THINGS TO WORK ON BEFORE GRADUATION
1. Spoken English
It is so sad that majority of
Nigerian students in tertiary
institutions don't bother about
polishing their spoken and written
english. Some graduates speak
english worse than a toddler, making
one wonder what they spent 16yrs
doing in school. You hear them spew
gabbage like "he come and slap me
and I come and beat him". If you
speak such english to an interviewer,
even with first class clearly written
on your CV, he will probably think
you runzed your way through school.
The use of words like yeah, goddamn,
omo, sh*t, f**k etc should be stopped
cos they don't portray you as a
decent person.
2. Mode of dressing
Looking fly on campus was one of the
things I enjoyed during my
undergraduate days. It was fun cos
you had so much of the opposite sex
around to admire you. The moment I
graduated, my orientation changed.
Not that a graduate should stop
wearing denims and sneakers, but
sagging and putting on studs with
crazy hairstyle should come to a stop
if such a person wants to fit into the
corporate world. In the corporate
world, you get to mingle with
matured or married men with enough
decency. Sagging in their midst will
make you look kiddo. Just cos your
favourite musician davido sags his
trousers doesn't mean you should do
thesame. He gets paid to do that
while you could get fired for doing
thesame.
3. Spendthrift attitude
The first time I heard someone say
his salary is 70k, I hissed and
mocked him in my mind cos that was
thesame amount we students spent
on phones just to oppress each other.
Now I've seen people earning less
than 45k even with years of
experience. What kind of person do
you think you'll turn out to be when
all you want is the latest expensive
gadgets? In the real world, no one
cares about the kind of phone you
use. Even on naija campus these
days, girls have stopped falling for a
guy because of the phone he uses,
they now trip for flashy cars. So,
before you spend that huge amount
on a phone, ask yourself this
question: "is it going to improve my
standard of living?". I didn't know I
could turn my smart phone to a mini
laptop with WPS, Excel etc until I got
employed. My phone was all about
bbm, whatsapp and facebook. I now
saw the full potential of the phone.
You need to cut down on your
spendings. Also, get the idea of
clubbing off your mind or it might
ruin your pockets. The money saved
from disciplining yourself can be
used to start something great. Use
your head.
4. Laziness
You remember how you use to
complain about the large notebooks
you have to read for exams? If you
lack a good reading culture, it is
certain you will be bereft of ideas
to contribute to a company's growth.
You are always seen reading gossip
blogs where you are updated with
the lifestyle of celebrities but lack
the idea of what the top 20
questions interviewers ask. Scaling
through campus days as a lazy
person doesn't mean such is likely to
continue in the real world. Carrying
on with laziness is what leads to
prostitution, where a lady feels she
can use her body to fetch her daily
bread instead of her brain, or where
a guy still expects his uncle to be
the one to help him achieve his
targets even after getting him a job
through nepotism. You get to wonder
why they spent 16yrs developing
their brain in school.
5. Pride
I remember when I was in my final
year at school, I was always happy
about what the future held for me. I
knew I was going to get a job that
pays 350k immediately I graduated.
Reality slapped me in the face when
my first offer was a job paying 30k.
I had no choice but to take the offer
cos I was already tired of adding
more months to the six months I had
spent at home just sleeping. Luckily
for me, that job paved the way for a
better one cos it gave me the
needed experience recruiters want to
see on a CV. I've now realise that
350k is only feasible for those in
the oil sector and those with huge
years of experience, not a fresh
graduate who doesn't know his left
from his right. As you are about
graduating, never see any job as
demeaning. Take it up while you
continue searching for a better one.
This gives you experience. A bird in
hand is better than a million in the
bush. Remember, you are a nobody
and no one gives a damn about you
out there. So, drop your pride and
use your head and hands or end up
spending years still eating your
mum's food with insults.
If it make sense to you sha
