of our population.

    This results in a youth dependency ratio of 84 per cent (CIA World Fact Book). These numbers vividly show Nigeria’s massive current and future youth population.

    Of this youth cross-section, 50 per cent are unemployed, with graduates of tertiary institutions making about 20 per cent of youth unemployment, and often remain unemployed for upwards of five years after graduation (NISER 2013).

    With the current high rate of youth unemployment, even among university graduates, coupled with the fact that Nigeria’s current predominant economic sector is the petroleum industry, massive strides must be made by the government to get the Nigerian graduate youths employed in this sector.

    In Europe, since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been an increase in youth unemployment, although varied among its different countries.

    One unifying trend, based on research and experience, is that young people who do not get attached to the labour market at an early stage upon graduation, risk being permanently excluded from the job market.

    Such exclusion could have severe consequences not only on the personal level, but also for the long term social and financial sustainability of the country. Nigeria currently faces this dilemma, with a staggering number of its youths plagued with unemployment.

    Furthermore, its university graduates are faced with the usual trend of never being able to find employment, years after graduation. The burning questions are: how do we get these able bodied, qualified individuals into the workforce?

    How do we get a graduate employed in the oil and gas industry; the mainstay of the economy? How can these graduates be ushered from school leaver status to employment?

    The answer lies in Federal  Government’s ability to initiate and execute policies that would stimulate opportunities and assimilation of qualified graduates into the oil and gas sector.

    Nigerian Petroleum Exchange (NIPEx) oversees both the e-marketplace and the Joint Qualification System (JQS) for electronic procurement, contracting and registration of contractors/service providers respectively.

    This has been a welcomed development by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) since its inception, and has helped to ensure transparency in the contracting process and reduction in the contract approval cycle in the oil and gas industry.

    A recommendation is to use the NIPEx process to aid the transition of graduates into the oil and gas workplace. This can be achieved by enabling a process whereby exemplary graduates with outstanding results in oil and gas related degrees are able to register their details into the Nipex portal.

    The system would require validation and attestation of the credentials of these recent graduates. The portal would maintain a high level of “graduate pool”, and will be organised according to their various disciplines.

    When there are Invitation to Tenders (ITTs) issued by the oil and gas companies for various projects, via the portal; depending on the scope of work, most call to tenders require each prequalified bidder to submit its man-power and staffing plan, complete with CV’s, showing the bidding company’s ability to successfully execute the proposed work.

    It is at this juncture that the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) in conjunction with Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) mandates a policy that man-power from the graduate pool in the portal is assigned to each bidders bid package submitted in NIPEx.

    This ensures that regardless of which bidder wins the contract, it would have absorbed highly competent graduate staff who would get their much needed assimilation into the industry.

    This exercise will be an advantage, not just for the graduate that is being placed, but for the contractor, who sometimes finds it difficult to find quality personnel with oil and gas related degrees. Another avenue is for the government to initiate policies that would easily enable the youths to be part of a registered and licensed local content oil and gas company, and provide measures that would pave the way for these companies integration into the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    A way of achieving this is for the government to begin a programme which mandates the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to subsidise the costs and simplify the process of company registration for qualified graduates.

    This subsidisation and simplification process will be afforded to groups of youth graduates that have come together to form a company with the intention of operating in the oil and gas industry, with the support of the government.

    To qualify, the group of shareholders in the company must either have the same discipline, forming a specialist company, or have different but complimentary disciplines.

    An important requirement to qualify for this status would be that at least one of the shareholders of the proposed company must have at least 10 years of oil and gas industry experience in the companies proposed area of specialisation.

    This is to bridge the gap of inexperience within the company. This would mean that recent graduates would need to align with an experienced industry professional.

    Such a scheme is not only advantageous to a fresh graduate, but would prove beneficial to an industry worker with valuable work experience, but currently out of a job; or industry professionals that are looking to go into private business and consulting.

    In parallel to the CAC registration programme, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) should have a special category for these youth companies involved in this programme, to subsidise and fast track their certification process.

    The laxity involved in the certification of these companies is by no means a compromise to standard and safety, but based on the premise that these companies will be assimilated and paired with established companies with all prerequisite qualifications, certifications and accreditation should be given.

    Acceptable DPR licensing categories for this programme will be the general category and the major category, with the services to be licensed within these categories left at the discretion of DPR; depending on the qualifications and credentials of the company’s shareholders.

    Upon successful company registration and licensing by DPR, these companies should be registered with NCDMB, as a special “Youth Integration Company”.

    The aim of this status is for these companies to be assimilated into the industry, and for these companies to benefit from a training programme. While NCDMB fulfills its remit of vetting the industry procurement processes to ensure local content requirements are adhered to during the award of contracts, as directed by the Local Content Act; it should take this opportunity to mandate that these Youth Integration companies are paired with the established bidding companies, as a prerequisite for contract award.

    In turn, these youth companies will act as subcontractors to the awardee, and will be required to execute a part of the contract scope. Furthermore, as it is a requirement for all companies operating in the nation’s oil and gas industry to provide a plan and execute training for its local personnel, adequate training plans for these youth companies must be submitted by the contractor, and approved by NCDMB before the award of the contract, or start of the project.

    The contractor shall be required to provide the necessary insurance coverage and necessary guarantees to enable its paired Youth Integration Company (now subcontractor) execute its work.

     

    Labour market integration training,

    orientation

     

    There is a catch 22 situation in the sense that oil and gas companies are looking to employ candidates that possess certain skill sets which are attained through industry work experience.

    This puts our graduates in the dark, as no matter their academic achievement, they cannot attain these skills they are not privy to. In order to ease integration of the graduates into the labour force, the onus is on the government to ensure that they are taught these vital skills after graduation.

    This will bridge the gap between the academic knowledge of the graduate and the much sought after industry work place mannerism, etiquette, understanding of processes and procedures. Skills which would ordinarily only come with work experience within an oil and gas company.

    The fact of the matter is that the Nigerian graduates are intellectually competent. Despite the lacklustre, ill-equipped and badly run universities, highly competent graduates are churned out in high numbers.

    Evidence of this is the success and achievement levels of Nigerian graduates who thrive and exceed their peers in post-graduate education overseas.

    Despite high academic achievement, the missing ingredient from our youth graduate, which is key to employment by the oil and gas companies, is the work experience.

    Drilling down into “work experience”, what is of most importance to the hiring companies, is familiarity with the industry ethics. The reason oil and gas companies bring in expatriates to man their projects in Nigeria is not solely due to their technical competence, but also due to their industry ethics.

    The evidence of having worked in varying projects across the world is proof that the individual is knowledgeable in the industry’s code of conduct, business ethics, procedures, processes, safety standards etc.

    While this is on a macro level, on a micro level, such processes and standards are company specific, as individual companies have their specific modus operandi. This is particularly the case with multinational companies with huge operations across the world.

    The aim of such standards is unification of its global operation, where a worker in for instance, Brazil can easily come to work in a project in Scotland with a very short learning curve.

    This is the reason a firm such as Chevron will prefer to hire a worker that has previous Chevron experience, as he or she would know the “Chevron way”.

    As a result of this trend among the oil and gas companies, a recommendation for our government in aiding the hiring of our graduate youths, is for each NNPC Joint Venture, such as Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), under their Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), to set up training programs under their JV.

    The aim of these programmes will be to furnish these youth graduates with the skillsets required to work successfully within their joint venture companies.

    The curriculum would focus on team building initiatives, company policies, procedures and job skills specifically catered to the requirements of the companies. This would enable each student’s easy assimilation into these companies, upon completion of the training and orientation.

    The training would be certified, thereby making each graduate more marketable to companies in the industry as a whole. A key advantage of the JV initiated training programme is the JVs knowledge of their upcoming projects, manpower specific requirements and the skills and disciplines needed for these projects.

    This would ensure that the training programs are fit for purpose and prepares its students for the upcoming projects. With all this said, what is of most importance is for the Nigerian Petroleum industry to be stimulated.

    This is what will spur the multiplier effect that would lead to more industry activities, spending on projects and the resultant need for industry personnel; to accommodate our graduate youths.

    The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), looming in the air for years without passage, has created the Achilles heel to any industry’s development; uncertainty.

    The uncertainty of the fiscal regime, and petroleum laws that will be in place, has prevented spending of billions of dollars on new projects in Nigeria, by the International Oil Companies (IOC’s).

    Furthermore, although Nigeria unfortunately missed out on a flurry of industry activities during the era of $100 oil, it must be more pragmatic now with a lower price for oil, and a glut of the commodity on the world market.

    What is needed is an efficient PIB that secures an appropriate amount of economic rent for the Nigerian government, but yet allows operators to continue a profitable business, particularly in riskier ventures such as deep offshore exploration, new frontier basin exploration and non-associated gas development.

    Such an environment will increase oil companies’ confidence in operating in Nigeria amidst a global downturn in global spending. Government policy is required to stir our industry further down the petroleum value chain, stimulating activity in refining and petrochemicals; to create further value from our oil, in a low priced market.

    Government policies that streamlines the process of licensing and approval of modular refineries, blending plants, and other downstream capital projects and promoting availability of feedstock for these projects is invaluable.

    These projects would create added value, increased revenue, sector growth, and much needed job opportunities for our graduate youths. In conclusion, there is no doubt that Nigeria needs to make active strides to develop its ailing real sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture to increase its growth and create jobs for its fast growing youth population.

    However, in the current state where the petroleum industry is the mainstay of the economy, and unemployment of the youth is at staggering levels, the government must step in with the right policies to guide the industry down the right path, and in parallel, ensure that qualified youths can gain employment in a more efficiently run industry amidst current global challenges

    Agbowu, a Contracts Advisor in Saudi Aramco and a promoter, Star Delta Energy Services can be reached via email: info@stardeltaes.com; twitter: @GPAStarDelta.

  • Teacher employed as clerk seeks upgrade

    A 32-year-OLD teacher, Mr Ojo Toefeek, has cried out to the Lagos State government to upgrade him to Grade Level 08 of the teaching service.

    Toefeek, who was employed in 2009, as a non-academic member of staff at the Islamic Model Primary School, Mushin, studied Economics Education at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

    The father of three said he started  teaching Economics at Bethel Private Secondary School,Mushin, but left because he felt he needed to reach out to pupils in public schools.

    “I have been teaching in the private school but I thought that my destiny is not going to be fulfilled there. Those that I actually wanted to reach out to are in the public school. I left when God told me to leave and I did,” he said.

    However, things did not work out as planned. In 2009, when he applied to the Lagos State Government to work as he teacher, the only opening was for a non-academic position far below his qualification.

    “They told me that there was no teaching job for me, except if I could be employed for a Grade 04 job with WASC result, which is a clerical job.  I made them realise I was a graduate but to no avail. Because I have so many responsibilities, I decided to start from somewhere. My hope was that if I am in the system I would monitor it,” he said.

    Sadly, about six years later, the upgrade to the teacher scale has not happened for Taofeek – despite being given classes to teach as an acting teacher. He received a letter to be an acting teacher.

    Having scrounged to educate himself at UNILAG after his father’s death and with his passion and determination, Taofeek expects more out of his career.

    Though discouraged about his situation, Taofeek said it had not dampened his love for teaching and helping the less privileged.

    He said: “My desire is to teach. I cannot just be in the office sitting down. I have to be in the classroom. They have not increased my salary; they have not increased my level; what I am earning is nothing to write home about. But I keep on doing what I love to do believing that one day, things would turn out for good. I am just waiting for the time that the government would rise to my aid and convert me to Level 08. I am begging the government. I know it is possible.

    “The teachers still see me as a non- academic staff but I am one of them; I am active in the classroom but the sentiments are still there.  Some understand that the clerical employment is a demotion but I don’t allow that to bother me. I have taught in primary six and they all passed their common entrance exams.”

    Taofeek’s passion to see young children succeed prompted his founding the Children Education Development Awareness (CEDAR) Foundation in 2012 to promote reading culture and moral values.

     

  • Are you not supposed to be employed by now?

    Are you still wondering why you have not yet secured your dream job? Or even worse, why you are not even being called in for a job interview by the recruitment agency let alone the employer?

    Well, have you taken a step back and looked at the package that you are offering zand how you are presenting it? Maybe your offering is just not packaged together correctly which is why you are continuously being overlooked, even though you just know you are the right person for that job.

    With the unofficial unemployment rate in Nigeria standing at over 30 per cent, there are millions of un-employed Job Seekers scouting the marketplace for their ideal job, and even more employed professionals applying for the same jobs, it is imperative that you take every effort of going above and beyond to ensure that you stand out from the crowds.

     

    Let’s start by considering the basics, your resume

    Clean up your resume and ensure that your it  is professionally put-together with no typographical, spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure that the layout and format conforms to that of a professional resume. Your strengths and key skills – as they relate specifically to the job that you are applying to – should be clearly highlighted and visible at a glance at the off-set. Be sure not to make silly mistakes that can get you eliminated even before the short-list stage. Go through your resume to ensure that you have covered all essential aspects that make up a professional resume.

     

    Next, develop a professionally-written application

     

    When applying for a job opening, please extend the recruiter the courtesy of ensuring that your skills do, in fact, meet the minimum requirements that he has set-out in the job advertisements. Do not apply to job advertisements that you are not suitably qualified for as this wastes both your time and that of the recruiter.

    If you do believe that you closely match the requirements and skills contained in the job advertisement, then be sure to create a professional, top self-selling customised application, sometimes referred to as cover-note (not a standard one-size-fits-all) that is addressed to the hiring manager (not personnel/human resource dept), if possible, and that refers to the job title and where you saw the job advertised and on which date.

    Then immediately get to the point and explain briefly why your skills best match the job and why you should be considered. End off by thanking the recruiter for their time. Be sure to include any relevant documentation or information that the recruiter might have asked for in the job advertisement. (see more on this at www.jobsearchhow.com)

     

    Finally, present yourself in the most professional manner

    Should you be fortunate enough to secure an interview either with a recruitment agency or the employer directly, be sure that the product (you) matches the brochure (your resume) in the most professional manner. Be mindful of your interview manners but most importantly, dress appropriately for the job interview. Remember to prepare to dazzle in the job interview by researching the company, understanding the job requirements and knowing your strengths and how to communicate these effectively and in context to the job that you are being interviewed for.

    Consider carefully the type of interview body language that you are giving off and be careful to avoid – as far as possible – making any of the common job interview mistakes. Come prepared with a set of interview questions yourself. Job seekers who attend a job interview with a well prepared set of interviewee questions are always most successful.

    Remember, every job interview is an employment opportunity. Should you be called back for a second interview, take just as much time preparing for the second job interview as you would on the initial meeting. When getting a call back for a second job interview ask the interviewer if there is anything that you specifically need to prepare for.

    Without being over confident, attend your second job interview with the same intention as you did the first. Carry yourself with poise and professionalism.

     

    One more thing, remember that the best way to prepare is by anticipating securing your dream job. Good luck. Now go and secure that dream job now!

  • How not to get employed

    Year 2012 will soon expire. You will be counting your first on your second or additional New Year’s Day as an unemployed graduate.

    We will use the remaining Mondays and some of the early 2013 to run do quick run of what may be doing wrong in your quest for the dream job. Or what you are supposed to be doing but that you are not at all.

    Whatever is written below, I am happy to inform you that the the book JobSearchGuru’s JOB-HUNTING MANUAL- Strategies and Tactic for effective Search in Nigeria Competitive Job Market is now in the bookshops. This is the comprehensive tool-box for job-hunters. See www.jobsearchhow.com.ng for more info. Now to the business of the week.

    Sometimes the simplest matters make all the difference in the potential joining together of an employer and a job searcher.These opportunities to fail occur before the first phone call is ever exchanged.

    If you’re a job seeker, simply rectifying simple mistakes can keep your resume out of the ‘no’/trash pile.They can help you find a marriage with the employer of your dreams. Here are 10 things that job seekers do that relegate their applications to the slush pile.

     

    Fail to follow the employer’s directions about how to apply

    By following the employer’s requested application method: email, fax, mail, you brand yourself as a cooperative person who can follow directions. Also, consider the possibility that the employer is routing all applications that come via email, as an example, into a recruiting folder. Other applications may be missed. Delivery of your resume via mail is still acceptable, however, fewer applications come in the mail these days; they are a paper management nightmare.

     

    Send resumes or cover

    letters with typos, unforced errors

    Typos brand you as a careless person who didn’t take the time to proof read your resume and cover letter. Employers judge the quality of your future work, by the quality of the documents that introduce you. Many managers use typos, inexcusable grammatical errors, etc as a screen to eliminate candidates from contention.

     

    Choose to leave out requested salary information

    Many candidates are positive that once an employer sees their credentials, and meets them, salary won’t be an issue. Their credentials will knock the socks off the employer. Don’t believe it. The employer has a budget. When you don’t submit your salary as requested, your resume will likely be rejected. Minimally, you cause the employer to make a screening phone call. Neither you nor the employer need to waste time in an impossible situation.

     

    Fail to send a customised cover letter with the resume

    A customised cover letter does not mean changing the lead paragraph to mention the employer’s company name. It means drawing the employer’s attention, point by point, to how well your credentials match the employer’s stated needs. A generic introduction is already available via your resume. Use the cover letter as your place to shine. Demonstrate what’s important to you – and to the employer. Connect the dots for the employer and you’ll likely get a call for an interview.

     

    Leave large gaps in their employment – unexplained

    The first scan of a resume will reveal gaps in your employment history. Trust me. The employer always wants to know why. You took three years off to raise your child? Tell the employer upfront in the cover letter. Otherwise, the employer will often reject your application.You risk the employer wondering why you have trouble finding a job.You appear undependable or, at worst, a mystery. It’s hard to find great candidates. Don’t eliminate yourself from the review.

     

    Tell what the job searcher did – not what was accomplished

    You answered a multiline phone, provided excellent customer service, and ran the photocopy machine. Does the employer care? Not likely. The employer wants to know that you improved customer service by 120 per cent. The descriptions on your resume must focus on accomplishments – you were promoted three times in five years. And, make sure you label the bullet points as accomplishments or key achievements. Otherwise, your resume won’t pass the 30 second glance test.

     

    Apply for jobs for which they are way over-qualified – or under-qualified

    The employer has described the skills and experiences required for the position. A job description and a salary range exist. If you are way over qualified, or under-qualified, your application is suspect and is filed under “no”. It doesn’t take long to see that a high school grad is applying for a position that requires a degree and one to two years of experience. You’ve wasted your time applying. You’ve wasted the employer’s time, too – although I guarantee – not much time.

     

    Exhibit problems with grammar and sentence construction

    Your image is you. Application materials that demonstrate you are challenged to produce a sentence won’t serve you well. Grammatical errors are noticed and telegraph several messages. You can’t write very well. You lack attention to detail. Your ability to interact with customers is limited by your skills. Is this the message you are trying to send your potential employer? I think not. Remember, when the employer stumbles over mistakes, they rule you out.

     

    Use out-of-the-ordinary tactics and gimmicks to draw attention to your resume

    They do, but I guarantee the attention isn’t positive. Employers have enough problems without viewing your resume picture, except when required. Stuffing your resume envelope with confetti isn’t a good idea either, even if you’re applying as a creative. Sending your life history and every training certificate you’ve ever obtained won’t earn you any points. Save these until you’ve, at least, spent some time together. Skip the rest.

     

    Skip human resources and apply to the hiring manager or the CEO for advertised position

    Job searching books persist in making this recommendation, and maybe it was a good one, once upon a time. It’s still good when you are introducing yourself and making a professional contact. But, when applying for an advertised position, it’s the death knell for your application. You tick off the HR people, who are the monitors and caretakers of the hiring process. They build the pool of candidates that managers interview. They schedule the interviews. And, believe it or not, respected HR people have a serious influence on who gets hired.

  • Career and job success skills for newly employed

    Now that you have made the big transition through job hunting and landed the job, the next goal is job success. Don’t take that for granted. There are specific skills you need to know and use to be successful at your job. It’s important to practise these skills prior to starting the job. First impressions show from day one. You only get one opportunity to create first impression.

    What follows here isn’t a complete list. It’s a good idea to check with your direct boss about what’s most important.An important information for you: employers say many people lose their job because they don’t use good work habits and not because they are unable to do the job.The following list of suggestions is based on feedback form a majority of surveyed employers.

     

    Employers expectations

    • A positive attitude is one of the most important factors in achieving job success. Don’t carry negative feelings into your new workplace. Resolve them elsewhere.

    • Always be on time. How long will it take to get to work? Allow a few extra minutes for traffic problems and getting children to school. Set an alarm clock to help you get up. Being reliable and dependable gains the trust and respect of your new employer.

    • Good attendance and promptness are always important. It you’re going to be unavoidably late or out sick, find out the proper method of informing them.

    • Know and follow office rules, policies and procedures.Read the employee manuals. Please find out the informal rules.

    • Listen and learn. Be open to new ways of doing things, even if you have taught differently in school or on a different job. Don’t be quick to find fault, criticise or complain until you can prove you can do something a better way.

    • Meet and exceed your employer’s expectations.

    • Learn all you can about the job you were hired to do before thinking about moving up.

     

    Communication

    • When you need to talk with your supervisor, ask when would be a good time to meet.

    • Take advantage of your performance reviews. Stay calm. Learn from them. Ask how you can improve. Show results or jobs-related classes you’ve taken. Most Supervisors appreciate employees who are concerned about performance and in finding ways to improve. Your job success is also their success.

    • Be a team player. Be willing to help. Know the goals of your job and how your job fits into the overall organisation. Avoid a “know-it-all attitude.”Try to fit in with the team. Keep your sense of humour.

    • Ask for help when you need it. If you make a mistake, let your supervisor know immediately. Find the proper chain of command. Discuss items with your supervisor first.

     

    Personal

    • Prior to starting the job, have all your appointments with doctors, dentists, etc., out of the way. Have your transportation and daycare lined up so you don’t immediately have to take time off. Have an emergency plan for daycare and transportation.

    • Be willing to learn new skills. Keep a record of classes you’re taking that relate to the job. Review this with your supervisor at an appropriate time.

    • Take time in making new friends. Find positive and upbeat co-workers. Avoid negative, critical and gossiping people.

    • Be clean and well groomed. Wear clean and job-appropriate clothes. Pay attention to how your coworkers are dressed. Avoid wearing strong perfumes or colognes.

    • Keep you personal life and problems at home. Do not use the employer’s equipment and time to do personal things like making personal phone calls, using the copy machine or resolving your personal problems on the job. If you’re having trouble resolving personal problems, counseling, support groups or employee assistance programmes may be useful.

    • Create the image. Dress for the job you want next.

    • Be patient with yourself and your employer. It takes time to get used to, learn and like a new job.

    • Volunteer to projects and committees if your work is completed and your supervisor approves.

     

  • Fashola urges Corps members to be self employed

    Fashola urges Corps members to be self employed

    Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Raji Fashola has urged the outgoing NYSC Batch C Corps members to depend on themselves and not white collar jobs for employment.

    He said this at the passing out of the Corps members last week, at the National Youth Service Corps orientation camp, Iyana Ipaja, Lagos.

    Fashola, who was represented by the Director, General Service Department, Ministry of Special Duties, said the problem of youth employment has become worrisome and a source of concern to all. However, the government is doing so much to curb unemployment, but a lot still needs to be done by private entrepreneurs and yourselves. You need to look inwards because the days of white collar jobs are over.”

    According to him, corps members should not hesitate to put into practice the experience they gained by setting up their own enterprise, no matter how small.

    Saying that by their participation in the NYSC and successful completion, they have contributed immensely in all facets of the economy, Fashola praised their focus and resilience in bringing positive impact to the education, agriculture, health care delivery and environment as a whole.

    In her own speech, the Lagos State NYSC Co-ordinator Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, congratulated the corps members on the successful completion of their service year as she saluted their courage, doggedness and strong will.

     

     

     

    She told them to be reminded of the various lessons they might have learnt in the course of national service, the tenets of hard work, disciplined, honesty, loyalty, patriotism, uprightness, and integrity adding that it will continually be relevant as they climb up in life.

    Adenike urged them to shun social vices like corruptions, nepotism, tribalism, and religious bigotry. “Associate yourselves with people of good quality for it is better to be alone than in bad company. The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same, as you step into the large society, consider the option of maximum utilisation of the creative abilities in you,”she said.

    She noted that among the 8, 165 corps members that served in Lagos, disciplinary measures of repetition of service shall be meted on 21 corps members who absconded while 23 given extension of service ranging from two weeks to two months.

    She also hinted that eight patriots lost their lives during the service year and prayed that their souls rest in peace amen.

    Four corps members Udom Effiong Goodnews, Oubokhan Smart Ekhomtomwen, Chizoba Romanus, and Okoro Benjamin were rewarded the State Honours Award while commendation and attestation certificates were awarded to 25 others.