Navigating Job Opportunities and Success Factors in a Changing Business Landscape
Job opportunities are limited in the current dynamic business environment, with competition for positions on the rise. To succeed, individuals must cultivate a blend of hard and soft skills, adapt to VUCA principles, and exhibit key qualities like risk balance, openness to change, curiosity, and solution orientation. Critical success factors include collaboration in diverse settings, technology proficiency for problem-solving, and understanding the digital landscape's impact on wellness. Embracing these elements is crucial for navigating the evolving job market and securing gainful employment.
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Critical Employment Opportunities in the Dynamic Business Environment Success Factors: Panacea for Gainful
The reality in Nigeria now, and everywhere else is that job opportunities are shrinking. Companies are not expanding or growing to justify employment of more hands. Those already in employment are not willing to retire early. There is so much agitation to increase the retirement age of lecturers to 65 and professors to 70 years. Teachers will now retire at either 65 or when they clock 40 years in service, whichever comes first. Civil service or public service jobs are not there anymore.
The recent recruitment into the teaching profession in Oyo state had 6000 applications received for 750 vacancies. This is just the naked truth about the world of work out there and the reality of the employment situation in Nigeria. New companies are not coming up. In fact the existing ones are now closing down or relocating to other environment where the business climate is friendly. Bearing this in mind, a young graduate of today needs to brace up and be fully kitted to be able to gain little employment opportunities out there.
The irony is that as glooming as the environment is, people still get well paid employment. To be employable in this dynamic business environment, you must possess both hard skills and soft skills. So much energies have been deployed in building the hard skills in schools but soft skills are barely developed. We are in a VUCA world; the world which is VOLATILE, UNCERTAIN, COMPLEX and AMBIGUOS. We must be able to learn new skills and acquire new knowledge for us to be relevant and employable in the VUCA world of work today.
WHAT QUALITIES DO WE NEED TO NAVIGATE THE VUCA WORLD A balanced approach to risk Open to experimentation and comfortable with uncertainty Psychological and physical self-awareness Comfortable with and not prejudiced toward change Curiosity with ability to learn fast Solution-oriented with ruthless prioritization
CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS You must have ability to work with others in a multi-cultural environment, multi-ethnic, and a mix of gender . You must have ability to use technology to solve problem meeting; decision making, estimate, (use ;zoom, whatsapp and email for meetings) Engagement, understanding the difference between technology and digital environment and the link between technology and wellness are three critical success factors in the workplace of the future. You must be technology savvy i.e you must use technologies to
improve your human productivity. A research finding has shown that the actual hours of work are increasing while the productivity is reducing. Technology will help people to do more. Employers out there are looking for those can use technology to solve their business problems.
Multi-skills: An employee of tomorrow is one who is multi-skilled. As an accountant, you may need to be a chartered secretary with in- depth knowledge of law, a stock broker and capital market registrar. The multiplicity of skills embodied in you will definitely stand you out. When you are auditing, you are also thinking of the corporate governance aspect of the business, labour law and how it affects the business, the implication of change to the tax law etc. Brain Tracy in one of her books list the following nine success factors that can help to achieve the best in life both personally and professionally.
Education: The highest paid people are the ones who have an education and who knows more than an average person. If you want to make progress in life you must be educated so that you can have the knowledge, insights and facts about your field and know the trend. You must adopt learning as a lifelong habit. A recent publication from the Head of Service of the Federation says, henceforth, professional certificate will no longer be accepted as entry level qualification in the civil service. In the past with your ACA qualification, you are automatically qualified to be employed into grade level 10 step 1 in the civil service.
That will no longer be. You must have both the academic and professional qualification to be employed. The import is that, if you have the professional qualification already without the academic qualification, go get the academic qualification to be employable. If you also possess the academic qualification without the professional qualification go and get the professional qualification to be employable in the civil or public service. The private sector is the same since by implication that is what they want. So, education is key both academic and professional.
Skill: You can increase your skill set through your own experience and also by study. A skilled person with extensive experience will grab better opportunities and will be able to move ahead of others in the profession. Most company manager spends a substantial part of their time searching for suitable candidate to fill available vacancies. Contacts: Show me your friend and I will show you the kind of person you are. Your contacts can determine who you will be and where you will be. It is very important that you cultivate and expand your network in a healthy number of contacts. Doors continually open and close.
You must have a network of people who support you and are there for you to move up and ahead in life. Money: You must be effective in managing money. Money enables you to grab opportunities that come around your way. If you are in a job you hate but have no money set aside, your options to move out of that situation is limited. When you have options, you have more freedom. But when your money management ability is questionable you will not want to leave the poor paying job to acquire a new skill for say 3 months, or search for a better job that will eventually pay more.
Good work habits: This enables you to be more productive, set your priorities right and be proactive. When you are organized and careful, it has its reward. Ability to deliver on time is very important. See the work as your own and do it well. By doing that you are making yourself indispensable with a higher pay to retain you. Positive mental attitude: Look at the positive side of things in every situation and move ahead in life. A person that wants to make progress in life will not be let down by occasional challenges be it personal or environmental. He will always look at the light at the end of the tunnel.
Positive image: Dress for success. You will be addressed by the way you dress. People are led by appearances and you can be criticized by the way you look and you do the same. Work to present yourself to others the best way you can. Create a positive image of yourself. Creativity: Keep in mind that many times it takes just one great idea to create wealth. Imagine you have many great ideas. Ideas rule the world. You must be creative to be able to dominate that employment market.
Character: Respect, followed by trust, builds a strong foundation for your personal and professional relationships. Be self- disciplined and honest as it will open world of opportunities for you. You must have integrity for people to trust and believe you. Do not ever speak evil of your past employers. In summary, while not downplaying the importance of hard skills, soft skills have been proven over time to be important to one s success.
Employment Commission We can launch ourselves out of the community of beggars or the unemployed by thinking strategically on how we can make or boost our living through the Corporate Affairs Commission. Unfortunately, many people are not aware of self-employment, or job opportunities that abound around the Corporate Affairs Commission, an agency established through the Companies and Allied Matters Act to monitor the administration and enforcement of the CAMA 2020. The CAC has branches in all the states of the Federation and the headquarters is located in Abuja, FCT. This lecture will open our eyes to some of the opportunities created by the existence of the CAC and how we can explore the opportunities. opportunities with Corporate Affairs
Business opportunities with the Corporate Affairs Commission (1) CAC Accredited Agent (2) Company Name Search Agent (3) Company Incorporation Agent (4) Company Search Agent (5) Company Secretariat Services (6) Insolvency Practice (7) Corporate Governance Evaluation. (8) Board Evaluation (9) Advisory Services
Company Name Search Agent In the UK, some people have taken this as their own specialized area of professional practice and are well known for it. It takes N665.00, inclusive of remita charges to do a name search in Nigeria. If you charge a client N2,000 for it, some will not mind. If you are lucky to get about 10 or more in a week you can make some money after covering all costs. At least, with this you can feed and meet other needs. This can be done as a side hustle for those that are gainfully employed and you can earn extra income through this. Talk to people in the Church, Office, friends and family or relations. You can as well get referrals from friends or past clients.
CAC Accredited Agent This is the most essential license you need to live on income from the Corporate Affairs Commission. Once you have the CAC accreditation card (I do have mine), you have all the liberties to do all the afore-mentioned consultancy services without let or hindrance. Without it, you will be seen as a TOUT in the sector no matter the academic qualification you have and there are so many limitations for you. So, it is not automatic, you have to apply for it and get the card from the CAC. If you have one already, you must renew same from time to time. I renewed mine in June last year.
There are specified professional qualifications to be eligible for the CAC accreditation. These are: (i) Administrators (ICSA) (ii) Membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) (iii) Membership of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) (iv) A legal Practitioner within the meaning of Legal Practitioners Act. Membership of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and
How do I become CAC accredited agent? (i) Fill the requisite form (ii) Furnish photo copy of proficiency/qualifying certificate (iii) One passport photograph (iv) Means of identification (Voter s card NIN, international passport, Driver s license) (v) Membership certificate of a professional body (vi) Photocopy of NYSC discharge certificate or exemption certificate (vii) Evidence of payment of current practice fee
Your accreditation card should be issued within two (2) months after submitting the aforesaid documents to the Commission. The moment you get the card, you can fly and flow with the Commission in doing the other afore-mentioned business.
Company Incorporation Agent Your accreditation with the CAC will qualify you to incorporate a Company for clients. You can make at least N40,000 or more from a small limited liability company with N1million share capital and this can be completed on your phone or laptop within few hours. You can as well act as agent to register Business Names, Schools, Churches, Clubs, Foundation, Association, Trustees etc .
Company Incorporation Agent Your accreditation with the CAC will qualify you to incorporate a Company for clients. You can make at least N40,000 from a small limited liability company with N1million share capital and this can be completed on your phone or laptop within few hours. You can as well act as agent to register Business Names, Schools, Churches, Clubs, Foundation, Association, Trustees etc .
Company Secretarial Services You can take on the company secretarial services for clients out there. You may charge your fee based on meetings (sitting fee) per meeting or on an annual basis. You can float a business name in your name to be able to do this once you possess any of the earlier listed professional certificates.
Insolvency Practice The CAC Companies Regulation 2021 has placed more restrictions on Insolvency Practice. Section 24 of the Companies Regulation 2021 prescribes a special accreditation with the Commission before going into Insolvency Practice. Members of the following professional bodies may apply to the Commission for accreditation as Insolvency Practitioners: (a) Business Association of Nigeria Rescue and Insolvency Practitioners (b) Nigerian Bar Association
(c) Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria (d) Association of National Accountants of Nigeria; and (e) Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria
Requirements for accreditation shall include the following: (a) Duly completed form CAC-MISC 02 (b) Payment of prescribed application fee (c) Evidence of membership of relevant professional body (d) Evidence of practice as insolvency practitioner for not less than five years immediately preceding the date of application. (e)Evidence of eligibility to practice for the current year (f) Evidence of completion of accredited course of continuous learning administered by the relevant professional body in the preceding year (in the case of renewal of accreditation)
Accreditation practitioner shall be renewable every two years and at no cost. by the Commission as insolvency
Corporate Governance Evaluation: CAMA 2020 requires every company to have corporate governance audit facilitated be an independent consultant once every three years. This is an opportunity for us to take advantage of. Board evaluation consultant General advisory services on compliance issues In conclusion, times are hard and we need to use what we have to get what we want. Think outside the box and generate ideas that can keep you busy and launch you out of the unemployment market.
