Many experts say that Nigeria’s education system is broken. The yawning gap between the skill set possessed by the average graduate from a Nigerian university and what the world beyond the ivory tower demands is perhaps the best proof of this. Employers of labour point out that they spend a significant fraction of their resources on training newly employed staff because they are frequently found to lack the necessary practical skills they need to performance at optimal levels.
So Nigerians have found another way to impress potential employers- stacking their CVs with certificates: more lines to glance through, more pages to peruse. This is supposed to make them look more attractive. In other words, these certificates have become necessary embellishments for a lot of job seekers. Just like the degrees obtained from universities in Nigeria.
The problem is, it’s not just enough to have certifications of any kind listed on your CV. Relevance and demonstrability are also important. Sadly, a lot of prospective job seekers do not realise this.
Before you decide to obtain a certificate, you should be sure that you really need it. And it’s not just about the piece of paper you’ll be handed at the end of a successful training course; it’s really about the skills you acquire as a result of going through the program. The questions worth asking here are:
What new skills do I need to acquire (and why do I need to acquire them)?
What is the reputation of the agency/institution offering the program?
Is the program content approved by experts?
One of the reasons given by people who attend these programs is that they are a good alternative to the more expensive and time-consuming graduate degree programs offered by higher institutions. The fast pace of change in today’s world makes ‘new’ knowledge obsolete in just a few years; courses which help bring people up to speed with the latest trends in their careers are certainly more desirable than degrees bagged after studying irrelevant material.
Another factor which propels seekers of professional certification is the need to be identified as professionals in their field. Recognition obtained from a relevant professional body is seen by many as vital; it may even be a requirement for employment or promotion. Again, skills which certificates imply to be possessed by the certified person should be demonstrable. There’s no use spending so much on an exercise of this sort without getting all that you can out of it. Further study and research on a personal level will also give you the edge you seek (an edge over other edge-seekers, if you like).
The proliferation of courses offering certificates in Nigeria is being fueled by a recognised failure of the tertiary institutions to churn out graduates fit for employment. Unfortunately, a much-touted remedy for this troubling situation is itself being attacked by the very mindset which wrecked our education system: the focus on paper qualifications. Meanwhile, the old centres of higher learning are slowly losing their say on graduate employability. If they do not begin to pay more attention to the needs of the world beyond their walls, they will in time fade into oblivion.
As always, it comes down to the individual and their desire to be better and do better. Mediocrity is more often than not a crowd rule. The decision to stand out is a personal one. Self-improvement is most effectively driven by self-motivation.
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