Executive Director for policy think tank Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI), Peter Bismark Kwofie, has challenged tertiary students to look beyond the courses they are currently studying in school.
According to him, the job market is evolving, and students must learn new skills or skills that go beyond what they are currently studying so they can survive in the job market.
He stated that the majority of courses students are pursuing today, have skills-related aspects that the students must not ignore.
He said several graduates who studied marketing are unemployed today because they failed to learn the digital aspect of the course.
”About 99% of all academic programs have skill-related courses to undertake. For example, You cannot learn only the academic Marketing and have no knowledge and skill about digital marketing in a digital world. Currently in Ghana, marketing students and graduates are being unemployed because they failed to learn digital marketing as the next realistic skill or digital sales and branding.”
He has therefore advised students in tertiary institutions to study the digital aspect of the courses.
He referenced a scenario where a 22-years-old SHS leaver ended up with a job as the head of the digital marketing department because the university graduates lacked the digital aspect and the skills needed for the job.
”Last month, a company was looking out for a digital marketing skilled individual. We combed around and found lots of fresh marketing graduates and those with experience in marketing but out of job for many years without digital marketing skills.
We ended up settling on a – 22-year-old SHS graduate with all the skills needed in digital marketing ecosystem for the job. He is the head of the digital marketing unit of the company in a beautiful office than mine.”
Read his full post below
The labour and employment fields are evolving and so must you. The university programs are knowledge-based and NOT skill-based. Every knowledge-based program in the university has a skill-based program outside the 4 walls of the campus. To be relevant for employment one must learn the skill of his/her knowledge-based academic program(s).
However, few of the programs are rigid and very difficult to learn a skill out of that. I will talk about that in future.
About 99% of all academic programs have skill related courses to undertake. For example, You cannot learn only the academic Marketing and have no knowledge and skill about digital marketing in a digital world. Currently in Ghana, marketing students and graduates are being unemployed because they failed to learn digital marketing as the next realistic skill or digital sales and branding.
Last month, a company was looking out for a digital marketing skilled individual. We combed around and found lots of fresh marketing graduates and those with experience in marketing but out of job for many years without digital marketing skills.
We ended up settling on a – 22 year old SHS graduate with all the skills needed in digital marketing ecosystem for the job. He is the head of the digital marketing unit of the company in a beautiful office than mine.
Its been two days and we have still not had another digital marketing skilled personnel for a start-up company. We are still searching but don’t follow this post to send your CV. We are not interested in the CV but the skill.
Currently, acquiring the knowledge from the university is not enough to employ you. As for the Human Resource Graduates your matter is worse to get employed because it has evolved. Knowledge without a skill would keep you at home till you join YouthStart
Be smart in the digital economy!!
