5 things to do if you are graduating in 2021 and need to find a job

Every year, millions of people graduate from various higher institutions globally to join the workforce. In a couple of months, you will be joining that number.

How different do you plan joining the workforce? What difference are you coming to make? What new solutions are you bringing to the world of work? Most importantly, how prepared are you for the next steps?

After my 300 level second semester exams, I knew I had come to the end of the road. The Journey of 4 years to getting a degree in Sociology was finally coming to an end, what would my next steps be?

Many of us usually don’t ask that question until we get to the river. Millions of students globally leave their lives and careers to chance, you shouldn’t.

So I’m sharing four things I think you should do before you write your university final exams.

1. Ditch the fear of unemployment. 

Like me, you probably have heard your lecturers, parents and well wishers sing the chorus of unemployment in our country. Well, they are not wrong but how you handle it matters a lot, especially now that you are thinking of your next steps. Unemployment data can bring along too much emotional baggage.

Since I was in 200 level, after attending a conference held in my university about Jobs & Careers, I started paying attention to the unemployment statistics in Nigeria and I’ve been following it closely till date. The goal of that statistics is to inform or educate us, we should never allow it graduate into an object of fear.

The employment data has never been better since I left the university, because in many countries we don’t take enough care to act on data. The various actors in the education to employment value chain are still misaligned and so young people are left to suffer.

Will you allow the failure of the institutions affect your destiny? I don’t think you should. My idea of studying unemployment data was simply because I wanted to be more informed and I was much more interested on how can we solve these huge problems sustainably?

You are going to hear different people say to you that there are no jobs. That’s not totally true. I never believed I would graduate with a good result and not get a job. It now all boils down to what you choose to believe. I have changed jobs within different industries since I graduated.

So, If you must shape your future successfully, you must ditch fear by thinking positive. Thinking positive sound stupid in the face of the realities in our current world, but “you cannot control what you cannot control” so what you have as your most powerful tool is YOUR MIIND.

If you must stop the encroachment of fear into your life, your mind must become your closest partner and ally as you prepare to transition. It is your secret weapon against the fears and anxieties of uncertainties. Your mind is stronger than your degree.!

Choose not to believe anything that doesn’t empower you.

2. Create a vision for your destination

You are at that point in your life where you need to start having some form of clarity about your next steps. Please take some time to create some form of vision for your life and your career. Reduce the volume of noise about pursuing your passion first. I believe in you doing what you are passionate about but I have also learnt that passion doesn’t fall on us, you discover your passion as you do things. We are all created with a huge amount of things we are passionate about but you cannot pursue everything you are passionate about.

So?

You need a vision of where you want to take your life to. You need a vision of what you want to create in your life and what you want to create through your career. Crafting a Vision is not something we were taught in the university, especially about our lives, but you must sit down and think deeply about your life and what you want to create with it.

Vision connects both your passion and your motives. So it is more than what you are passionate about but also WHY you want to do that  thing and if there is a market for it in our economy.

Now that you are thinking of the next steps, identify a problem you want to commit to solving, and that also intercepts your passion.

Every problem is a market and that can be your career path. Identify it and commit to stay there.

3. Build your wings

On many campuses, religion has eaten deep into the way we live our lives. So you get to see a lot of young people who think by regular attendance to church and religious activities, they can make a first class.

While I hold strong my faith in Jesus Christ, I know that shouting “Amen” without doing the necessary things required won’t produce result.

Every dream and career has requirement for success or achievement. Every dream job has required skills and competencies. We fly on the wings of skills and competencies. You don’t get a job because you are now a graduate or have a First class in whatever degree. Gone are those days!You get a job for your resourcefulness.

You need skills to succeed, this cannot be overemphasized. Whether you are going to work with someone as an employee or you are going to start your business, don’t get it twisted, we all need skills to fly.

Anything you choose to do requires accurate, adequate and updated knowledge and skills for it to succeed, so you must build your wings now. 

Ask yourself, what are the pieces i must put together to build skills and how can i build that with the limited time i have as an undergraduate.

Expect no magic after convocation because you are not the only graduate in town, so how will you be different?

The problem with successfully landing a job after school is not that there are no jobs but that you don’t have the requirement to get the fewer jobs or to get the job done. So instead of wailing away useful time and complaining about the fewer jobs, BUILD YOUR WINGS so you can fly.

4. Start Now in the Path & Start at the Bottom

Everything that must be great requires starting.

Remember Drake’s song? Started from the bottom, now we’re here!

Because nobody starts from the top. Everyone you see today started from the bottom, so don’t get distracted with the noise about their top positions in various fields. You cannot copy and paste people’s effort to success, you must start from your own bottom, put your hands on the plough and never look back.

But here is the thing, you must decide to start NOW, now that you are an undergraduate. Waiting till you graduate before putting into action everything you have just read is wasting more time. Our time on earth is limited so you have to make up your mind to move fast on your dreams.

You must throw away the idea of earning millions on your first job. You cannot make all the money you spent going to school from your first month salary, so manage your expectations correctly.

Starting from the bottom is a good place and you don’t have to feel inferior about it. Remember you were first in 100 level before moving to 200level,300level and graduating. The same applies for your career, although along the line some moves are not arithmetically progressive.

Whichever way you start at the bottom, whether as an intern, graduate trainee or a job with a road side business, start in the path you choose for yourself. Start at the bottom of your vision. Put your hands on the plough and build deep expertise.

Someone once said Your earning is dependent on your learning.

Learn a lot, build broad experience and ensure you are spending that time doing what matters to you. Focus on a mission and not just a job.

5. The Last Important thing – Know People

I want to conclude on this last but important thing. Now that you are almost graduating, take the contacts of your colleagues very seriously.

I know we live in a “Me” world, but I realized that Jobs flows through people. If opportunities flow through people, that means we must keep the right people within reach. 

Many jobs you are going to have in your lifetime will come not through advertisement but the people you have in your network. So my last recommendation is that you learn to build the network of the right people in your space. There are a couple of books you can read on how to build your network but in execution, start with your classmates, practice building a strong network of people.

Some of your classmates today are going to be CEOs tomorrow and you are going to do business together, stay positive with all men. You will be CEO tomorrow and you’ll need a very well grounded HR Professional, it could be your course mate today.

I hope these 5 thoughts help as you prepare for your next steps.

Let me know in the comment section what you are committed to doing going forward from what i have just shared.