Tagged Life After Campus Empowerment (LACE) 2014, the Christ Apostolic Church Youth Fellowship (CACYOF), University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, in collaboration with the Education Students Campus Fellowship (ESCF), recently organised a seminar for the final year students of the fellowship.
Held at the Education Glass Hall of the university, the maiden edition of the event, which had the theme: ‘Purpose Beyond University Walls,’ was well attended by the students as well as captains of industry and human resource professionals who were prepared to impact the students on how the corporate world works and how they could become employable in a competitive labour market upon graduation from school.
Segun Zack, a manager at KPMG, while speaking on the pros and cons of starting a business as a fresh graduate, stressed that entrepreneurship is about identifying a problem, generating ideas and providing solution to such problems. He also highlighted some of world’s biggest entrepreneurs who started while in college.
The CEO, Beamaz Consulting, Joke Aderibigbe, in her address elucidated on how final year students can choose a career after school.
“You must identify your talent, your gift and your passion before choosing a career and also get information about your chosen field,” she said.
“To become employable as fresh graduates, you must gather experience through internship in an organisation. It doesn’t matter whether you are paid or not; what matters is the experience which can give you an edge in the labour market,” Tonia Smart, CEO, Yorkcity Consult, disclosed while delivering a paper on the ‘Employability Of Fresh Graduates in a Competitive Labour Market.’
Tonia, also the former MD of Lagos State Pension Commission, shared her experiences while conducting interviews for job seekers at different companies, stressing that fresh graduates must train themselves on information technology, business skills and must be knowledgeable about the job they are applying for, as well as the company, as this will give them an advantage.
Other discussants who also shared their experiences in the corporate world include Adebayo Odofin, Admin executive, Rise Networks; Niyi Ademusan, MD, Moody International Nigeria Limited, and Olayinka Ajayi, a senior Manager at Zenith Bank Pensions.
Speaking with Campusbeats, one of the participants, Taiwo Douglas Kukoyi, a 400-Level student at the Department of Finance, said: “It has been a wholesome experience and I am impressed with the revelations about how the corporate world operates, which some of the speakers highlighted. I am looking forward to putting into practice all that I have learnt from this seminar.”
Odunayo Bamisebi, a 400-Level student at the Department of Chemistry Education, who is also the president of ESCF said LACE 2014 had really impacted her and she expressed her astonishment at the way the speakers were willing to have one-to-one discussions with participants. “The speakers were so humble and patient,” she said excitedly.
“The seminar is challenging and it is an experience I won’t forget,” Anuoluwapo Faboade, a 400-Level student at the Department of Building, admitted. Another student, Similoluwa Adubi, 400-Level, Department of Guidance and Counselling, said the LACE seminar was the best she had attended on campus while one of the organisers, Paul Adetunji, said the programme had changed his orientation about things.
The coordinator of CACYOF, UNILAG, Femi Sanyaolu, and the chairman of ESCF, Wale Ogundeji, while speaking at the event, both thanked the speakers and participants who thought it not a waste of time to grace the event.
Adeyemi Olalemi
400-Level, Department of Physics Education, University of Lagos.