20.9 Million Nigerians are unemployed.
Can you count how many times you have responded to an interview invite and still did not get close to getting a job in Nigeria? Well, you are not alone.
As the rate of unemployment gradually increases in Nigeria, job-seekers face more competition searching for jobs. Now the big question here is how do job-seekers find jobs in Nigeria’s tight and competitive job market?
To help with accurate answers to the above questions, we surveyed over 3,700 job-seekers in Nigeria (that are passively and actively searching for a job) to learn more about their experiences in a job market that doesn’t favor them.
We surveyed 3788 job-seekers (that are actively and passively) searching for jobs. 1, 526 people that took the survey are employed and a total of 2, 262 people that took the survey are unemployed. The essence of the job-search survey is to show what works in the employment market, how people get jobs and other deep insights into the industry.
Guess what we found out?
We found out that:
Download MyJobMag Job Search Survey 2019
Read more about our findings;
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Have you thought of “you” being responsible for your unemployment? Well, maybe not. Technological advancement has changed the way people search for jobs now.
A survey by LinkedIn shows that 39% of job –seekers use social media as their number 1 job-search tool. The survey also shows that 75% of hiring managers report looking at LinkedIn profiles to learn about a candidate’s background.
Looking at the survey, we discovered that 74.8% of job-seekers search for jobs online (through social media, job boards, company career sites, and niche job boards). This means that the traditional job-search medium like newspapers and posters are gradually going on extinction.
From the survey, it is quite obvious that online tools are the most effective and popular job-search tools that can help you land a job in Nigeria. So, if you are still searching for jobs in newspapers and posters, then maybe you are responsible for your employment delays.
Looking at the data above, it is obvious that social media is the next big thing when it comes to job-search and talent hunting.
The numbers are overwhelming, but the question is why are so many people in Nigeria unemployed? We surveyed over 1, 500 employed Nigerians to find out why they are employed. 61.19% revealed that they are employed because they are qualified.
From the data, we were able to find out that some Nigerians are unemployed because they are not qualified. Do unemployed Nigerians think they are not employed because they are not qualified? Maybe not.
We surveyed over 2000 unemployed job-seekers to understand the reason they think they are yet to get a job in Nigeria, see what we found out;
It means that a majority of job-seekers in Nigeria think they are unemployed because they don’t have connections or because there are too many applicants, but is that really the case?
Looking at the survey, only 4.5% of unemployed Nigerians agree that they are unemployed because they are not qualified. Now, does it means that only this percentage of people are unqualified and every other unemployed person in Nigeria is qualified?
From the survey, we found out that 61.2% of employed Nigerians secured a job because they were qualified. So why do you think many Nigerians are unemployed?
Summary: Since 61.2% of people got their jobs because they are qualified, then unemployed people should look forward to building their qualification to get a job in Nigeria.
Human Resources Business partner, World Bay Technologies:
“Most unemployed graduates lack the necessary skills to succeed in the workplace. With this in mind companies place a high demand on a talent possessing soft skills such as leadership, communication and emotional intelligence skills amongst others. I strongly recommend people to build these skills and develop the quality of their character because Talent can get you to the top but Character ensures you stay there.”
PAY ATTENTION! You don’t have to apply for all the job adverts to land a job. See all you need to know now.
According to the NBS report of 2018, 115.5 million Nigerians belong to the working age, and 90.5million people out of the working population are unemployed. It means that the total number of employed people in Nigeria is about 25 million.
Now the question is what exactly did the 25 million employed Nigerians do, that helped them in getting a job?
Over 1500 employed Nigerians took our survey – and we determined how they got their current jobs. Looking at the data, we discovered that;
From the data above, it is quite obvious that most people that are employed in Nigeria got their jobs through networking (family/friends, referrals, and social media).
Resourcing Officer, Action Against Hunger | ACF-USA:
“LinkedIn tops the list; this is because it has the largest community of talents from different career backgrounds that are either active or passive about job opportunities. It is also a platform where employers and talents meet to attract each other. “
From the data above, we can categorically state job-search tools that are not effective and tools that are most effective in Nigeria. From the data, 36.1 people got their jobs through family and friends.
Interested in a new job role. Check out the job trends in Nigeria to enable you make informed decisions.
Have you wondered how much you will end up earning when you finally become employed in Nigeria?
Based on our survey, we discovered that the average first monthly salary an employed Nigerian Graduate will likely earn is N47, 223.
We understand that you may wish to know your worth by discovering how much you stand to earn at the end of the month when you finally secure a job in Nigeria. To help with this information, we carried out a survey on employed people in Nigeria to discover how much they earn as their first salary.
See what we found out;
It is possible for you to earn more than N47, 223 depending on your experience, qualification, skills, and industry. You can check out what you can earn in different industries on https://mysalaryscale.com
Based on our survey, we have noticed that there are some job search tools that are least used by job-seekers in Nigeria. Looking at the environment that we live in as Nigerians and the recent technological trends, there are some job-search tools that may likely not work well here.
Based on the survey that we carried out, we noticed that very few employed Nigerians got their jobs through newspapers and niche job boards. So what does this mean?
It means that these 2 job-search tools below are not very effective in Nigeria. Want to know why?
So, if you are looking forward to getting a job through a niche job board in Nigeria, then you may consider losing out on some opportunities.
From the survey, we discovered that it takes an average Nigerian graduate 9 months to secure a job after the compulsory National Youth Service Corps program.
Also, we observed that the major factor that leads to employment delay is not acquiring in-demand skills/qualification.
Hence, acquiring the right skills and qualification will enable you secure your first job in less than 9 months.
Based on the survey, we noticed that there are some factors that will likely not affect your employment status in Nigeria. Looking at the 90.5 million unemployed people in Nigeria, it is quite easy for anyone to cast the blame of unemployment on anything.
Despite the many causes of unemployment in Nigeria, we discovered that these factors will likely not be the reason why you are currently unemployed.
Looking at the job market and the information from the survey, we are quite aware of the fact that the rate of unemployment in Nigeria is pretty high, but the question here is what can we do about it?
Taking the survey has helped us understand the process of job-search in Nigeria and how it affects the rate of unemployment. Getting to understand the job-search process, the survey analyses how people search for jobs and get employed in the present economic situation.
The higher the rate of employment the more advanced a country will be. With 59.73% unemployment rate according to the survey, it is obvious that we have to review our job-search process to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. To get and make the few jobs accessible, hiring managers and job-seekers alike are to discover the job-search medium that works, how it works and to better make good use of it.
At MyJobMag, we work relentlessly every day because we believe that there is a better way to match job-seekers with employers. A technology driven and less expensive way where our customers get value in return rather than merely buying our services.
We are extremely passionate about providing Recruitment solutions that work. Our mission is to solve employment challenge in Africa as well as improve employee quality and talent discovery.
We have leveraged on our technological expertise to make sure that we serve employers better and ensure that we assist job seekers by providing the latest verified job adverts and career information.
We are excited about the job-search and recruitment solutions that we offer across Africa through our technology, career/business advice and recruitment services.
You can take a look at our services below to know more about what we do;
Click Here to Download the Full Job Search Survey 2019
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