The Nation Newspaper

Tag: job opportunities

  • NDE: 6,450 job opportunities for Ondo youths

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has revealed its commitment to create job opportunities in a bid to solve problems of unemployment among youths in Ondo State. Some of the jobs to be created include cosmetology training, basic open apprenticeship scheme (BNOAS) environmental beautification scheme (EBS), sustainable agricultural development scheme (SADS) and basic refresher course for CBN agric business and micro-enterprise enhancement scheme.

    According to the NDE Director-General, Dr Nasiru Ladan Argungu, 6, 450 youths will benefit from the scheme with 300 for BNOAS, 700 for cosmetology training, 50 for ANOAS, 50 for EBS and 50 for SADS.

    He added that 5,000 persons will benefit from basic refresher course in CBN agric business enterprise enhancement scheme.

    Argungu spoke in Akure, the state capital through his state coordinator, Mr R.O Ilori during the orientation and launch of this year’s Basic National Open Apprenticeship Training Scheme (B-NOAS).

    The D-G stated that the emerging young artisans would be the next generation of cosmetology product producers, corporate farmers, hairdressers, computer operators and tillers among others.

    He added that before long, they would, through multiplier effect, create several thousand other jobs and impacting on the real sector of the economy.

    The Ondo State coordinator, Ilori recounted some of the achievements of the NDE in the state since inception in 1987.

    He enjoined the trainees to be committed during the training exercise.

    According to him, 300 trainees would undergo a three-month intensive training in the three NDE/MDG skills centres in Akure, Ilu-titun and Irun-Ogbagi in Ondo Central, South and North senatorial districts in various skills.

    One of the trainees, Miss Olamide Omotayo hailed the Federal Government through the NDE for the gesture.

  • Why you may never get your desired job

    Why you may never get your desired job

    I know many young graduates and experienced journalists who want media jobs and other employment they may and can never get.

    The fresh graduates think their first or second-degree certificates are all they need to get their dream jobs in corporate organisations, while the old hands believe their years of experience will give them an advantage.

    What I have realised is that not many job seekers have what present day employers look out for. The skills required are more than being able to write or excellent verbal communication.

    In addition to the above requirements and some others that used to matter, all media related jobs now require mastery of new media skills. Similarly, most contemporary employers often look up the Social media timeline of prospective job seekers.

    It is not enough that you have been working in similar positions for years, there are new communication realities that make it necessary for journalists and other media professionals to know more than what they used to know and can do:

    At first glance, a vacancy for an experienced Communication and Administrative Officer by the African Cycling Foundation will appear to be an easy one too for an experienced Sports journalist or any other media professional until you read some of the requirements in the job description:

    • Manage day to day social media activities focusing on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc.

    • Promote the organisation’s events and activities across social media channels.

    • Ensure each platform is scheduled and promptly filled with content in-line with the organisation’s strategic objectives.

    • Source and develop engaging contents, including stories, videos and pictures, to be updated across social media channel.

    For emphasis it was stated that the successful candidate must have the following skills/experience:

    • Strong knowledge of using social media in successfully engaging and growing audiences developing creative content, measuring the impact of activities and making informed recommendations for revising all social media activities.

    • Excellent writing skills, including grant proposal and report writing.

    • Sound organisational skills with the ability to prioritise tasks efficiently and remain calm under pressure.

    • Excellent knowledge of all Microsoft Office applications

    • Excellent attention to detail and a good eye for design.

    To apply for the position, applicants were required to send their CV with a supporting statement describing how they meet the specifications and what they would bring to the role.

    Among others, proven knowledge of social media use is obviously a major requirement for this job and only those who have it need apply no matter how long they have been performing similar tasks.

    Due to the change in the communication landscape, media professionals are now required to be digital savvy and anyone applying for jobs in the sector needs to update their skills and have evidence of being active on the platforms.

    Media houses want reporters who use the social media well enough not to miss any breaking story. They want journalists who have a good following online to extend the reach of their content.

    Instead of wasting the time of dreaming of top media and communication positions and applying for jobs they don’t have the capacity to perform, applicants should study vacancies to know new requirements employers are demanding for and how to have them.

    Social media is not a fad. It’s here to stay and forever change the way we source and disseminate information.

    More than being social platforms, they are professional tools which every professional must know how to use to promote their brand individually and at corporate communication.

    How many friends do you have on Facebook, followers on Twitter and Instagram; what you have done and can do on the platforms may be a major determinant of you will get that dream media or communication job or not.

    The choice is yours.
    Thanks for reading. I look forward to hearing from you if you need any assistance in how to use social media professionally:
    Twitter: @lotufodunrin
    Telephone: 08023000621

  • Optimising multiple job opportunities

    Kayode has a poser: I cast a wide net in my job  search and interview with some companies that I am not that interested in just to practise and get out there. Well, I am far along in the process with some of these and just beginning with my first choice companies. I am afraid that an offer will come along that I don’t really want. At the same time, in this market I am afraid to turn down a sure thing with just the hope of something better. What can I do to buy time?

    In this market, more candidates are casting a very wide net with their job search with good reasons. Hiring targets change constantly as budgets get slashed, companies get acquired or restructured, or circumstances change the needs over time as firms take longer and longer to decide. The reality of applying to a lot of places is that it is almost impossible to control the pace of the search. Some companies move through the process faster than others. You may find that you are in the final rounds at one company and just starting the first round elsewhere. If you prefer the slower company, how do you slow down the faster search without seeming disinterested?

    Just as you negotiate salary and other conditions of service, here you need to negotiate for time. The same general rules of negotiation apply: know who you are negotiating with – their wants, their constraints – and frame your requests accordingly. Prospective employers want their company to be your first choice. They want to know that you’re excited and genuinely interested in the position. They also have very real time and budget constraints.

    Maybe you are filling a spot for someone who is leaving in two weeks and they need to have the replacement there next week to transition. Maybe their fiscal year ends in two weeks so if they don’t hire for this spot before then they lose that space in the budget. When a company pushes a process through quickly or pushes for a decision quickly, they may have good reasons and not just giving you a hard time.

    Therefore, ask about timing for all employers as you go through the process. How quickly do you expect to make a decision? When do you need this person to start? How many rounds/ how many people will be involved in the decision? Once you know that a firm is interested in you, these are all fair questions and will help you know how quickly the process may move for all companies in your pipeline so you can effectively juggle your schedule and negotiate for time.

    Negotiate a wide range. You might say, “Officially, I am to give two months notice, but I can make it one. Really, it all depends on the projects at hand”

    You can get the information to your first-choice company about  what is happening with the other company. Don’t be pushy but let them know that you have another company who is interested and close to a decision. Get a commitment or at least a good estimate from your first choice as to when you will hear from them. Then you know how much time you need to negotiate for. You also remind the first choice company that you are desirable on the market!

    At the same time, ask your second choice for the time you need. Reiterate your interest, but let them know that you have committed to certain projects/assignments and don’t/can’t/shouldn’t want to cut these short. It is not recommend continuing to interview with companies that you are not genuinely interested in because it wastes everyone’s time.

    But if you would potentially accept an offer at a firm but it is just a lower priority, it is worth negotiating for more time so you can make an informed decision. Your second choice may become more desirable as you learn more about it (or about your first choice). In this way, negotiating for time means a more informed job search.

    This article is an adaptation of a presentation by Caroline Ceniza-Levine. She helps people find fulfilling jobs and careers, and co-author (along with Donald Trump, Jack Canfield and others) of the best-selling How the Fierce Handle Fear: Secrets to Succeeding in Challenging Times 2010; Two Harbors

  • Orji and job opportunities in Abia

    Phony claim is one unattractive phenomenon that has been established in the country by persons with distasteful character, which invariably contributes to the lacklustre situation the citizens have found themselves.

    This scenery of making bogus claims where none perhaps exists is one feature that can be seen in the Abia State Governor, Theodore Ahamefule Orji.

    Just recently, the governor audaciously informed the world that he would make sure that his ‘transformation agenda’ for the state is completed before he leaves office in 2015, even though that he had accepted that about 80% of the population in the state are jobless.

    In an interview with a national paper April 05 2014, the governor brazenly said: “Employment by government is not easy because the fund is not there. So, providing employment through government agencies like the civil service is very limited. A lot of people are unemployed; if you go through government agencies, it will only take a limited number of youths but then they have to live and they have to move forward.”

    While Gov. Orji is still using feint perhaps in order to mislead the suspecting and unsuspecting peoples of Abia State and, by extension the entire Nigerian populace, it would behove on the masses to note that Abia State is one state affirmed in the country that has refused to manage its huge Federal Allocation amounting to N54b annually; Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) estimated at N48b naira annually and, N64b collected from the federal account between January and December 2012. This money has been collected by the Abia State government.

    Analysts have said that this implies that the state has garnered more money in the year 2013 to 2014. Such allocations as Excess Crude Account, Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), Domestic Crude Account, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refund and foreign exchange discrepancies for oil producing states are not accounted for.

    An account by one ASOPADEC Chairman, Mr. Samuel Nwogu, had revealed: “The Commission derives its funding from the 13 per cent derivation. If Abia State gets 13 per cent, the law permits the state government to give ASOPADEC 30 per cent of the derivation fund. So it is with this 30 per cent from the derivation fund that the Commission did all we have achieved since 2010. From inception, the governor directed the Ministry of Finance to release our funds as at when due because it is statutory.”

    It is certain today that the governor is boasting of making kidnapping disappear in the state. He had told newsmen that his critics and political opponents thought that it would not be easy. What is amiss is that with the skill and level the governor said that he had made kidnapping to disappear from the state, he could not make unemployment to disappear from the state as well, even upon the huge funds that the state grabs monthly and annually.

     

    By Odimegwu Onwumere,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.