As part of its efforts at creating job for unemployed youths in Delta State, the State Government is organising a two-day Job Readiness Workshop for unemployed graduates under the Graduate Employment Enhancement Programme (GEEP).
The two-day Job Readiness Workshop which began today in Asaba was organized by the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau in collaboration with the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND Foundation).
Declaring the workshop open, the Chief Job and Wealth Creation Officer, Prof Eric Eboh, said the workshops are geared towards proffering solution to the inadequacies and unpreparedness of young graduates in facing the labour market.
He disclosed that this first round of the workshops would be in two batches, starting from today Thursday 26th November to Friday 27th November in Asaba while the second batch would hold from Monday 30th to Tuesday 1st December, 2020 in Warri.
He said the workshops would help the participants to gain improved ability, confidence and readiness to find and obtain jobs in the private sector, stressing that job readiness workshop is an integral component of GEEP.
While thanking the PIND Foundation for their collaboration in the design and implementation of the workshop, he tasked the participants to take the training seriously in order to adequately prepare themselves for the labour market.
According to him, “The aim of the workshop series is to improve the employability and market-readiness of graduates fresh from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) by imparting in them critical skills, tendencies and aptitudes. The job readiness workshops are driven by the need to remedy the inadequate preparedness of fresh graduates for the job market. Hence, the job readiness workshops serve as “finishing school” for fresh graduates”.
He pointed out that the curriculum of the job readiness workshops would reflect hands-on skills, competencies and behaviour that could help fresh graduates to find and obtain employment in the organized private sector.
He also disclosed that the topics covered in the job readiness workshops included personal development, mindset alignment, time optimization, career planning, job information search techniques, job interview skills, self-marketing proficiencies and employer preferences, adding that the Bureau will also implement another component of GEEP called the Graduate Internship Facility (GIF).
“In addition to the job readiness workshops, Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau is also implementing another component of (GEEP), known as Graduates Internship Facility (GIF). The GIF involves internship placements of graduates in relevant private sector firms, companies and establishments. The internship is aimed at offering unemployed graduates, requisite private sector industrial and professional work experience, as basis for employment by the private establishment,” he explained.
He used the opportunity to inform them that the Delta State Job and Wealth Creation Bureau is developing a digital job market information portal, which is customized in such a manner that job-seeking youths of Delta State can access job market information collated from prospective employers in the private sector, assuring them that when functional the digital platform will facilitate flow and exchange of information between private sector employers and job seeking youths of the State.
Congratulating the participants for being among the few selected from hundreds of graduates who applied online, he urged them to take maximum advantage of the offer not only to enhance their job readiness but to gain employment.
On her part, the Consultant to PIND Foundation, Mrs Edughom Hanson, said her role was to offer technical support in terms of capacity workshop towards minds-set shift which would help them to add value, explore and implement knowledge acquired for meaningful employment.
She advised the participants to think big, believe in themselves and to see possibilities in every situation to help them to achieve their goals in life.
Responding on behalf of other participants, Benedeth Nkiru Omeni (Oshimili North LGA) a Medical Laboratory Scientist and Napolean Ike Ifeanyi (Ndokwa West LGA) a graduate of Business Administration said the workshop has exposed them to life skills and how to possess positive mind-set and attitude in order to become employable.
