Begin, By Working For Experience, Not For Money.

Our graduates say " There's no job" and the employer says " our graduates lack skills". Then, who is right? Let's get further with the issue to see what will come out of it.

To my unemployed friends, if you don't have field experience, though you had the classroom experience, how do you expect to practice? Don't you think that someone needs to do it, you see how the classroom work is practically applied so that you can now be able to do it alone and get paid for the work you do?

If you don't know how to apply it, do you expect the employer to start teaching you how to apply the knowledge practically maybe for 6 months and at the end of each month, you'll be expecting a fat envelop for coming to learn, instead of to work?

What you're looking for is work and not an internship. If you want your employer to teach you how to apply the knowledge acquired in the classroom in a real-time scenario, then you have to apply for an internship.

You need to see how the job line is being applied in real-time. Then it's after the internship that you'll start looking for a job or even start your enterprise.

If you're looking for a job and your employer says that you should show her how the job line will be done in real-time and you know how to do that, then you'll get the job if you're among the best. So you need to know how to apply the knowledge practically and also be good at it.

If you can manage to apply the knowledge but not good at it, you may not get the job. You need to know how to apply it and also be good at it. If you can do this, the employer doesn't have any other option than to give you the job.

She will give you the job because she doesn't have the time to handle the job even if she can do it. She as an employer has a lot of things at hand and she can't handle all of them, so she needs to delegate some of them. And the job you're looking for is part of what she wants to delegate.

So you have to be good at the job so that there won't be friction in the whole system. There's nothing so destructive to the enterprise as a bad employee.

You're part of the whole system and your job role is very important for the survival of the enterprise. So if you're skillful enough to be good at the job, then you have done your part.

Now, to my employer friends. If there is no room for internships or entry-level jobs in your company, where do you expect these young graduates to go get the experience, since what you're looking for is a job applicant with experience?.

If you can't allow them to work and get the experience, who do you expect to give them the job knowing so well that they're inexperienced? You'll always say that our graduates are unemployable. That they don't have what it takes to do the job. Who will teach them how to do the job, if you can't teach them with your industry since it is where the real thing happens?

I have seen some platforms springing up in corners of my continent, Africa, getting graduates together, to teach them how to be employable.

Yes, they're doing nice work. What they are doing can help to an extent, but what these graduates need is on-the-job training called internship or industrial training.

Internship

Internships are a type of experiential education where students can gain professional-level experience while testing out career options and skills development under the direct supervision of a professional.

Our students and graduates need to know the actual reason and need for an internship. Our post titled "How I found the true meaning of internship" explains internship on a real-life scenario that you can easily relate to as a student.

For the student that knows, her major criteria for selecting where to do internship will be " where can I get the real practical experience in my field of concern?" And not " where will I make more money?"

Imagine you trade your experience with money during your internship period in school and after graduation, you start looking for a job without relevant experience in your field. You have failed on your part.

You don't blame the employers that refuse to give you a job based on your course of study because, in your condition, where you don't have any professional experience, you're unemployable.

Employers tell us time and again that without relevant experience in the world of work, a student will not be competitive in their entry-level full-time job search. Experience is the new entry-level requirement and one of the places to get this experience is through internships.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to look for where you'll do an internship. If you've already graduated, then apply for a graduate internship in your field of choice and then get the practical experience, before you start looking for a full-time professional job.

Our employers should also endeavor to create room for these student and graduate internship opportunities in their industry if they want experienced job applicants.

It's good that our young graduates know that there are some jobs called entry-level jobs. The job is just like step one on a corporate ladder. You have to start from there and learn the basics. It serves more like an internship.

The only difference is that you're a full-time staff and not an intern. At such jobs, you don't expect big salaries. You're at that level to work, learn and get the needed industrial experience.

 The experience you acquire is what will be pushing you up the corporate ladder or even help you start your enterprise. The more experience you get on the job, the better you become, the more you get promoted and the more you earn.

With time, you'll start collecting that big amount which is now directly proportional to your level of experience.

Money or experience, which one do you need now as a student or a recent graduate? I think you need both with more concentration on the experience acquisition, which will eventually project you to that level where you'll start earning that desired amount of income that you want.

Your opportunity to intern, is not limited to your area of study. You can also test-run your skills and interest in other career fields through internships. If you will like to explore the field of stock management for your soft skills development while in school, our internship program might be the right place for you to start. Click HERE to apply.