Immediately you finish college/university, you will find yourself desperate and jobless. During this time, there are things you can do to ensure you don’t lose focus in life.
Let me talk briefly of what happened to me in 2008 when I completed college. While in college, there were only success stories, stories of how someone finished school and ended up getting a job that pays Ksh1 million per month. We rarely encountered stories of misery and joblessness among graduates. Not even a single lecturer gathered enough courage to comb us with information on what awaits us outside college.
During graduation ceremony, everyone was excited, we were pregnant with expectations. But immediately we stepped outside the gate reality started sinking in, fear and anxiety engulfed us, we didn’t know how to approach life. I relaxed for about two weeks then hit the road. The first thing I did was to photocopy my CV and academic papers ready to send to potential employers. I didn’t miss a newspaper, especially Friday Daily Nation, that’s where all the hot jobs were listed.
I would peruse through the paper, pick 4-10 vacancies and send my CV to each one of them, then wait to be employed. After applying for nearly 50 jobs, nothing came forth, not even a regret letter. I started suspecting my application format. But after hearing similar stories from my peers, I realized the world is harsh everywhere, it’s raining everywhere. Over time, I started losing hope. It reached a time all the money I had saved got exhausted, my pocket returned to factory settings.
For two years I was a jobseeker, I was dead broke, a laughing stock, until I was advised otherwise.
To avoid getting into the trap I was in, here are the things you should do immediately you finish college.
- Don’t marry until you get something
Don’t make a mistake of marrying immediately you finish school, wait until you get something that can keep you going. Feeding a family isn’t a mean feat.
- Start a small business venture
The best decision to make is to ensure you start a side hustle as you search for employment. You can even start an MPESA shop. Most people sink into depression because of frustrations they get for failing to secure employment, but when you have a small business, you will be kept busy. Depression is real and it would be evident when you are jobless.
- Be in close contacts with college mates
College mates can be a dependable network. Some of them have strong networks and can easily connect you to someone with job opportunities. Don’t lose your friends’ contacts, they are essential.
- Volunteer/Internships
When you are fresh from college, you don’t have enough experience to ask for salary, you are under the mercies of your potential employer. While searching for employment, it might get increasingly hard be employed, when in this situation, the best thing to do is seek for internship. Internships will help you get relevant skills as you develop connections within the organization. Also, your bosses will learn about your strengths and weaknesses, if they get impressed with you, they will definitely consider you for employment.
- Enroll for master’s degree
The supply of jobs is low while demand is at the ceiling. In such a competitive environment, advanced education coupled with experience will boost your chances of securing employment. There are also courses which cannot land you a job unless you pursue a master’s program. If you realize that your course isn’t so marketable, enroll for a master’s program.
- Pursue a professional course
Courses like BCom, Bachelor of Economics, Actuarial Science and business courses in general demand that you pursue a professional course before employers take you seriously. If you finish school and realize that jobs are not easy to come by, enroll as fast as possible for a professional course.
- Apply for a scholarship abroad
Another good idea is to apply for a scholarship in UK, USA, Australia or Canada.I have realized that Kenyan employers are more biased towards graduates from those countries.
- Don’t camp at your relative’s house and pressure him to give you a job
The most suicidal decision you will make is to camp inside your relative’s house and pile pressure on him to look for a job for you, he will use and dump you.
- Blind applications
Another technique that will do magic is to do blind applications. Don’t just pick vacancies in the newspaper and think those are enough to give you a job. You need to move around offices and drop hardcopy applications. Research show that 70% of employees in Kenya got their first jobs out of blind applications.
- Don’t retreat to your village
The worst mistake you can make is to retreat to your village and make applications from there. If you make that mistake, you will remain comfortable, lazy and finally give up on employment.
Pool resources with your friends and rent even a single room in Nairobi, then start hustling. The pressure of paying rent and buying food will force you to become more aggressive.
The most important thing is not to lose hope,continue knocking until something worth presents itself.Even so,ensure your run a small side hustle.
11.Never limit yourself to a relevant job opportunity
Most successful people didn’t start with relevant job opportunities.Some of them pursued journalism and ended up being cashiers.When you are desperately searching for opportunities,don’t be choosy,take anything that presents itself as you look for appropriate bearing.
