From the Desk of an HR Professional: Work Readiness Ideas for Students
By Kennedy Adhola
Director, HR, Operations & Partnerships, Elewa
Originally published in EFAC’s Wezesha Magazine, Special Issue 2024
As students prepare to transition from university to the workplace, it is important to develop skills and strategies that will enhance their readiness for the job market. The following ideas offer practical steps to help students navigate this journey.
Build Skills
Being in university is not limited to attending lectures and working towards passing exams. While these aspects are important, students, regardless of the area of study, should use their free time to identify things they love and enjoy doing, things they perform well naturally, or those they do with ease and ultimately find satisfying.
Students who are already taking courses that align with what they naturally love are very lucky and rare today. You may find that many things you enjoy doing are not aligned with what you are studying and that is okay. What you need to do is nurture the things you naturally enjoy and develop them into a skill area that can be offered sustainably. While harnessing what you love doing into a skill, make sure to do your best in academics to support your identified skill areas.
Skills Reality Check
From the things you love doing, find out how much demand there is for such a skill in society today. Identify those currently working in that skill area and analyze its growth potential and future prospects. The critical question to ask is, “Who requires and can pay for the skills I can potentially offer?” The answer will help you identify organizations and clients interested in utilizing your skill.
Where to Apply the Skills
During your time at university, it is recommended, especially for soon-to-be graduates, to map out your career path by identifying industries or organizations that are likely to seek your skills. After identifying them, align your skills and roles with what they do and picture yourself in any of them. Then, ask yourself what it takes to join these industries or organizations. This will help you land in the organization or industry that suits you best.
For instance, if you are interested in entrepreneurship, you can use the period just before graduation to learn the business realities within your preferred ventures. This involves deciding whether to start the venture straight away or work first in a similar industry to further learn and gain experience before starting a business.
Meaningful Internships, Attachments and School Projects
To prepare for the job market, students should engage in meaningful internships and attachments to apply their skills. Choosing the wrong organization for these may result in wasted time on trivial tasks like fetching snacks for senior colleagues or reading newspapers while enjoying free Wi-Fi. To avoid this, students must seek opportunities to actively learn and refine their skills.
More importantly, school projects should not be solely about attaining high grades. They should be carried out meaningfully to contribute to the development of long-term skills. For instance, a Software Development student should not only demonstrate the ability to code as part of their project work, but they should also use the opportunity to show how they can use code to solve real-life problems.
Mentors, Sponsors, Coaches, and Role Models
All these individuals can serve as referees, but they take different forms that a student can leverage. It is important to choose people with a growth mindset.
A mentor is someone experienced in your skill area. They help you grow your skills. They may be found within the industry or organization you desire to work in. The best mentors are also role models because they are the people you look up to.
A sponsor is someone you do not have immediate access to but can mention your name where opportunities arise, based on your demonstrated skills and efforts. These could be leaders within the organizations and industries you aspire to join.
A coach is someone who works with you regularly to direct your steps toward your skill goals. These could be lecturers or people who are available to meet regularly to discuss your career progress.
Your coach and sponsor do not necessarily need to be experienced in your desired skill area, but your mentor and role model MUST be experienced in your desired skill area. They all need to believe in you and your potential. Your mentor and coach MUST be available to you. Role models can be followed online to learn more about them and how they exercise their skills.