Graduating and finding work

[Dhagax-Tuur]

^Indeed. Do fix up, Do look sharp AND pro and DO stay focused. Don't take no knock-backs. Stay on the course. And never take NO for an answer, meaning, don't let anything stop you till you hit the jackpot.

[Guhaad]

Ibtisam,

 

quite frankly, i was mad because you didn't do internship while at school :mad:

[Animal Farm]

Its difficult to find a good job if you’re doing some social science degree – however, most people are creating their own jobs – we live in the do it yourself era, even attaining jobs depends on your ability to be proactive, innovative and your overall motive. For most Somalis with degrees, I suggest they establish some sort of business that would benefit Somalia in the near future – the recycling business is almost nonexistent, urban planners are needed, communication designers and the list goes on. These include many of the fields that Somali people are not interested in at all.

 

I even find there are no Somali people who study media, did you know that there are many jobs with international media corporation who will hire to gain access to Somalia. Most importantly, where are the filmmakers - doing a documentary about Somalia can be so profitable for those who make it. They can sell it to the BBC, PBS and a whole lot more networks – even documenting events in Somalia in a journalistic and artistic (photography) methods can be rewarding in many ways. Most Somali families tell their children to study engineering, the legal system, the medical profession, all those fields are good, but what about all the other fields that we are not academically investing in, it going to impact us in the future.

[Ibtisam]

wow blessed, thanks sis; this are great now i just have to fill out the forms; lool

 

cheers

[ScarFace]

Originally posted by ibtisam:

i have 6months experience in House of Commons

house of commons kulahaa how many of the family members did you bring over...

 

am offerin you a contract based on your 6months experience. since you know the system and its flaws, you would be great asset to the company.

 

Basically am providing visas for my somali people in need..... actually not providing but selling it to them. so i need a secretary to keep my accounts upto date and to bring in more business. spread the word around there's 2positions open

 

as a candidate you will have 6 - 12months experience ideally within the home office department. To accompany this you will have experience in working within a govermental organisation.

 

essential requirements:

clever and smart people

 

 

( we are an equal opportunitity employer * subject to terms & conditions

[sheherazade]

What do you do when the answer is always no?

 

A large number of talented graduates from ethnic minorities are struggling to find jobs, finds Richard Brass

 

When Conrad Anozia finished his IT studies at Richmond College, with another IT qualification from the Open University in his pocket, plus a degree in mechanical engineering from Westminster University, he thought he was well equipped to find a good job.

 

Two years later, despite sending up to 30 applications a day for IT jobs, he has had only a handful of interviews and no job offers. Even his attempts to do voluntary work to gain experience have been turned down. The only work he has been able to find has been in security.

 

Among people from ethnic minorities his experience is a common one. Figures from the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force show that, while the overall employment rate is 74.5 per cent, for ethnic minorities it is only 59 per cent.

 

Collecting qualifications fails to close the gap. Although members of ethnic minorities are two per cent more likely than the population as a whole to have a degree, for those with qualifications the employment rate is still five per cent below the equivalent overall figure.

 

The figures underline how far the Government has to go in its efforts to combat social inequality, an area the Prime Minister highlighted last month by creating a new Cabinet post for social exclusion.

 

Anozia was one of a group of job-seekers brought together last month to illustrate this gap, as part of the promotion for a conference in London next week on the business case for diversity in recruitment organised by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion. All the job-seekers described fruitless attempts to get past even the initial stage of the recruitment process despite good qualifications and persistence.

 

Ikechukwu Onyemaobi, 23, from Nottingham, has been looking for work since earning a degree in mechanical engineering three years ago, but despite making well over 100 applications and applying for more than 20 graduate trainee schemes, he has so far not had a single interview.

 

"I always get knocked out at the beginning," he said. "I've never had a chance to show them what I have. I'd also like to get some kind of feedback, but I've never had any.

 

"I'm looking forward to meeting someone who will tell me 'Ike, this is the problem. It's because of this or that'." He is currently finishing an occupational health and safety qualification, which he hopes will boost his chances of getting an interview. "I'm optimistic about having that plus my degree, and I'm just going to be pushing harder."

 

Nina Provencal, 27, has been looking for work in the property industry for six months. However, she said, the recruitment agencies with which she is registered have only been putting her up for jobs in other industries. "I feel like I'm not really being taken seriously," she said.

 

"I realise organisations want you to have an understanding of their work ethic and the company and so forth, and I'm prepared to build up to a position that I'd like to be in, but the agencies are not giving me the opportunity to do that.

 

"I have skills in that area and I have a degree, so I've tried to think of reasons why they're not looking in the right area, but I get no feedback so I'm just not sure."

 

The fruitlessness of the employment chase has driven some of the job-seekers into developing other enterprises as a way of avoiding the barriers of the labour market.

 

After 18 months of looking unsuccessfully for work in the housing industry, Jainabu Bah has succeeded in interesting the Prince's Trust in sponsoring an idea connected to the problem she's facing. She's aiming to set up a careers event at which people from ethnic minorities who have succeeded in areas other than music and sport can share their experiences with young people.

 

"Rather than look on this experience as a downer, I've decided to try to turn it into an opportunity for myself," she said. "I want to give people positive role models to look at."

 

One such role model is Chuka Umunna, a City employment lawyer, who said encountering another member of an ethnic minority in his work was very rare. "I've been in the City for coming up to four years, and I'll go to a meeting with directors or clients, other law firms, management consultants or corporate finance institutions, and I'm generally the only face of colour in the room," he said.

 

"The argument from employers is 'We're looking for people who can do the job, regardless of the colour of their skin.' Fair enough, but are they saying that in 2006 they haven't come across sufficient numbers of ethnic minority candidates for various positions who have the requisite skills set and can do a good job? I just don't accept that."

 

Figures from Cranfield School of Management show that, while ethnic minorities make up eight per cent of the population, they provide only 2.5 per cent of the total membership of boards of FTSE 100 companies.

 

Afsana Shukur, the former head of the Ethnic Minority Employment Task Force, said research showed that racial stereotyping and prejudice were widespread enough to have an impact on recruitment practices.

 

She pointed to data from the British Social Attitudes survey showing that 30 per cent of white employers and managers described themselves as either prejudiced or very prejudiced.

 

"If people have those ingrained prejudices, that translates into why they are not recruiting people who don't have the right face," she said.

 

"There's an economic imperative to do something about that. By 2010, half the growth in the working-age population will be from ethnic minorities. So the business case for recruiting those people is very strong."

 

Having an explicit policy on equality and diversity is a first step employers can take to ensure that they don't accentuate the disparity in the employment figures - and miss out on getting hold of skilled, committed employees, according to Janet Lakhani, chief executive of Committed 2Equality, a not-for-profit organisation offering businesses advice on how to adapt to questions of equality.

 

She said that less than a quarter of large employers and just one in 40 small and medium-sized enterprises have equality and diversity policies. She argues that, until more companies address this issue, the employment gap is likely to remain.

 

Meanwhile, Anozia keeps at it, making his way every day to a recruitment agency in Manor House, north London, where he settles at a computer screen and starts sending off the next round of CVs.

 

"They must be tired of seeing my face in there, because I'm there all the time," he said. "I don't know what else to do. Now I'm just waiting for God to answer my prayers."

source

[Haneefah]

No doubt new graduates find themselves facing a tough dilemma nowadays. I think partly because the value of an undergraduate degree has depreciated, and is no longer valued the same way it was say, 15-20 yrs back. Another reason is that formal education is far more accessible to people nowadays than it was in the early days, therefore as the demand for professional positions rises, more competition is created. Also, one flaw I see in many students is that they set high expectations to begin with and forget to familiarize themselves with the real world while in school; thinking that those 4 whole years will perfectly pay off after graduation and they will secure their ideal position. Of course, they're only setting themselves up for a disappointment as we all know that's not how things work in the real world.

 

My philosophy is think long-term and strategize. Where do you see yourself 5-10 years from now? Then be determined and persistent to attain that goal, however challenging the means might seem. This could mean going back to school to do graduate studies or getting into professional school or gaining practical experience in the workforce to achieve your ultimate career goals.

 

Whatever one does, they should never fall into despair and conclude all of their efforts are fruitless. That will only make them susceptible to failure. So, keep your head up high and always aim to improve yourself!

[Alle-ubaahne]

The best job, and well paying position, without any disputes, is self-employment. The art of self-employment starts with high self-esteem, and personal motivations. Always stay in the look outs for establishing your own business, that is indeed a proven personal experience that worked for me and others.

 

Never rely on those companies that suck up all your energies and compensate you nothing in return that is worth for your efforts and time.

 

The key to success for somalians in the west is to become self-employers, if not here, then establish one business in overseas with minimum investments, for instance, back home. The vast majority of successful Somalis where the ones who realized the importance of self-employment at an early ages of their experience. Those people tend to succeed later on as they continue applying that formula for self-employment.

 

Asxaabta, the best jobs are within us, let's start doing something about our hidden talents and use it for our advantages to bring about the best results for our financial freedoms. This is a personal advice for those interested to experiment a new way other than the customary ways for looking a job.