Walter Okpala: How marketable are your skills?

Walter Okpala: How marketable are your skills?: In my last post, I gave some tips on how you can proceed to make your skills marketable. Have you checked how marketable your skill is? If ...

How marketable are your skills?

In my last post, I gave some tips on how you can proceed to make your skills marketable. Have you checked how marketable your skill is? If the answer is no, what are you doing to make it marketable? Do not live an unfilfilled life. Do not think that making mistake in choosing your is the end of the road for you. Or that you are too old to correct it. No matter how short a fulfilled life is, it is far better than 100 years of unfilfilled one. In today's world, there are more opportunities than any time in the history of mankind. Firstly, because access to information is widely available. Secondly, the information is free. Information here includes educational opportunities for knowledge acquisition. It only depends you the individual to decide what is the most important type of information for you. Do you prefer consuming information which has little value to you or the one that can transform your life? In other words, do you want to follow the 99% or to follow the 1%?

     The 99% only use social media for entertainment while the 1% use the same media for life changing activities. In other words, the 99% spend a lot of time on entertainment while the 99% spend most part of their time on creating something that will improve their lives. Think about it and take action!

  

  

Walter Okpala: Marketable skills 2

Walter Okpala: Marketable skills 2: In my last post, I mentioned the options available for acquiring marketable skills. It is understandable that few people have the ability t...

Marketable skills 2

In my last post, I mentioned the options available for acquiring marketable skills. It is understandable that few people have the ability to study medicine as a result of the cost and period of dedication required. For the majority, the best option is flexibility and adaptability. By that I mean the ability of the individual to be open for complementing the deficiencies. Let me explain the idea well.

     For an engineering student to be more marketable, he or she cannot concentrate only on technical courses. The engineering student must take courses in finance, marketing, sales, and management. The reason is that engineers are good technically, but bad at management, sales, marketing, and finance. An engineer with these skills can work in sales of engineering equipment, besides having job in their area of specialization. The engineer can also work in the financial market or be hired as an administrator in an organization. Being flexible, therefore, means taking these courses even when the person has graduated. 

     Students in administration should have basic technical knowledge. These technical knowledge should be in electronics, coding, etc. The knowledge can be obtained from vocational schools, by taking online courses, etc. Access to knowledge today is much easier than before. There is no reason why one cannot transform his skill into a marketable skill. There are many opportunities for that. Only look for information!    

    

Walter Okpala: Marketable skills 1

Walter Okpala: Marketable skills 1: In my last posts, I asked some questions relating to the concept of marketable skill. In this post, I will try to answer the first question...

Marketable skills 1

In my last posts, I asked some questions relating to the concept of marketable skill. In this post, I will try to answer the first question. The question is: what is a marketable skill? In my understanding, a marketable skill is a skill with higher probability of getting job in the marketplace. The professions considered to be more marketable are those linked to the STEM field. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. However, this classification is too generic. For example, those who study pure science are not easily marketable as engineers do. Pure sciences include physics, chemistry, biology, among others. These professionals generally find jobs in the classroom and the wages are less. They are also obliged to take on graduate study in order to have academic career. 

     With the exception of medical studies, marketable skills are not constant, but depends on the generation and what seems to be the most important challenges of that generation. In the current generation, connectivity is the most important thing. Consequently, every skill related to computing is highly marketable. This may not be marketable in 20 years to come. So, the question now is: how can I be sure that my skill will be marketable? There are three options for anyone who aspires to have a marketable skill.

     The first option is to study medicine which is always a guarantee in any circumstance. The second option is to understand where the market is going so you can prepare ahead of time. The third option is to be prepared to make changes in order to adapt yourself to the wave. 

     In my next post, we will look at the best option for the majority of the people. So, watch out!      

  

Walter Okpala: I have a marketable job skill, but without job!

Walter Okpala: I have a marketable job skill, but without job!: I receive comments from people that they have marketable job skills, but they have no jobs for quite some time now. Before going on to look...

I have a marketable job skill, but without job!

I receive comments from people that they have marketable job skills, but they have no jobs for quite some time now. Before going on to look at this issue, I would like to ask you what a marketable job skill is. What are the factors that make your skill marketable? What is market? In which markets can you sell your job skills? How can you transform your college degree into a marketable one? I would like to receive your inputs into this discussion.

   

Walter Okpala: Should choosing a career be determined by need or ...

Walter Okpala: Should choosing a career be determined by need or ...: I left a question in my last post about choosing a career. Is choosing a career determined by need for survival or by passion? What was the...

Should choosing a career be determined by need or passion?

I left a question in my last post about choosing a career. Is choosing a career determined by need for survival or by passion? What was the determining factor when you chose your career? My own career was determined by need since I came from a poor family. However, I chose my career within the area I was good at. Since I was good at physical sciences, I decided to study engineering instead of  pure science. The reason is simple. On the average, engineers have better job opportunities than those who study pure science.

     I decided to write about this topic because many people are lost when it comes to choosing a career. The case is also complicated by some career advisors. Career advisors generally tell people to choose their majors in accordance with their passion or what they are good at. Although the advice may be partially true, there are some things missing in the equation. Firstly, career advisor should know the family background of the student and from that provide all the possibilities on the table. If the background is poor one, the need for survival should overide the other factors such as passion. In the case of need being the overriding factor, marketable skill becomes the choice. 

     Even someone from a rich family may decide for a well-paying job too. This also the reason why everything should be made know to the student. If the student makes decision after the right information, then, the problem is his or hers. It is bad to give a uniform career advice as if everybody came from the same background and therefore, has the same need. Think about this!