Dear Africa
vol. 7
Today I want to address my fellow brothers and sisters who are unemployed or employed but seeking new opportunities.
Unemployment is no joke, but while we wait for the government to deliver the jobs they keep promising, we can also do some small steps to improve our prospects.
First things first, if you have a CallerTune on your phone, remove it. Just do it. No buts. No one is going to hire you if the first thing they hear when they call you is ‘ngud’ or ‘stok’saLekgowa’.
Also, while you’re at it, setup a proper voicemail, like “Hi, this is Paul, I can’t take your call right now, please leave your number, I will get back to you soonest”
Stop buying 3 newspapers every Sunday to look for jobs. Save the money to buy data bundles. Register a profile at LinkedIn, Careerjunction and pnet. Most jobs published in Sunday newspapers are also posted online, and besides, online you will get much more jobs than can be printed.
Keep your CV short and relevant, anything over 5 pages long is going to bore off a potential recruiter, unless you already have 50 years of experience. Keep it short.
If you are going to drop off your CV in a big box with thousands other CVs, you’re better off playing the lotto. Use recruitment agencies, let them do the searching for you.
There is a difference between being unemployed and unemployable. If you are youth and unemployed today, it is time for some introspection. Do you have skills, or busy acquiring skills? Do you have formal education or busy getting one? Do you have talent or currently perfecting it? If you answered NO to all 3 questions, sorry, you are unemployable.
If everything else fails, start a business, soon enough you’ll be employing people.
dear.africa 