Employment and Career Development Clinic

Session Four - Your First Ninety Days At Work

2008-11-12T06:25:00.000-08:00

You got the job?

Your First Ninety Days At Work

Congratulations!
 It is a fantastic job

 Fantastic salary

 Lovely work environment

 A Caring Boss

 Good Co-workers

 Just about time to relax? Right!

The Answer is

No

 The challenge has just commenced

 Now is the time to stand out and justify why you were picked amongst several people.

Get this straight
 You were employed because there was a job to be done.

 You told the interviewers glowing things about yourself.

 You said you could perform!

 Go ahead; prove yourself and the panel right!

Some People Think….
 Sleeping on the job is allowed, if you are not caught.

 Lateness is what everyone does, so I join!

 My job description is the only document that specifies what I do, so I stick to it.

 I cannot help out beyond my normal work hour.

 My boss is the only one I need to please.

Good People Think….
 I am here to sell my Personal brand

 I am here to learn

 I am here to do the job I was employed for to the best of my ability.

 I am here to help out

 I am here to challenge myself

 I am here to stand out and move to greater things

Good People
 Get to work early

 Do not join work cliques or unprofessional habits

 Ask to learn about all aspects of the job

 Ask the boss if that would be all for the day

 Create a personal brand

 Optimise work through subtle influence

 Set high goals and personal standards

Great People
Know that in every entry level recruit is a CEO waiting to announce himself or herself for Appointment

To be continued

Session Three - Attending Interviews Successfully

2008-11-12T06:05:00.000-08:00

Session Three
Attending Interviews Successfully

Interviews

 An interview is a conversation between two or more people where questions are asked to obtain and confirm information about the interviewee.

 A method which involves a trained interviewer asking questions and recording respondents' replies in line with job and person requirements.

 A meeting to discuss formally with a candidate for the purpose of an evaluating suitability for a job/career

 Meet the Real Person

 Check Basic Qualifications and Skills

 Evaluate Attributes

 Evaluate Required Skills

 Evaluate Knowledge

 Evaluate Person Vs. Job Fit

 Evaluate Organizational Fit

 Evaluate against other Candidates

 Evaluate Temperament

 Peep into the Mind

 Evaluate Values

 Evaluate Expectations

 Explain Job Requirements

Interview Methods

 Screening Interview
A preliminary interview either in person or by phone to determine basic educational or job qualifications.

 Structured Interview
The interviewer explores predetermined areas with questions written in advance. Interviewer usually has a written description of experience, skills and traits which are compared to actual job tasks.

 Unstructured Interview
Although interviewer has a written description of ideal candidate, he has the liberty to cover every aspect of candidates’ suitability

 Stress Interview
An interview set up to test how you react under pressure especially in actual job-related context. Elements of this could also be incorporated into a normal interview.

 Multiple Interviews
A series of interviews in which you meet with several members of the organization individually. Each one of these representatives evaluates candidate’s fitness for the job in a uniform or progressive manner. An independent member collates their assessments

 A progressive series of interviews where candidates are screened out at each succeeding stage

 Targeted Interview
Similar to the structured interview, areas covered are very limited as candidate will have been selected against key qualifications of the job or holds similar position. Relevant Questions are prepared in advance.

This is very common with Executive “Headhunted” jobs.

To be continued

Session Two - Preparing a Professional CV

2008-11-12T05:46:00.000-08:00

Session Two
Preparing a Professional CV

Curriculum Vitae
 Why do we need CV’s?
 What type of CV do you need?
 What do you have to showcase?
 What would your CV do for you?

Common CV Challenges
 Narrative and superfluous
 Over – Photocopied
 Altered and defaced
 Dirty
 Badly typed
 Badly Laid out
 Devoid of needed information
The list is endless……………………

A Solid CV
 Concise
 Fresh Looking
 Appealing
 Contains no alterations
 Provide required information
 Contains no irrelevant information
 Superbly typed and set out
 Showcases the candidate’s capabilities
 Printed on quality paper
 Is prepared with a job in mind
 Fills all Gaps
 Provides information you can defend
 Showcases your achievement(s)
 Exhibits levels of responsibility

Do you know?
 That most HR practitioners do not read CV’s?
 Rather, they scan portions of the CV for relevant information?
 That short listing criteria determines what part of the CV they read?
 That if you hide your suitability in grammar and text, they will not see it?
 Your CV represents you and your qualities of lack of qualities?

What to Highlight
 Shortlist Criteria
 Qualifications
 Achievements and Awards
 Responsibility
 Knowledge
 Skills
 Attitude

Some Irrelevancies
 State of Origin
 “My Personal Goal”
 Lengthy Career Aspirations
 Irrelevant hobbies

CV Help
 Make your CV yourself
 Use Microsoft Word Innovatively
 Check Selection Criteria
 Determine Information to be included
 Use your CV to sell yourself
 Edit and Edit

To be continued

Session One - Your Talent and Your Career

2008-11-12T05:21:00.000-08:00

Welcome to ECDC

Route
 Welcome
 Your Talent and Your Career
 Questions
 Creating an Impactful CV
 Networking Break
 Successful Interviewing
 First Ninety Days at Work

Session One

Your Talent and Your Career

Know Thyself …

What is Talent?

 It is the totality of your recurrent thoughts and actions which affect the way you view the world and the kind of capabilities you possess.

 Do you know your talent?

Know Your Route

What is a Career?

 Life-work chosen by a person to use personal talent, provide service or goods, earn money and contribute to society.

 The general progression of your working or professional life, its challenges and achievements.

 What Career have you chosen?
Think about This!
Who Chose Your Course of Study?

Think about This!

Was your Course of Study aligned to your personality and innate abilities?

Do YOU want to spend ALL YOUR LIFE practicing what you studied or are studying?

Talent and You

 Individual Uniqueness
 Personal Confidence
 Strong Capabilities
 Unique Thought Patterns
 Clear Drive
 High Energy Levels
 Personal Satisfaction
 Fulfilment

Career Considerations

 Uniqueness of Individuals (Talent)
 Genetics (Nature)
 Nurture
 Significant Others
 Economic Policies
 Exposure
 Media
 Society

Common Career Challenges Extension Syndrome
 Betterment Syndrome
 Large Shoes Syndrome: “Son of”
 See the World and Choose
 “Can I” Complex
 You CAN’T do it
 Educational Institutions
 JAMB

To be Continued

Find your Talent! Sell your Talent! Grow your Talent!

2008-10-09T06:59:00.000-07:00

INTRODUCTION:

The Need
A quick scan of the Nigerian situation will reveal to the discerning eye that the number one yearning of the teeming population in Nigeria is dignified employment. Nigeria has an alarming rate of unemployment brought about by a coalescence of several factors:
• Our development situation where the government is the largest employer of labour.
• The lack of manufacturing and value-adding industrial procees which encourages importation and kills local industries.
• The university system which focuses on generic degrees and minimal specialization for the industries.
• The lack of career counseling and guidance in for students which would inform the course of study in a higher institution.
• The apathy on the part of parents to allow their children study courses in their areas of strength rather than the preference of the parents.
• Corporate Nigeria’s dwindling investments in staff training and development.
The amalgam of these factors has created a vacuum between the actual skills needed by the industry and those possessed by the graduates. It has become increasingly difficult for the Nigerian graduate to get a job. The few graduates who manage to get jobs often find themselves in classic unemployment or end up in careers that are neither challenging nor fulfilling.

The Employment and Career Development Clinic organised by the Talent Quartet: IDEASBRIDGE, Talent and Dexterity, Talent Right and Witty Inventions, has been designed to address these challenges in five innovative ways:
• Employability Skills Training
• Career Development Workshops
• Alliances with organisations that provide technical skills (NIIT, Karkrox e.t.c.)
• Strategic Partnerships with HR firms, Consultancies and Recruitment organisations.
• Industry partnerships with employers of labour.

Employability Skills Training
These refers to learned ability that is requisite for employment and success in a certain career or industry. Several industries have different clusters of skills that are particularly relevant and required for entrants into the industry.
This is what protectionist professions (Law and Medicine) teach and test for at specialized schools and institutions. Other industries simply created training schools to provide new recruits with these skills.
Economic downturn and dwindling profits have closed down many training schools in Nigeria. Organisations now demand (without saying so, except in vacancy announcements) that graduates possess the skills that they would love new entrants to possess!

Research has identified skill clusters that employers now demand of entry-level graduates in Nigeria especially in the sectors that are experiencing phenomenal growth and dynamism. These skills could be grouped into two major classes: Soft skills and Technical skills.

Soft skills refer to the intangible skills of people management, sales and marketing, customer handling, and other interpersonal skills.

Technical skills refer to core functional competencies that are required of graduates of disciplines like Computer Science, Engineering, Surveying and other professions that demand specialized problem resolution routes, registers and professional protocols.

The (un)employment situation in Nigeria has somewhat blurred the distinction between this categorizations as most Nigerian firms now employ entry level graduates from different disciplines, ferreting them with aptitude tests, psychometric evaluations and interviews that determine the fate of new graduates. Most times, a mixture of both skill groups is required for interview success and employment.

The poignant questions: are Nigerian graduates taught these skills in universities? Are they armed with requisite skills required to excel at these interviews and careers? Where do they get these skills?

Our Programme
Technically-minded institutions like NIIT have created programmes that fill the technical deficiencies and upskill new graduates in the core technical skills required for employment especially in the computing quadrant.
The Employability Training Programme provides a suite of the soft skills required for entry level jobs. The suite of courses includes the following:
• Creating a personal brand for employment
• Writing a unique CV and attending an interview
• Self management Skills
• Basic communication skills
• Basic Sales Skills
• Front Office Management Skills
• Customer Care and Contact Centre skills
• Basic Microsoft Office Skills

Graduates who hitherto lacked these skills will be equipped with new skills in order to better their chances of employment.

Career Development Workshops
These are workshops designed to explore the reality of getting more than a job: a career. Experts and Human resource managers will be invited to share new insight on career management, career choices, career progression, career paths in their industries. These workshops will also focus on the challenges and the rewards of working in a particular industry as seen by an insider. The aim is to provide a peep into the workings of the industry before you make a career choice in that industry.
These series of workshops will also address the dynamics of psychometric tests, aptitude tests, management traineeship and graduate schemes. The workshops will also teach students and parents how to use cutting edge personality profiling and skill-set identification tools to determine their personal profiles and explore career options. Experts will explore the impact these selection techniques have on the career prospects of graduates and the recruitment brand of organisations. The workshops will be interactive and deep enough to provide valuable insight for the serious-minded graduate who wishes to make an informed career choice.

Technical Alliances:
Our aim is to build technical alliances with organisations that provide technical skills (NIIT. Karkox and others) to provide implant training programmes for participants in our programme.
The realization that technical training is expensive is a major consideration for this alliance as a lot of graduates who have a leaning towards technical training often avoid these training because of the huge capital investments. We intend to open discussions with these institutions in order to provide basic training during our programme at a subsidised rate are inclined with a view to discovering the talent of graduates who are talented in database management, wed design, software and applications design, network administration, hardware installation maintenance, system auditing and other applications of computing. Participant who apply themselves and display their talent will be offered scholarships or subsidized tuition in order to assist their cause for employment.

Strategic Partnerships:
A crucial goal of this initiative is to create a steady channel through which our participants can be given opportunities to get viable employment. We shall be creating a database of partner organisations, mainly human resource management firms, recruitment agencies, placement organisation and recruiters. Carefully chosen managers of these firms will be invited to present their views during our Career Workshops. We will share the data of our participants with these organisations free and monitor to ensure that they are invited for interviews and given opportunities to display their talent. We will open avenues for feedback by sending evaluation forms to these organisations in order to get invaluable feedback on the performance of our “graduates”.