● Madam Benedicta Wugah

As the government continues to find ways of dealing with the increasing rate of youth employment, Leadership Coach and Motivational Speaker, Madam Benedicta Wugah, has come up with some useful tips for job seekers.

In a recent series dubbed: “Letter to Jobseekers,” she argued that high unemployment was not because “there are no jobs but because job seekers have high expectations.”

She has, therefore, outlined some useful tips and advised young people to, among other things, cut down on their expectations, enrich their Curriculum Vitae (CVs) and take personal branding seriously as they wait for their dream job to come their way.

“What I have realised about jobseekers is that they have very high expectations of the kind of jobs they want after National Service. Their expectation is a company that gives them accommodation, car, clothing allowance, hospital allowance, therefore any job that does not offer them these things is not the right job.

“Cut your expectations and start from somewhere,” she said, in an article ‘intercepted’ by The Spectator early this week.

She further addressed the issue of some unemployed persons “expecting jobs from relatives,” — a phenomenon she believes has kept some people “waiting forever.”

She admitted that when family members connected their relatives to jobs, the employee tended to “misbehave” and eventually tarnish the reputation of the person who introduced them to the opportunity.

“Don’t wait for relatives to connect you because you might wait forever. Go out there and search for your own jobs, she stressed and asked jobseekers not to present substandard CVs to potential employers.

“Some people completed school about five years ago and there is no work experience, no training, or skills acquisition. Employers employ those who will add value to their company.

The jobs you turn down waiting for a dream job could have been one to enrich your CV with a particular skill. Use the right format for your CV and, if possible, let an expert create it for you,” she noted.

Emphasising the importance of personal branding, she encouraged jobseekers to dress professionally and particularly asked ladies to be ‘moderate’ when applying make-up to attend a job interview.

“Personal branding is key to your growth or getting a job. Your personal branding is what sells you out there.

“I wonder why [some] people attending corporate interviews wear slippers, sleeveless dresses, T-shirts, jeans, among others just because they hear it is a sales job. It does not cost much to dress well,” she stressed.

By Ernest Nutsugah