You wake up one morning and it is your graduation day, the three, four, or five years of university are finally over and you are finally free.
But this newly acquired freedom comes with a package of responsibilities and expectations. Your parents took you to school so that you can be successful and help them out because they no longer have the energy to work that they used to have almost twenty years ago when you were enrolled in kindergarten.
These responsibilities and expectations are putting pressure on you and you are uncertain if you are at all going to meet any of them.
The Tanzanian Job Market is full, there is no room for a graduate like you with zero experience and no handy skills that can help you secure even a paid internship. But they didn’t tell you about that in the university, did they? I bet they told you that there is a world of opportunities awaiting you outside the gates of your campus and you believed them.
The thing is they didn’t lie to you, the Tanzanian Job Market has so much potential and countless opportunities what they didn’t tell you is that you will not be served those opportunities on a platter simply because you are a graduate.
Now the following are 9 tips that will help you navigate this market and secure your portion.
Table of Contents
9 Tips on How To Navigate The Tanzanian Job Market After University Life
-
It’s not about what you know but what you can do
Whatever you learned in school, whatever you think you know about the industry you are in is not as important as what you can do with it. It is not about the possession of knowledge but its application.
This is why interviewers will ask you what do you think you can do or add to our company? They are simply trying to find the value that you are going to add to them and not just another box full of information.
-
Show your abilities and not your need for the job
It is true that you need to find a job and meet all those expectations but do you think the job market cares about the pressure you are under? Everyone is out there looking out for their own needs and not yours. Here is what you should do next time you are in an interview, tell them what you are bringing to the table that is going to meet their needs, and in so doing you will be creating a chance for you to meet your own. Don’t go in there looking for pity because if they pity you they will never hire you.
-
Build your resume, try volunteering if you can
You just graduated, you have zero experience and the least experience the Tanzanian Job Market usually asks for is three years and you have just spent those getting your degree. What can you do now? Find ways to build your resume, this might not get you the job you are looking for but it will open doors for you, and that way you can bypass the experience checkpoint. The good thing about the Tanzanian Job Market now is that it is growing and evolving, now hiring officers are starting to consider online courses and the like. So, do what you can to make sure that your resume looks attractive.
Also Read: How to Find Internship and Volunteer Jobs in Africa
-
Stay up to date with the market
What are the skills that companies look for in the market?, and by skills here I mean those transferable skills that can apply in any profession. Where will the market be in the next five years and what do you need to do to stay ahead of it? Ask questions about the market do your research and whenever you get the chance upskill yourself to fit the need of the market.
-
Do a SWOT analysis on yourself
As an individual what are the Strengths that you can leverage? What are the Weaknesses that you need to work on? What are the opportunities that you have? And what Threats are you facing? Once you have answered all these clearly then you stand a better chance of winning the opportunities that the Tanzanian Job Market provides.
-
Build meaningful connections
You need to build connections with people that add value to you, people that can mentor you throughout your journey, people that can challenge you into becoming a better version of yourself. By having all these meaningful connections you stand a better chance on the market because now it will not only be you but also your connections working for you to get you to where you want to be.
-
Don’t dwell on your certificates but rather on your skills
The sad truth about the Tanzanian job market is that certificates are losing their value faster than most of us anticipated. Now companies test skills first and ask for certificates later. If the only thing you can present is a piece of paper with a first-class GPA written on it then you are doomed. What are the skills that you have and know you can leverage? If you do not have any then you should start working on that part.
-
Be patient
Sometimes it is not about you. You could be doing everything right but maybe the timing isn’t just right. Here you will need patience more because it is easy to doubt yourself and give up. Take a deep breath every time you get counted out and remind yourself of your abilities, skills, and strengths and then wait for the next opportunity.
-
Knock on as many doors as you can
Some doors will not be opened for you, some will open and they won’t listen, some will listen and close them on your face but there is that one door that is for you and once you knock on that one you will find your future or at least the beginning of it. Don’t hesitate to send your CV just because it was rejected the other time or attend an interview because you failed the last one. Go again and again, it is not over until it is over.
As someone who has been affected by the same job market, I hope these tips will prove helpful to you. I had to learn them along the way and the hard way so that you can read and navigate with ease. All the best in your search for your first job.