first-class graduate
It’s a fresh new wave of graduate experiences. Tons of corpers-to-be are already awaiting the glorious convocation day. While a good number of graduates are super elated to have scaled through, a lot more are in doubt of what the future holds after here. Degree in hand, how competitive is it out there?
Many times over in school, you’ll have heard a lot of sayings like “School na scam”, “Nobee by who carry first class”,etc. Some will go as far as jeering at students that take their time to put in effort into their studies. What are those ones doing?’, this is very common especially in departments that seem not to be “Hot cakes”. ‘Omo, na to to collect my 2:2 dey waka o,who school epp?’ Lol, well, everybody feigns unconcerned and not bothered until a convocation list is released and the results are plainly written in black and white.
YOU MADE A FIRST CLASS? GREAT!
Yes great! It is common saying that graduating with a first class from a Nigerian University is no easy feat, yet it seems to be contradictory with what happens afterwards. Yearly,there are ranging stories of first-class graduates that end up pushing barrow carts in the worst case scenarios, or end up out of jobs.
Hey, if you did graduate with a first-class degree, congratulations! It is a feat well achieved but it is definitely not time to rest your oars. Back then, when we had the relatively properly functioning educational system, first-class graduates were seen as rare gems or rather precious stones that are hard to come by.
Award nights and recognition ceremonies were usually a mini shopping concert. Various companies would come rushing to grab the very best of the universities turn-out. Many times, these graduates are offered mouth-watering job opportunities immediately and on the spot. It was also a major motivation to students to work harder and secure a better place immediately after school.
However, this is hardly the case in our Nigerian universities, it seems graduating with a first class could be likened to winning a trophy in secondary school, after the pomp and pageantry, no new offers, no mouth-watering opportunities…
STANDARD OF EDUCATION; Standard of education equals quality of graduates. Whether we like it or not, the standard and quality of education our parents had years back, may be nothing close to what you can obtain currently in the university. Not only is there a sharp decline in the holistic education of students in tertiary institutions, there is also a rising wave in the compromise of student’s grades and the integrity of such lecturers.
Many educationists have lost the essence of teaching and gone after both material and lustful satisfaction instead. Do we blame this corruption on the lack of a proper incentives such as salary pay, or is it just as a result of a rise in the rate of moral decadence in our society? One may not be able to tell why. But the fact remains that invariably, this has affected the quality of graduates being turned out yearly from our Nigerian Universities. Some sort their way through school whereas others buy off certificates and degree result which they themselves are unable to defend.
A survey taken in 2017, goes on to show that companies will rather employ persons with the actual competitive skills in the field of work, than employ someone who has been certified by the University as a first-class material.
UNPREPAREDNESS; Yep! You have put in all that effort in finally making the best grade in school. Good job! Well, it won’t stop there, there’s a lot more to be done. You need to realize the fact that 80% of the times, you will have to seek out what you want. Literally, your dream job is most likely not going to coming knocking on your door while you’re half-asleep.
You have to be prepared for the things and places you want to get into. If you are not able to study the techniques and strategies in landing yourself a job, you’ll be stuck in the sea of job-hunting just alongside everyone else looking for one as well.
There’s the tendency to feel very safe with your high CGPA however, here’s the possible risk you could be taking for doing so. There are a lot of other smart persons, whose grades were not able to prove their worth, and they will be bringing their ‘A’ games as well.
Calamity occurs when you become a little too overconfident and relaxed in your academic feat. More so, there’s already a lot of spotlight on you. Your prospective employers are looking out to see you prove your worth.
UNEMPLOYABLE; Huge English but here’s what I mean, you have a first-class and are still without a job because you’re unemployable. How is that even possible? First off, like I earlier mentioned, your dream company wants to employ you because? You have the most knowledge of what they require right?
Sometimes, as a first-class degree holder you could get carried away in the reverie of your achievement that you begin to give off an aura that you’re all that is needed for the survival of the company. Don’t get me wrong, you do know your worth, but your carriage and attitude to a job offer or opportunity is quite important.
Once upon a time, these three applicants to a job were invited over for an interview. One had a first-class degree in the required field, the others did not. During the interview session, the interviewers went on to ask the first-class degree holder questions like, what special contribution would you be making to the growth of our company?
Sadly, the applicant went off on a mill of recounting how he attained the first-class degree amidst all struggles, how he’s very studious , how he doesn’t play with academic work etc., and just unfortunately, left out the part where the interviewers needed, how will all of this help us?
You must realize that your degree is a statue of knowledge-ability which you should be able to portray at every point you’re called upon.
Finally, graduating with a first-class is one admirable thing you should be really proud of, especially if you have put in the effort towards it. There’s tons of opportunities out there for you. You could apply to countless number of scholarships for an advancement in you academic pursuit, especially for a master’s program abroad. It is definitely a good way to say; well-done to yourself. Apply to as many scholarships as possible, you stand a really wonderful chance of getting accepted.
These days some universities offer lecturing jobs to first-class graduates too. You could be on your way to a great teaching career already.
Don’t let notions and common beliefs decide your life for you, what works for others may not necessarily work for you. Make good use of your wonderful result, travel and explore other countries through education, go for the top shot jobs confidently, you can be assured that there’s a good start in your career for you already.
IF YOU DID GRADUATE WITH OTHER GRADES, DO WELL, TO CHECK OUT MY NEXT POSTS….There’s a whole lot in store for you.
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first class.