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Employers Are Avoiding Modern Graduates: What You Can Do To Fit In

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Students graduate at the University of Nairobi (UoN) during a past ceremony www.businesstoday.co.ke
Students graduate at the University of Nairobi (UoN) during a past ceremony [Photo/Courtesy]
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It is estimated that at least 50,000 graduates are churned out of public and private universities in Kenya every year, to fight for limited job slots in the job market.

Still, employers seem to be avoiding hiring the modern graduate, and those who do it will do so with a pinch of salt.

According to the 2019 census data, 5,341,182 or 38.9 percent of the 13,777,600 young Kenyans are jobless, further widening the gulf between the rich and the poor.

This backs World Bank data on Kenya which indicates that the country had the highest rate of youth joblessness in East Africa in 2015 with 17 percent of all young people eligible for work lacked jobs.

According to Bernard Kiragu, the executive director of the Traction School of Governance and Business (TSBG), most of modern graduates are underskilled, what is commonly referred to as “half-baked” graduates.

He says that the conventional degree qualification is more or less becoming a step towards achieving a professional goal and not the final destination in becoming an expert.

“Over the years, there has been a demand for experts versed in different fields across different sectors. This is because the conventional degree qualification is more or less becoming a step towards achieving a professional goal and not the final destination in becoming an expert. Acquiring a Professional certification is more than ever being seen as an initiative and ambition towards a career objective,” he says in an interview with Business Today.

He says that most companies are looking for a special skill set, rather than the papers one possesses.

“Employers are always looking for that extra academic edge and skill range when selecting candidates for a position. This is because a professional certification not only shows evidence for market demand knowledge but also skills,” he adds.

As a result, Kiragu says that there is a need for learning institutions to redesign their curriculums to focus more on practicals rather than theoretical work, which leaves leaners half-baked.

“I would advocate for a more practical-based kind of learning instead of the conventional theoretical kind of learning. The corporate world is changing and what sells is skills and practical knowledge. We need solutions-based experts. Individuals who are able to come up with solutions to solve emerging issues and not “read from a manual” kind of professionals. This needs a complete overhaul of how most graduates have been programmed,” he says.

“Let’s build an education system that is modelled around skills, practicability and solutions-based and move away from the conventional theory-based kind of learning.”

He also advises graduates not to rest on their educational certificates hoping to miraculously land a job. Instead, he advises them to further their skills to increase their potential of getting jobs.

“Post-secondary skill-based education is very important if one can afford it because it opens you up to more opportunities not only in the corporate world but individually. It broadens your thoughts in order to become adaptable to the working environment. The world is becoming more dynamic and therefore one needs to be a problem solver and not a “script reader”. With skilled-based education, you will be able to think out of the box, create solutions and contribute to emerging issues,” Kiragu advises.

Kiragu is the Executive Director at Traction School of Governance & Business, and the Managing Partner at Scribe Services. He is a Certified Secretary with more than 15 years of practising experience, providing Company Secretarial and Statutory compliance advice to entities across all sectors. His areas of expertise include Corporate Governance, Board Structures and processes, Board evaluations, and Board and Committee Charters.

Read: Inside Traction School of Governance and Business Where Skills Set The Standards

>>>: Graduate Cops Richer as NPSC Reinstates Higher Pay

Written by
BT Reporter -

editor [at] businesstoday.co.ke

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