Truth Is Bitter (I): Nigerian Youths and The First Impression

My position as a youth advocate and employer has long opened my eyes to the problem of youth employment and values erosion among the Nigerian Youths. Pius Adesanmi in his lecture at my Book Launch - "Fidihe: Bamidele Ademola-Olateju and The Challenge Of The Millennial Generation" asked quite a few paradoxical questions the we both wrestle with from time to time and he raised a few ironies too. None of the lessons I have learnt previously compares to the lessons I will chronicle my experience here in these series. Those who have ears should hear and those who have eyes should read.

A few weeks ago, a government establishment advertised their massive recruitment. For obvious reasons they did not disclose what establishment was recruiting. At Circle of Hands (COH) we knew and on COH behalf, I quickly set up a fail safe eligibility criteria and put it up here to screen candidates in-house and prepare them for the recruitment exercise.

Many of those who sent in their resumes were absolutely mannerless! My experience underscores the need for an etiquette school for the youth. No HR person will ever look at their resumes. I got mail like:
"Hi Bamidele, you say I should send cv. Here it is o!"
"Bamidele, how can I get the job"
"Bamidele my number is 0803... Call me to talk about the job"
"Hello Bamidele, I will very much like to work for you"
"Bamidele, I'm lukn 4 job for my brother. Ds is his cv. Let me kne when u wnt 2 talk 2 him"

Among all the mail I got, no one made a good first impression. At some point I regretted not allowing someone like Isaac Austin Tobi or Olunubi Táyélolúọbaọmọ screen them. My mailbox was clogged. It was pure hell sorting through the junk that was as rude as it is infuriating. The passable resumes were from older folks whose ages were way above the the cut off. If I were to use international standards, I wouldn't shortlist anyone. It was that bad!

I asked myself; why bother organizing lectures at COH events when we should be focusing I developing these men and women who obviously are ill equipped to compete anywhere? Which schools are churning out second class upper graduates who are so deficient as not to be able to get out a well formatted resume?  How is it possible that a graduate cannot write a formal cover letter? Do we wonder why the children of the rich and powerful are getting the jobs? They are getting the jobs because they have superior education! They know what to write and what to say and how to behave. I am not justifying them. Whatever happened to being born again or being reborn? If you are not born with privilege and you must compete to survive, why waste your data on stupid and inconsequential sites when you can re-educate yourself on sites that are ubiquitous and free? When I was growing up; my mum tells me "Iran meta kii t'oshi" - poverty cannot last through the third generation whenever I don't take studying seriously. I had that beaten into my skull despite the fact that they were teachers and not poor. That drove me harder and pushed me to compete and excel. What has happened to us? Why are our youths embracing intergenerational poverty by courting ignorance?

I finally shortlisted 5. Even the five ehn... ! We have work to do in this country! To be continued!