One of the ways the common man pikin chooses to adapt to a labour
market that has no place for him, is to reduce his age. Yes, he does this
without guilt. Again, this is a no brainer as human instinct for survival can
over shadow morality. I want to be clear on one thing; my analysis is not
trying to justify this action of the common man pikin. I am only trying to understand where the rationale to
undertake such action is coming from. Reduction of biological age to have
official age is morally bad and illegal but the situation in our dear country
is not helping matters. I know people will say they should go and start
business rather than wait for someone to employ them. To such critics, I can
hear you loud and clear. Tell me, with which skills will they become
entrepreneurs?
Our educational system is so muddled
up that hardly any school teaches entrepreneurship skills. I have seen many
graduates who went through the four walls of Nigerian universities and they
don't know ‘jack’ about our economy or how political issues affect everything
we do. Something as basic as the difference between export and import trade is
a mirage to some of them. I have seen an applicant who didn't know the
difference between a current account and a savings account. You will hear graduates
lamenting about not having hundreds of thousands of Naira to start a business
but the fact is that, so many graduates have no idea on how to start a
business, let alone how to run one profitably.
For many graduates, it is about the
big dream of working in big organisations that will pay them tens of million.
All they know is to dream, pray and believe in the idea of finding big-time
jobs with big paycheck, in oil and gas sector, international NGOs, banks,
telecom companies; and government job slots which they buy with hundreds of
thousands and where they will rarely report to work but will get paid every
month.
I will enjoin Human Resource
Practitioners and External Recruiters, to create a level playing ground. It is
important to discuss with Management about lifting age limitations on
recruitment. There is nothing wrong or odd about a company hiring someone in
his/her thirties or forties, if that is when the person gets his/her first job.
From experience, I have noticed that
the ones who have searched for job for a long time before getting it, are
usually more committed and loyal to their organisations, when compared with
fresh graduates in their late teens or early twenties. Some employees in the
latter group are so full of themselves that they usually create problems while
trying to fit in. With the world looking like an Aladdin's cave for them to
explore, they are least likely to stay on a job for more than a year; they
expect you to babysit them while they adapt to their tasks. They are ‘Google-raised’
adults who are so knowledgeable about everything the internet has to teach
them; this makes following simple directives a big problem to them as they come
at you with the “know it all” and “seen it on Youtube” attitudes. With
their “know it all attitude”, they
are usually in conflicts with their superiors. And when their misconducts
explode, they expect HR to wipe the sh*t they cause as a result of them having
disrespectful attitudes. This is not to say they some of them don't have good
qualities- they do, and in many ways, are as resourceful as any generation. And
I am still amazed at their confidence level.
To conclude, my point is that
companies in general and HR department/units in particular, should give older
graduates the chance to prove themselves. Don't make life more difficult for a
34 year old who graduated four years ago and hasn't been able to secure a job,
by telling him he is unemployable. If he is rejected because of his age, the
odds are that he will simply edit his resume and come back with a DOB that puts
his age as 26 with glaring inconsistency showing he started primary school as a
baby still being breastfed by the mother. Let us give every Nigerian graduate
equal chance to get a job. I know there are other factors exacerbating their job
search for example nepotism, corruption and that fact that some applicants are
simply unemployable because of appalling education; but on this article, I
choose to focus on age. Let their knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) speak
for them, and not age.
Written By Edith Mokwe, an
ACIPM licensed HR Practitioner
residing in Lagos. She has B.A from the University of Benin (UNIBEN),
and an M.A from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). She loves research,
creative writing and board games. An introverted-extrovert and by every
way a multi-dimensional being who is not only a lover of African Arts
but one who stands up to bullies and finally an addict to sugary foods.
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