3 BEST STRATEGIES FOR GETTING A JOB IN NIGERIA

I first have to admit that getting a job in Nigeria has never been easy since the 21^st century. This is perhaps because of population explosion and inadequate industries/institutions that can assimilate the number of people seeking a job. Be that as it may, people are still getting jobs. In this article, I’ll be showing you the 3 best strategies for getting a job in Nigeria.

Get your resume right

One of your best strategies for getting a job in Nigeria is to produce a nice resume. People mistakenly believe they should throw all their experiences up on a Word document and mail blast it to every job advert. It’s almost a guaranteed failure. People should seek professional help and learn the methodology of writing a resume that suits the employer’s needs.

A big part of this is, to know how to market your job experience in a way that convinces a potential employer or recruiters. This is where our educational system has failed us. It teaches us new skills but does not teach us how to market them on paper. And that’s exactly what a resume is – a marketing document for your skills and experience.

When it comes to your resume, if you are struggling with getting calls for interviews, get professional help. People make their living from writing resumes, which is an indication it is a craft that is well horned with writing skills and career experience.

The choice is yours in terms of the quality of help you want to get. Always remember, when it comes to your resume, it’s not how it looks that matter, but the choice of words that sells your experience and skills to the reader that matters. There are a couple of indigenous resume writers at Upwork.com. Resume writers that charge some money are skilled at marketing your skills and experiences on paper.

If you can learn to write a good resume yourself or invest a few naira in writing your resume the right way, you may get the job you are looking for at the salary you deserve in the end.

build the right Network

One of the other best strategies for getting a job in Nigeria if you want to end your job search as soon as possible, is to speak with the people who have the power and authority to hire you as soon and as frequently as possible. This is one of the best strategies people have used in getting a job. Sometimes when I talk to some folks looking for a job. I often do ask them about the networking strategy they’re using; they always give me the same answer:

“well, I’ve been submitting applications everywhere possible”, “I’m connecting with recruiters, and they keep saying they’ll get back to me if they hear anything, but they never do”, “I’m reaching out to people, but they keep ignoring my LinkedIn requests”, “I’ve asked people for advice and job openings, but they just tell me there’s no job anywhere or they tell me to get more qualified and do more certifications.”

It is easy for people to tell you to go and get more qualifications, but that’s not the first advice you give to people looking for a job. The first piece of advice I give to people is to start up conversations with the team of the company or institution in which they intend to work. Have an informal relationship with them. With either the staff or even the gateman. This can be done online or on-site.

You start by asking the right question. Mike Murdock is known for saying, “The only real mistake you make is not asking enough questions”. So when you start conversing with people working with your potential place of work, ask questions like, “Who else do you recommend I can speak to?” One conversation leads to another. By the time you would have asked perhaps the third to the fourth person, you may be fortunate to be forwarded to the hiring manager or the employer.

When the hiring manager or the employer thinks you don’t have the needed experience for the job, assure them you are a fast learner and give them examples and stories of how you learned quickly in the past. Sometimes, character matters the most. Some managers and employers after observing your character could think you are the type of person that will get along well with his team even if you don’t have all the required experience. Even if you were not successful on the first day, you stand a higher chance of being the next employee of that institution.

As a job seeker, connecting with the hiring manager or employer should be your goal. When an employer or hiring manager has an opening or hears of openings from their network, they must be willing to contact you and recommend you for the job. The only way this can happen is if you, the job seeker takes the effort to build win-win relationships with hiring managers and employers.

Give-and-take

All too often, job seekers take-take-take and ask-ask-ask from their network. By network, I mean people helping you in the process of securing a job, people acting as your contact point, the people who give you information, etc. Provide value to them as much as you are asking for it.

When you’ve connected with someone, stay in touch periodically. And this isn’t just boring, “Hi. How are you? Trust you’re keeping well. Happy Birthday. Congratulations”. Your way of giving could also include sending them airtime or even gift items sometimes. Research their company and the industry they’re working in and share news and articles with them. If you know they have specific interests, share that knowledge with them too.

Conclusion

It’s not enough to send a resume, your resume should be rich and formatted right. When you send your resume, don’t sit back doing nothing about it. Put a strategic networking plan into practice. Again, always remember that the only person with the power and authority to hire you is the hiring manager or the employer. Recruiters don’t have the authority to hire you. They are an important part of the facilitation of the process and good influencers too. But the final decision maker will always be the hiring managers or the employer. So, if the extent of your networking strategy is limited to recruiters, you’re not networking.

Recruiters can only help you if a hiring manager or employer has first reached out to them with an opening available. That’s why you don’t hear back from them. They simply don’t have anything available for you at the moment. Remember, hiring managers or employers reach out to recruiters as a last resort. Why would they pay a third-party recruiter a commission when they can hire someone directly for free?

That’s why you need to connect with hiring managers or employers more than recruiters if you want to get first dibs on new openings.

It’s not only at Church that you give. Don’t forget to give your way up as you network with people in the course of searching for your dream job. It’s one of the best strategies that works fast. Sometimes the only way to receive is to give.

We hope we’ve been able to present to you the 3 best strategies for getting a job in Nigeria. Please share widely to help your family and friends and people looking for job in Nigeria.

You may also wish to read MORE Extra blogs Here

Like and follow us on Facebook at Peteroz Blog | Facebook