The NYSC scheme was primarily designed "with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity". But many Nigerian youths have seen the scheme as a sheer waste of time because of the many ills that have bedeviled the scheme. For a success oriented Youth Corper to make the NYSC year count, some things must be done.
Once your first degree is over (and assuming you’re young enough), you are required to serve Nigeria under the National Youth Service scheme. One of the first concerns a fresh graduate faced with the urgency of service usually encounters is the issue of location – in what part of Nigeria would I be posted to? As is often the case, a majority of otondos (fresh ‘corpers’) tend to experience frustration like they were never used to, and in some cases, the entire service year can run concurrently as a challenge until the day of the terminal parade. This is evident as most corpers return frustrated and stranded after the service year with little or no clue as to how they should forge ahead thereafter. But you can make your service year your best time ever if you will try your best to do the following things starting from now.
Find a place to settle down, and fast
This is the most important aspect and it’s the key to having a smooth service year. You won’t be able to do all other planning if you don’t have a nice place to work and lay your head. Iseegreenng.wordpress.com advises that once you get to know where you’re posted, start sorting out your accommodation immediately. Contact people you know in the place; those who are already serving there, religious organizations, families, friends etc. You will need to provide an address in the state of your service when registering in camp, so you’re expected to sort that out before you get to the camp. NYSC will post you around the address you provide otherwise they’ll just ‘throw’ you anywhere if you don’t have an address. Another thing you should do is to try to work on securing a REQUEST LETTER from any organization you want as your PPA. The scheme is not rigid to posting you just anywhere and you’ll even save them trouble by securing a PPA yourself. The PPA must be from any of the following NYSC approved sectors.
· Education (private and public)
· Rural Infrastructure and Agriculture
· Health
· Local governments
Plan your Post-NYSC Life
Ideally, you should have had this planned out even before your final exams at school. It isn’t late yet anyway. Perhaps this is going to be your first time being alone without any disturbance from home or academics. You have to find time to plan your life. Go to service with a life journal; something like a big diary or writing material and not just a sheet of paper. What kind of life do you want to live? Which kind of job do you want? Do you want to be an entrepreneur? Where do you want to settle down? Where do you want to be five, twenty, forty years from now? According to blog.ngcareers.com, “determining what you want to do after your youth service will help shape the kind of activities you get involved in and how you actually spend your service year”. Start planning your life and career moves with God’s help as soon as you get out of the orientation camp.
Acquire some professional skills
Since you’ll have more time during your service year, plan to use them to your advantage by enrolling for professional exams and acquiring skills that will give you an edge over others in the labor market. Almost every profession has an IT inclination now, so find out which IT training and certifications are relevant to your career and go for it. There are many of them online. For finance professionals, you can also use the time to prepare for your ICAN exams.
Start the Job hunt.
Don’t wait till the end of your service year before you start looking for job. Prepare your Curriculum Vitae (CV), apply for jobs and attend interviews. You can get a job while you’re still serving and even if you don’t get a job, you’ll gain a lot of experience by writing applications to different companies and attending interviews. “It is always great stepping from the khaki straight into a job instead of packing back to your parents’ home to start the job search journey.” – blog.ngcareers.com
Look for internship opportunities
According to blog.ngcareers.com, internships are a great way to work your way into a full time job and you should seek to seize any internship opportunity you find in the line of your career as a ‘youth corper.’ The good news about this is that companies don’t even need to advertise a vacancy before you can apply. In about three months before the end of your service, apply to as many companies as you can, you could be opening doors for a permanent employment.
Identify business opportunities
If you have an inclination for business, there is nothing stopping you from making as much money as possible during NYSC. Identifying business opportunities is not really a difficult task; you only need to be sensitive to the needs around you. The fact is, the employment market is already saturated and you can create a means of survival for yourself by doing business. It can open more doors for you or at least keep you busy till you get a good job.
Plan for further studies
Your first degree is no longer enough in the already competitive employment market so you have to plan to go for further studies. For some, it may be immediately after service year while it may be much later for others. Whichever way, use your service year to find out the best available postgraduate studies in your line of career and get information on scholarships both in local and foreign institutions.
Make the best of every good opportunity that comes your way during NYSC. Network and meet new friends. Visit new places and be security conscious. Find enough time to get a definite direction for your life so that you’ll come out a better person, ready to change your world positively.
Image Credit: vanguardngr.com
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