In this modern era it is getting harder for graduates to land jobs after school. Students go through stress and hard work for 4 years and more hoping to be employed immediately after graduation, but once the certificates are handed over it becomes a different ball game altogether. Some stay at home for years doing nothing applying for jobs and putting their hopes in countless job adverts and potential employer promises.

As positive people what can we do to handle this Situation? What if there is a way of turning this situation from a disadvantage to an advantage? What if we as the youth could turn this situation into a positive influence on ourselves and the country as well?

Stop Making Excuses

Whenever i speak to my fellow graduates the major complain is unemployment, which seems not to be surprising among graduates lately. It is more surprising hearing someone has landed a good job than hearing a graduate has landed a 3-month internship or is home unemployed.

However the moment entrepreneurship is mentioned the excuses of entrepreneurship being risky, stressful and expensive comes in. Everyone seems to like the idea of being successful but do not want to do the hard work part. Unfortunately that’s not how the world works. Even when employed there are lots of risks every employee will have to take at some point to be successful in business and in life.

“Waiting for the right time” is NOT equal to “Patience”

Graduates sometimes convince themselves with the misconception that being patient is waiting on God to give them jobs at the “right time”. This is what i call “DENIAL”. Waiting for the right time means they prefer to be just home applying for jobs, praying, eating or starving themselves, and getting more and more depressed the longer they wait on this “right time”.

One of the reasons employers do not like to hire people who have records of being “unemployed” for long is their low productivity at the workplace when employed. Being at home for long makes people depressed, careless and confused. During the gap unemployed persons hardly read books, or try to partake courses that will keep their minds busy and updated as well. It is common to find individuals who were unemployed for long before work sleeping off at work and receiving a lot of complaints from management about their performance. Being at home “waiting for the right time” can cause you longer term unemployment because the longer you stay at home the more employers would not like to hire you, and then you will have to prove yourself harder to get that job you want, and to show that you are current and have not forgotten all you’ve learn towards being employed or in the field.

Start a Business

Instead of waiting on a job start a business. A business doesn’t have to be one with a startup capital of $1,000,000. There are businesses to start with as little as $0 and a laptop.

I started my business as a freelance writer and researcher just after school with my laptop, on my bed. In 6 months I’ve now set up a small home-office with an office desk and chair, and looking to hire my first contractor. The business is growing steadily. There will soon be a point where i will rent an office, hire more employees and then it goes on.

First of all not only do you get to have a job when you become an entrepreneur, but you also create employment for others. There will always be people “waiting on the right time” to be employed by entrepreneurial people like you. In this era due to high unemployment, the cost of labor is very cheap. Graduates with MBA due to unemployment will work for as little as an internship salary just to say they are employed.

Take advantage of this time, start your business, and employ the best talent now at the affordable labor cost.

You get to hire talent and grow your business together with great talent, then as the business grows and becomes more profitable you can increase your salaries to the level that satisfies all of you. Once again you create employment, and you help the country reduce its unemployment rate by the few number of people you employ in your business.

Spread the Word

Now imagine if 5 people all start different businesses, what of 10, 50, 100..? What happens if all these new businesses in their quest to expand employ 2 people, 5, 10, 20..??? We realize that the unemployment rate can be reduced to its barest minimum by us, the same graduates who were affected by the same unemployment. The future of employment and unemployment in the country depends on us.

Watch entrepreneurship videos and listen to the failure and success stories of entrepreneurs to help you develop yourself. And never stop reading books.

Start a business, advice your friends at home to start a business or start a business together, let’s eliminate unemployment and develop our country.

Thanks for reading.

Let’s get successful together!!!

By Jill Boafo