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Talent firm tasks jobseekers on repositioning for labour market

By Toyin Olasinde
27 August 2015   |   12:52 am
Career Solutions Africa, at a fair organised for job seekers stressed the need for employees to reposition themselves in order to become more relevant in the labour market.

JOBSCareer Solutions Africa, at a fair organised for job seekers stressed the need for employees to reposition themselves in order to become more relevant in the labour market.

Speaking at the job fair organised by Career Solutions in Lagos, the Executive Secretary, Freedom Foundation, Ms. Shola Adeola, said career progression could be achieved with the right positioning. “Position yourself to be relevant in all spheres.

I never worked in HR but once I started working at Accenture, I understood the career progression in the company.” She encouraged every job seeker to conduct a personality check in order to identify their strengths and tangible skills, saying that they can start by asking questions that would reveal their attitude, interests and skills, all of which would help them to apply for jobs that fit their personality type.

According to Adeola, accountants find it difficult to write, they struggle with it because they work easily with figures saying that the ability to memorise large chunks of words is strength.

Highlighting the self probing questions to ask, she said, “What do you struggle to do? What are your values? What do you enjoy doing most and what do you enjoy doing least? What will you do if nobody paid you to do it? What frustrates you the most? What brings out the best in you? What motivates you?”

Due to the scarcity of jobs, she said seekers may decide to take on any available job but advised them to plan their career either in alignment with the job or along their area of interest.

She pointed out that the wrong job, in which the values of the organisation did not align with the employee, was capable damaging their confidence and self-esteem as well as preventing young people from moving forward in their career.

Adeola explained that the Nigerian education system did not assist graduates in developing requisite skills employers were looking for, however, she enjoined the graduates to develop the soft skills on their own.

While stating the soft skills, she said, “Critical thinking is the ability to analyse a challenge, understand why it is happening a proffer solutions to it. Creativity is the ability to pull ideas and make them work together.

Be computer savvy. Learn to communicate clearly using good correct English. Don’t fake it. Show your commitment to the job. It means you are willing to go the extra mile. Commitment positions you to get noticed.

Also speaking, the learning and talent manager, Samsung electronics, West Africa, Oluwaseyi Oyesainu advised graduates, who had inadequate experience but were eyeing particular positions in big corporate organisations, to get a job in same position with a smaller company in order to get adequate work experience before applying for their dream job.

On her part, an executive in Russel Smith Group, Mrs. Ann Ayinde, noted that employers search for people with the right attitude and skills on professional platforms like LinkedIn.

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