New Year Cheers & Career Advice from an HR Manager
Position yourself for opportunities in uncertain times with these tips & hacks
Happy New Year, Star!š
We are resuming work tomorrow āwell rested and inspired to do more!
In that regard, I asked one of our experts Andy Mensah, a veteran HR professional and trainer to share some thoughts with our entry-level job seekersā¦and he didnāt spare the ink.š„
But first, you should know this:
I made three predictions about 2023.
And one of my predictions is that 2023 will be the year for Africa to the world!
Weāll see more investments, stronger ecosystem development projects, more acquisitions, etc. Ultimately, this is going to be a fantastic year in my opinion.
I also said itās going to be the year when Edtech innovations puts more pressures on some mainstream universities across the continent. Youāve already seen and heard about different AI tools gaining mainstream access.
Anyway, I saw this passage from LinkedIn, and I thought I should present it to you:
The school-to-work path will be turned on its head
Ā For decades, teenagers and young adults have followed the well-trod course from high school to college to career. Since the 1980s, what the U.S. government calls the āimmediate college enrollment rateā has been steadily rising.
But over the last two years, higher education has lost nearly 1.4 million students. And community collegesālong seen as the fastest educational pathway into the workforceāhave welcomed many fewer high-school graduates in the last decade.Ā Ā
Colleges arenāt just competing with each other for students, says Georgia Lorenz, president of Seminole State College in Florida. Theyāre competing with Amazon, Walmart and even employers that have long required a college degree.
Working has long been seen as the side gig while students earn a degree, said Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute. Maybe it shouldnāt be. Maybe āworking is core,ā he said, āand maybe the learning is a side gig.ā āJeff Selingo, higher education strategist at Arizona State University, co-host of the podcast Future U., and author of āWho Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions.ā
That said, hereās Andy Mensah, HR Professional & Executive Trainer on how to secure the bag this year 2023:
š§ 2023 ā Positioning Yourself for The Limited Opportunities
Various experts (and even prophets) seem to predict a year of difficultly the world over.
Some say thereāll be a global recession, high inflation, economic stagnation, job losses etcetera.
These predictions do not bode well for those of us who are looking forward to our first employment contract.
However, amid all these supposed dooms, thereād be some whoād still be making it, either as employers or employees.
For those of us attempting to enter the job market, I have the following tips to help you take advantage of the job opportunities that may come your way.
šØāš¾1. Be Prepared
I once heard a saying which goes like this:
Success is when opportunity meets preparation.
You must be prepared to take advantage of breaks that come your way āat a dinner table, on an errand, in the lift, at programs you attend, etc.
Your CV must also be ready to be shared whenever asked. More on this shortly.
Be ready to attend an interview at a short notice, be prepared to be interviewed either face-to-face or onlineā¦I mean just be ready for that call or invitation.
There is nothing more off-putting for a potential recruiter than to invite a candidate for an interview and the candidate gives excuses as to his/her lack of readiness.
šÆ2. Your CV Must Be Up To Date
Make sure (at every point) that your CV is ready to be shared with whoever asks you for it.
Get yourself organized.
If you donāt have a professional CV, get one. Have your copy reviewed by another person or ask an expert for feedback. And have your copy ready to be sent over all kinds of available media ā WhatsApp, email, LinkedIn etc.
A quick tip on CVs, especially for entry-level roles:
donāt pad your CVs with irrelevant information, ā
the recruiter is not expecting a 5 page CV from someone who has just completed school or has very little or no working experience,ā
keep it straight to the point.ā
We can talk more about CVs that get you interviews another time. But take note of the following crucial resume stats:
š±3. Do Not Oversell Yourself
Know this:
You are not a finished article.
You still need a lot of years to become an āexpertā in your field.
Be humble, take jobs that do not seem to be at your ālevelā, even if its just for the experience. And do not expect to be paid the high side of the 4 figure salaries.
Be ready to learn under others. All these will build you up into becoming the person of your dream.
Again, its not the job that matters. Its how you deliver on that job that will put you forward for the bigger and better opportunities.
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, heart and soul.
Happy new year ā wish you all a lot of success and progress this year!
The end.
Thatās all I have for you this time.
I will come your way again with more exclusive, exciting insights.
In the mean time:
if youād like to be featured in subsequent episodes, kindly reach out to me via tomchris(at)sfanonline.org.
And do visit www.readyforwork.africa to join the waiting list for our next cohort of the digital career accelerator.
Join us on Social Media on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
If youāre feeling merry this season, consider giving to our work by providing scholarships to ReadyforWork leaders. Hereās how to give.
Free Gifts
Weāve put together the most comprehensive guide to make the best of your internship experience. And weāre giving out the ebook for free. If you want the book, download it here.
Throughout this season of Thanksgiving, you can get 90% discount on Breaking the Limits book. I wrote this book as my way of helping young professionals and entrepreneurs avoid painful mistakes I made earlier in my career.
And Iāve received so many heartwarming testimonies on the book so far. You can snag a copy for yourself with a 90% discount using the Code: BTL_book (itās case sensitive). Get your copy here.
I love you,
Tom-Chris