When I look at the current rate of unemployment in Uganda today, I can’t help but wonder how government and those blamed for the rising unemployment levels will solve this rising problem. Each year, several universities award thousands of students with degrees and yet there are no jobs for them!
Uganda’s unemployment rate is 3.5% and that of the youths is a monstrous 32.2%, while for those who have University degrees is 36 per cent. Although government is devising means on how to curb this rising problem by introducing funds where youth can get loans and pay back with low interest loans, this is not enough.
Many of the youth today do not have experience so they cannot do much with the loans, just as the entrepreneurs say, a person who can’t think of what to do with no capital cannot put to use one million as a capital donation.
I have been there and I must say, it’s not easy to be unemployed but what is even worse is being unemployed and suffering from lack of the will and passion to try out just about anything to survive and become better.
The youth are to blame too because they know what to do but they just don’t have the will to make their lives better. They are not interested in getting experience because they find volunteering costly, they can’t work for free and they shun certain jobs! They forget that a job is like a business. You must invest to earn. Here are some of the tips on how to make yourself different when looking for jobs today:
Start by doing anything to get experience
Every job opportunity requires experience and yet, many youths don’t even have any. This is because many wait to get jobs after finishing their degrees. They sit at home and look out for adverts in the media without making themselves useful. Start by volunteering at that place where you did your industrial training. Ask for an internship or a volunteership placement and make yourself useful in every way possible while there.
Money/salary shouldn’t be the motivator for starters
Fresh graduates have dreams…Dreams like I want finish school, get a job and get my first car and build a house. It’s all so easy. They forget that good salary is worked for! No employer is going to give you a million shillings right away; you have to prove that your output is worth it. People you are now very successful always say that the beginnings are not always good but with patience and hard work, you will get there. Even if you work for years as a volunteer or without pay, remember, you are better than the person sitted at home waiting for the job to find them there.
Stop shunning certain jobs
I had campus friends who used to say that they can’t go to the village to work, some could say that they couldn’t even work for free. They are now longing to have any of those opportunities and yet they are nowhere to be found. The youth of today are idealistic, they are day dreamers who think that they will wake up one day and find that they have everything and yet they don’t want to start out anything.
Many successful figures in Kampala have very humble beginnings. Some were street vendors and others were cleaners .they are now CEOs and directors of their own companies. Ngugi wa thiongo says that when you persevere in life and work hard, you will one day become a master of your master.
