SKILL UP

Dear 21st century student,

I have been meaning to tell you this for a long time but have never had the chance. Now I do. You see, we've gone 2 decades into the 21st century. A lot of things have changed about school, knowledge and education and so I feel the need to bring you up to speed. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the truth is, your certificate is grossly inadequate to take you far in life. Yes, once upon a time the mere mention of a post-secondary degree opens doors to you in the corporate world and the civil service. Today, its not so. 

Welcome to the 21st century.  

In the past, people got jobs largely because of academic knowledge. Today, the world rarely pays you for that kind of knowledge. You ask, "What does the world recognize then"? 

Skills, my dear... Relevant skills. 

You see, dear 21st century student, the world admires professors, but they pay professionals. The reason is that professors accumulate knowledge - mostly theoretical and archaic (no offense intended), but professionals apply current, practical knowledge.  

All I'm trying to tell you today is: acquire skills.  Get skills that are relevant to societal needs and can solve societal problems.  

A Skill is defined as the ability to do something well.  

One secret about skills is that the lower the supply, the higher the demand on the skill and consequently, the price. For example, Aerospace Engineers are rare. It is seldom you see an engineer who is an expert in Satellite Navigation. They are therefore highly paid. Imagine if you develop a rare skill, you become most sought after... and highly paid.   

One of the most lacking quality amongst job seekers today is relevant skills. One report says that 38% of employers are having difficulties finding people with the right skills to fill open jobs. Like never before, 21st century jobs would require 21st century skills (we'll talk about 21st century jobs some other time).

Dear 21st century student, your task therefore, is to acquire 21st century skills. These skills can be broadly categorized as:  

1) Hard Skills (or Technical skills) 

2) Soft skills  

TECHNICAL SKILLS 

Also known as hard skills, these are the abilities and knowledge required to perform specific tasks. They are usually practical and job specific. For instance, the skills acquired by training to be an accountant would differ from those acquired in the medical school. Whilst the accountant would become adept at reading the balance sheets, the medical doctor would be required to know how to diagnose diseases and prescribe suitable drugs. Today, hard skills would include: 

• Information technology skills. Examples are app and software development, computer programming and the ability to use job-specific software. For instance, 21st century graduates in the core sciences and engineering are expected to have basic skills in the use of at least one of the following programming languages (C++, Machine learning, autoCAD, MATLAB and the likes); an accountant is expected to be skillful in the use of software like Peachtree. For a full list of job-specific software you are expected to know, see appendix 2.  
• Digital skills: We are in the digital era, and as such potential employers will expect that fresh graduates in the 21st century should possess digital skills like social media management (content creation, copyrighting and social media marketing skills). However, depending on the kind of job one seeks to have, other relevant skills in this category include, graphic design, 2D/3D video animation and editing.

I'll continue this discuss later, but for now, your take away action points from this piece should be:

1) Decide on the relevant skill you need to acquire. It usually begsns with understanding your gifts and potentials (more on this too, later!)

2) Find out what specific industry based software application you need to master. For instance if as a computer engineer I ask you about "python" and you think its a snake I'm talking about....well you have a ways to go.

Copyright (C) 2021. Sylvester Okoyomon