Graduating from college is a big deal

What next?

If you graduated from a Nigerian university, from having the inadequate infrastructure to sex for grades lecturers bugging ladies or guys, dodging cult activity and more you probably had a rough one. Sorry!

If you graduated from a private university, you might have had it easier but there are challenges that are faced in a private university also. Congratulations on having fewer challenges than the regular Nigerian university.

If you graduated from a foreign university, congratulations on overcoming the challenge of living in a new country, the cold weather conditions, making new friends, and overcoming racial profiling.

What am I saying?

No matter what school you graduated from, working in Nigeria as a career person or running a business comes with unique challenges. you can either face the challenges fair and square and defeat it or give up and become a criminal {whether a street criminal or a pen criminal}. I hope that you don’t give up.

Some of the steps you can take towards beginning your career in the job market or in entrepreneurship are:

Finding your passion:

In Nigeria, you are sometimes fortunate to be able to pursue your dream of working as a lawyer, doctor or engineer. Yes, if you are lucky to be the child of a government official etc.

What is more common is charting a course in the arts {music and movies}, in business and in charity or non-governmental organizations.

Finding a viable skill:

Do what you love. Find a skill but don’t try to work in an industry you abhor. Skills are useful in exchange for money. Some skills are viable and some are not.

What is a viable skill? In the late nineties, a string of trailblazers emerged in the arts and created an industry. The like f Tara Durotoye began the makeup industry, Funke Bucknor began the art of event planning and a unique crop of actors and actresses formed Nollywood. They have grown industries that barely existed before the came on the scene. Practically all of them are international and so have crossed milestones that have established them as sustainable industries.

Honing the skill:

Start practicing and getting better, start improving our skill. Put our product out there. Man people think that if you keep our idea hidden, no one will steal it and it will wait for you. ideas have timelines. Look for trustworthy collaborators to share our idea with. The Managing Director Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, the carrier of a brain wave who introduced ATMs in Nigeria says that ideas are a dime a dozen, executed ideas are what matter. Some ideas never see the light f da; wise people collaborate with others and birth ideas that change communities’ forever.

Finding a mentor:

You will be a little lost when you are out of school. Start interning before NSYC starts. Volunteer at organizations around you, even if they don’t pay, to learn work skills such as teamwork, negotiation, innovation and how to learn the skills you need without office politics interfering in your progress. Be an asset to your organization and son you would have built your brand to rise in your office or achieve the set vision of an organization you choose, including yours.

Attending events:

Attend training events for entrepreneurs. Attend job fairs. Attend events around the sector that you are interested in working in. Ask questions. Always contribute. Hang out weekly with people in your age group or those who share with similar interests. Most jobs come through proper networking. Talk about what you do. Exit politely groups that don’t add any value to you. Examples of groups that can mentor you are Wow Divas and Wimbiz for women.

This article was first published on my opera blog.