Opportunities are plenty, we are just too picky

By Abram Molelemane

With South Africa’s youth ranking third in terms of the highest unemployment rate of people between the ages of 15 to 24,one would think that they would jump at any job opportunity that presents itself.Unfortunately, this is not the case;our youth are too picky! I should know,I am one too.

Youth unemployment in South Africa is a great concern; in fact the urgency of addressing this challenge has prompted a number of organisations including Harambee, South African Youth Council (SAYC), Stanely Hutcheson and Associates, Pinotage Youth Development Academy , Indibano , Fetolaand others to come up with  programmes that seek to tackle this crisis.

While these initiatives are exciting, what bothers me is the fact that we are constantly ranting and whining about the government’s failure to create jobs, however when working opportunities present themselves, we are quick to say ‘I don’t want that kind of job’ or ‘This is not what I studied for’. It doesn’t make sense,but this is what I am seeing more and more.

The root of the problem

Although there are no reasonable answers to why we are too picky, I would like to suggest a few possible pointers that I think add to this dilemma. First, the root of this challenge stems from the head (government); we have been fed so many promises of job creation, whichhas led to many of my peers idling around and expecting jobs to blossom at any minute. I find the whole idea funny and shockingat the same time; that many of my peers remain hopeful that the government will shower them with jobs is a complete absurdity. Frankly, I don’t see that happening any time soon, which makes itimportant now more than ever for our government to face the facts and set the record straight. Yes, our government needs to be blunt and tell us that they are not meeting their targets of job creation, and therefore the youth should get out of their comfort zone and seekalternatives to empower themselves.  We are each our own product and the opportunities are in front of us!

Starting from the bottom

Second, while the amount of time and money spent studying is a huge investment,many jobseekers tend to have unrealistic expectations, especially when it comes to getting a high position or salary upon their first jobs. When reality kicks in, it often leaves them with two choices – to study further, or to look for better paying jobs. Unfortunately, neither of these choices meet the one important requirement of today’s market – work experience. In fact, the graduate market is tougher and more competitive than ever before, meaning that students must work harder to develop the business skills needed to make them stand out from the crowd. A study conducted by PepsiCo found that among537 employers, two thirds of them prefer to recruit graduates who have industry-related work experience over those doing straight degree courses. That said, Ibelieve thatit is a good thing to have an educational qualification, but this does not mean that one will have a smooth ride to the top-  the reality is that we all have to start at the bottom!

You design your future

Lastly,with the media constantly bombarding  us with news about the rare few who live glitzy lives and appear to have everything they wish for, it seems like just about everyone you meet these days believes that  they are  entitled to that life, without working for it. On the other hand, I see scores of qualified graduates with degrees of all kinds working at a relatively low level clerical;these people were presented with opportunities and they seized them, they have decided to take it one step at a time. I should know… I was one of them.

I once read of a woman who graduated at one of the finest universities in the U.S. with a very high Grade Point Average (GPA). When she graduated, she wanted to live in Los Angeles but the only way she could live there was to first find a job. It was tough, so she took a lowly clerical position. Over the next few years, she watched, learned and progressed and is today one of the top people in her field.

This story is similar with my own job hunting experiences. When I graduated, I thought my qualification was enough to get me a job – but I was wrong! In truth, work experience counts a lot for any first time worker, especially if you’ve just graduated. I learned this lesson while doing my internship with Fetola – my experience made me realise that most of what I learned at varsity had little value in the working environment!  During my internship period not only did I gain useful working experience, but this helped improve my journalism skills and adapt to the culture of the media industry. I was finally getting an idea of what the day to day work of my career would be like – the tasks I would be expected to perform, the type of people I would be expected to engagewith, and the manner I would go about doing that. Fetola’s Internship Program was definitely a positive start to my professional career- not only did the work experience I gained strengthen my chances of getting permanently employed, but I also learned more in just six months than my entire time I spent studying, and the best part of it was that I was hired by the company when my internship was up!

Changing your attitude

I am now involved with a new project called GAP, the Graduate Asset Programme, which is aimed at reducing graduate unemployment and growing the SME sector in South Africa. By helping place thousands of capable and willing unemployed graduates into internships, GAP assists host businesses to gain much-needed skills and the graduates to gain valuable experiential learning.

Since staring to operate towards the end of 2013, we have had thousands of graduates and hundreds of businesses register on our web portal, which matches them according to compatibility. What startles me most about some of the graduates who are registered is that when we call them with exciting internship opportunities, they turn them down. The reasonsthey give are either because it does not pay their desired salary, or that they don’t want to work in a small business,  orin an industry that is not in line with their qualification. Thesejaw dropping responses, coming from a demographic whose unemployment rate is at47% has turned the sympathy I once had for my unemployed peers into exasperation.

With Humans Rights day approaching, I thought it would be great to remind ourselves that it is every South African’s right to have a slice of work opportunities. However, this right comes with responsibilities, including the willingness to start from the bottomand to seekexperience thatenable us to meet the requirements of today’s market. Those days of waiting on government are so passé, we need to empower ourselves; if this means starting our own businesses so be it, just as long as we are not sitting and waiting for something better to happen. We are South Africa’s future, and as much as it the State’s responsibility to move this country forward, it the same with us – we need to step out of our comfort zone and make use of every opportunity that will empower us; our future depends on our attitude!

To learn more about GAP visit www.gogap.co.za