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3 Mistakes Youngsters Make That Cause Them To Tarmac Long After Completing School

Young entrepreneurs in Kenya
Image Courtesy: CCC

For many, life in college presents an opportunity to mingle with friends and spend plenty of free time exploring various curiosity points in life. When the graduation day comes, though, most graduates are not prepared for whatever challenges life has to offer. Whether to venture into business or pursue the ever-scarce positions in formal employment suddenly becomes a dilemma.

In the midst of all this confusion, some get completely lost in life – losing precious moments at the peak of their lives. Who is to blame? Is it our porous education system that falls shot of equipping our learners with important skills? Is it the society that fails to create a good example to the young generation? Or is it the government which has failed to do its role?

Before you figure out who to blame, here are 3 mistakes that (from experience) graduates make that cause them to suffer long after completing school.

3.Being Picky On Careers

The problem with most graduates is that they tend to “box” their minds into believing that they can only handle careers that are related to the courses and areas of specialization they undertook in campus. They think “Mmmmh, I have done accounts and so the only job I can handle is that of an accounts clerk and nothing else”.

Well, that’s where hell breaks loose because in most cases the so-called “relevant” job doesn’t come easily. The best way to link up with real life after college is to first open your mind to all opportunities that come your way. Don’t turn down that electrician’s job simply because you are an economist.

Don’t turn down that part-time teaching job at your local secondary school just because you have graduated in Bsc. Actuarial Science. The world outside here doesn’t care so much about what you studied in class – it cares more about what you can bring to the table given the slightest opportunity.

2.Not Being Ready To Volunteer

That white collar job may not come easily and neither will that dream business take a couple of days to blossom. That’s the reality. Out here you have to learn to sweat for success.

A good way to kick-start your career is by volunteering your services so that you can gain relevant experience first. So beyond the 6 month internship you took as part of your course-work don’t be hesitant to clock in one more year by volunteering in some institution.

You can look for charity organizations or start-ups and volunteer to serve. If volunteering opportunities still prove elusive don’t hesitate to take the initiative to start something like say a community based organization.

For instance, you can get 10 other like-minded youth and start planting trees and sensitizing the community about its importance. Or you can even start a part-time tuition class to raise the standards of learning in your area. Don’t worry about how low on the food chain you get to start – a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.

1.Going Back To Live With Your Parents

A story is told of an old man who was lying on his hospital bed – a long long time ago. As he was lying there recovering he noticed a wasp nest (cocoon) on the corner side of the ceiling within his room.

Inside that nest was a young wasp that had been hatched a few weeks earlier and was now struggling to break the nest apart as it was growing big and needed to come out to start its own life. The old man upon seeing the struggles of the wasp gently got out of his bed, went to the nest and enlarged the hole making it easier for the young wasp to walk out.

Good news: the wasp walked out immediately to gain its freedom. Bad news: The wasp never learned to fly on its own. Its feathers never hardened and its zeal to risk floating in the air dwindled away. Soon it died. Why? Naturally, wasps are designed to struggle when coming out of their nests for the first time.

This prepares them for the tough life out there and that’s how they eventually learn how to fly and fend for themselves. When the old man enlarged the hole, the wasp had an easy time coming out and its wings and stamina were not properly developed. Moral of the story – move out of your parents house right now.

Don’t let them make things easier for you. Go out there and fight your own battles until you learn how to fly on your own.

Final Word

Sure, you may not have all the money required to start your business and luck may not be on your side as far as finding a job that’s relevant to what you learned in campus is concerned. But that should not put you down. Get your hustle up, stop the blame game and most importantly – swing to action.



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