By Najeeb G. Abdulhamid
*Photo: Najeeb G. Abdulhamid PhD*
A fortnight ago, I had the pleasure of addressing a group of university students in Kenya, hosted by Microsoft’s East Africa Garage. These promising students participated in a hackathon organized by Green Labs and were invited to visit our Garage to gain firsthand information on innovation and growth frameworks. As members of the Garage committee, we ensured that their visit went beyond sightseeing, incorporating career guidance and a Q&A session about everything Microsoft.
Being passionate about mentoring and education, I was tasked with creating a career topic to engage our visitors. With this in mind, I developed a presentation titled “5 Essential Career Moves They Don’t Teach in School.” While the title might sound bold, these moves are often embedded in educational experiences, albeit not always in a structured manner. In some schools, these career moves may not be made explicitly clear.
Curious about these 5 career moves? I developed a career readiness checklist to highlight these strategies, helping our visitors understand how each one contributes to becoming career-ready after graduation.
To introduce these 5 career moves, I asked our visitors the following YES or NO questions using a Mentimeter poll. I encouraged each student to tally their YES or NO answers to gauge their career readiness. Here are the questions:
1. Are you currently a student member of any professional organizations such as IEEE, CPN, BCS, etc.?
2. Are you involved in any Community-Driven Learning Networks such as Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors (MLSA), Google Developer Student Clubs (GDSC), GitHub Campus Experts, Intel Student Ambassador Program, AWS Cloud Clubs, among others?
3. Do you create content (blog posts, social media, etc.) related to your professional field?
4. Have you completed at least 3 professional certifications or online courses (e.g., LinkedIn Learning, Coursera) relevant to your career?
5. Do you have a unique or valuable skill that your colleagues recognize you for (technical or soft skill)?
6. Do you have a formal or informal mentor who guides your career development?
7. Have you participated in any internship or apprenticeship programs that provided valuable work experience in your field?
A closer look at these questions reveals the 5 career moves I based my presentation on. Answering YES to these questions indicates:
1. Skill Development:
o Hard skills: Certifications, courses, internships, apprenticeships.
o Soft skills: Communication through content creation, leadership through mentorship.
2. Credibility & Reputation Building:
o Become a thought leader through content creation.
o Stay current with industry trends via professional organizations and networking groups.
o Gain recognition for your skills through peer acknowledgment.
3. Networking & Mentorship Opportunities:
o Build connections with professionals through networking groups and organizations.
o Find mentors (formal/informal) for valuable guidance and advice.
4. Job Market Advantage:
o Certifications and skills recognition enhance competitiveness.
o Networking can lead to job referrals.
o Internships and apprenticeships provide essential work experience.
5. Increased Visibility & Self-Awareness:
o Build your personal brand through content creation, industry networking, community involvement, and professional certifications.
o Discover your strengths through skill recognition, internships, and mentorship.
These 5 benefits from engaging in the 7 activities mentioned earlier can significantly enhance a student’s career readiness compared to their peers.
A surprising and encouraging finding from our interaction with the students was their self-assessed career readiness. When asked to rate their level of career development and engagement on a scale of 1 to 7, most students scored 4 out of 7, indicating a commendable level of preparedness. Their universities deserve recognition for this achievement.
Now, to you, our readers currently pursuing higher education: Can you honestly score up to 4 by answering YES to the career readiness questions above? If your answer is NO, I urge you to rethink your approach and start preparing before it’s too late.
Finally, my call to action for you reading this is to use this checklist to assess at least 5 students in your community. Advise them to start making these moves to prepare themselves for life after university. Let’s empower the next generation of leaders together!