Positioning yourself for the future of work: acquiring skills and having a product to sell

The traditional school system is no longer preparing students for the future of work. In our schools today, it appears that there is so much emphasis on grades and theoretical knowledge. And this is not a good way to prepare for the future of work.

How can students acquire their degree while still preparing themselves for the future of work?

According to Jobberman, “To stand out in today’s job market or remain relevant in job domains that are already saturated, you must be able to interpret your career to the paradigm shift technology offers today.

Take your career to the next level by upskilling into careers in the frontiers of IT — AI, Data Science, Data Analyst, Business Intelligence, Big Data Engineering, Cloud BI Developer, Cybersecurity and more.”

This is the future of work; where skills are necessary for the labour market.

If you want to pursue a master’s degree now or read any advanced degree, you must ensure it has some huge relevance to today’s labour market or the future of work everyone is looking forward to. If it does not, this may be a waste of time and resources.

Unlike what we had in the past, many companies and organizations and even startups that will pay you well and well enough these days rarely ask job seekers for any paper certificate; they are largely looking for skills and expertise in any of the areas above.

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About a year ago, I remember I travelled to Lagos for a particular event and, having to stay for a few days in my elder brother’s home, I had a very interesting, eye-opening conversation with him.

He is a Professor of Urology at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH)— a highly graceful, kind and unassuming man. This is a man who has doubled as my dad, since my dad’s demise, and listening to him talk to me about career and labour market felt so real and meant everything in the world to me. I listened keenly to his words.

“To be relevant in today’s labour market,” he started, “you must have two things to offer to the world, two things that provide value to men: one is a product to sell and the other is a skill that people would be ready to pay you for. Aside from these two things, I don’t think there is any other thing you should be so concerned about.”

Somehow as he spoke, I read something remarkable about him and that was his pouring years of what he has read, practiced and seen in the labour market, in a single statement: Have a product to sell and a skill that can solve human’s problems or that people are always ready to pay you for. “This is key to being relevant today and of course to making money,” he reiterated.

“As a young graduate,” he was still talking, “with no stable or sustainable source of income, you’ve got to do something about your life.” As he was rounding off this statement, I could read the enormity these words carry on his countenance.

“I have a plumber, a graduate of Economics Education from the University of Lagos who comes here almost every month to fix some plumbing issues in my house. And I pay him for his service, I mean I pay him every month for this.” He was drawing these last six words from his mouth, ensuring I got the message in that — beyond the surface meaning. And of course I did.

As a student, you rarely meet someone who will tell you the truth about the labour market. If you have someone in your life who spurs you on or talks much more sense into your head, someone who has assumed a very large part in your heart and life in actions and in words, you do not know what God has done to you. And you have got to honour such a person like you would a god.

He went on and on to demystify the reality of the labour market, while at the same time opening my eyes to some everyday situations we have in this country; and for everything he said and meant or did not mean, I would forever be grateful to him.