5 Things Undergraduates Ought To Work On Before Graduation
I ran into this post sometime ago on social media and made a lot of sense out of it. But i considered some aspects of it and rewrote to its most student relative form. Kudos to the original writer. I never got to meet him/her, but these are noteworthy points.
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 toddlers, making one wonder what they spent 16yrs doing in school.
You hear them spew garbage 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 "worked your way" through school. The use of words like yeah, goddamn, omo, sh*t, f**k*d 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 one enjoyed during
undergraduate days. It was fun because you had so much of the opposite sex around to admire you. Upon graduation, your orientation will change. 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 imply that you're a kiddo. Just cos your favourite musician sags his trousers doesn't mean you should do the same. He gets paid to do that while you could get fired for doing the same.
3. Spendthrift Attitude:
The first time I heard someone say his salary is 70k, I hissed and mocked him in my mind because that was the same amount students spent on phones just to oppress each other. Now there are 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 campuses these days, girls no longer trip over guys because his gadgets cos after all, it remains theirs and not the girls'. 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 what they spent 16yrs in school developing.
5. Pride:
I remember leaving school to start work in an engineering company. Such joy that filled my heart. Finally I'd hit the jackpot, I knew I had landed a job that was going to pay 350k progressively and at least 150k immediately. Reality slapped me in the face when my first offer 15k, I rejected it. I later got a 25k job, but it wasn't related to my field of study, so I bounced again.
Little did i know that that was the best offer i was going to get for a start. Until my highly anticipated engineering job came and i was offered a lump some amount of #7,500. I had no choice but to take the offer cos I was already tired of adding more months at home just sleeping. It is my humility in accepting this job that would pave the way for better opportunities. It gave me the needed experience recruiters want to see on a CV, exposure and of course some degree of connection.
I now realised that 350k is only feasible for entrepreneurs 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, no one cares about you out there. So, drop your pride and use your head and hands or end up spending years relying on people.
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| File Photo |
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 toddlers, making one wonder what they spent 16yrs doing in school.
You hear them spew garbage 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 "worked your way" through school. The use of words like yeah, goddamn, omo, sh*t, f**k*d 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 one enjoyed during
undergraduate days. It was fun because you had so much of the opposite sex around to admire you. Upon graduation, your orientation will change. 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 imply that you're a kiddo. Just cos your favourite musician sags his trousers doesn't mean you should do the same. He gets paid to do that while you could get fired for doing the same.
3. Spendthrift Attitude:
The first time I heard someone say his salary is 70k, I hissed and mocked him in my mind because that was the same amount students spent on phones just to oppress each other. Now there are 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 campuses these days, girls no longer trip over guys because his gadgets cos after all, it remains theirs and not the girls'. 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 what they spent 16yrs in school developing.
5. Pride:
I remember leaving school to start work in an engineering company. Such joy that filled my heart. Finally I'd hit the jackpot, I knew I had landed a job that was going to pay 350k progressively and at least 150k immediately. Reality slapped me in the face when my first offer 15k, I rejected it. I later got a 25k job, but it wasn't related to my field of study, so I bounced again.
Little did i know that that was the best offer i was going to get for a start. Until my highly anticipated engineering job came and i was offered a lump some amount of #7,500. I had no choice but to take the offer cos I was already tired of adding more months at home just sleeping. It is my humility in accepting this job that would pave the way for better opportunities. It gave me the needed experience recruiters want to see on a CV, exposure and of course some degree of connection.
I now realised that 350k is only feasible for entrepreneurs 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, no one cares about you out there. So, drop your pride and use your head and hands or end up spending years relying on people.
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