Top 10 CV Writing Tips

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One of the most powerful  but under estimated self projection tools  a young job seeker can have is a well written CV structured along performance  and value addition potentials . Also known as Curriculum Vitae, a CV is one of the few if not the only opportunity you get for any formal employment assessment- it is your link to the world. 
According to Cv library, getting your CV right can earn you many interviews while doing otherwise may  limit the chances of you getting that invitation via call or text.
Each CV is unique as it details the set of skills that can sway a potential employer in your direction for a possible job position. There is no one fit-it-all approach in writing a CV as each industry requires that you tailor your skills towards the sector of the economy you are interested in working in. There are sections that every employer expects to see in a CV and the following are highly valuable tips that can guide you in writing an attention grabbing  CV!! Not only that a dream job landing one at that. Yes it's that easy!

1. Section 1: Be brief in writing your name and contact information.
   It is important that  you write your full names as legible and as brief as possible. There is no such thing a name writing contest! For so many recruiters, writing traditional names/Aliases on your CV is a no-no. You can add  professional abbreviations after the name. Additionally, writing the contact address on a single line gives the advantage of being perceived as brief, sharp and resourceful. 
2. Using professional looking  e-mail addresses give you an edge.
   Email addresses that have your names.surname@ gmail.com, yahoo.com etc,  is higly recommended. If your names are taken, check with the mail provider which one best suits you.You don't want your prospective employers looking over your  CV simply because of an u e-mail address.  You also don't need to add your facebook,id  twitter handle, or badoo username except you are very professional in the use of them which can also give you an added advantage. These days many qualified job prospects loose opportunities through what they post on social media in the name of self expression without even realizing the reason why. Social media is everything.  
3. Section 2:  Personal Statement/Career Objective/Professional Profile :
   This is a brief introduction of your professional goals. The questions of  who you are, what you've got and your short or long term industry tailored goals should be answered. This is where  the "whys" and "hows" of your goals are highlighted  Keep it  short, simple and smart. 
4. Section 3: Educational Qualifications, and distinctions followed by professional qualifications  earned with dates.
   This should start from the most recent to the oldest.
5. Section 4: Employment history
   This should be performance based . This where most young job seekers miss it. Just listing your job title, and functions is not enough. There must be a  standard to bench mark your functional performance against. For example 

•    Job Title Data Analyst XYZ Company (2000-2005)
  Responsible for Data collection and analysis
• Job Title : Service Administrator(Data)  XYZ (200-2005):
  Achieved complete data management using tools as SPSS, MYSQL, Excel, etc within 3 months in the data section.
•  Same job functions  but differently expressed 

                                           Section 6: Soft and Hard Skills List:
The list is exhaustive but please don't put "gisting"(a Nigerian slang for gossiping)   and  "selfie taking" as one of your soft skills. Instead your Microsoft office skill, Effective communication and Leadership skills, Project management skills etc are some good examples of what you can add.
Please don't add internet browsing it puts everyone off. Be  sure you truly possess these skills before adding them to your CV.

     Section 7 Hobbies :

List your hobbies here, nobody penalizes you for that.

Section 8: References  :

Optional on request or a list of referees. Note Always ensure you have an academic from your Educational institution of learning whom you can use as a referee. Most employers prefer academic referees to other types.

Section 9: Proof read, proof read, proof read...
Section 10 Always get a second, third fourth or fifth opinion on your CV

I hope you have learnt something from this post.
Let me hear your opinions, comments and observations in the comment box.
To your success. 

WHAT TO DO IF NO ONE WOULD GIVE YOU A CHANCE!!

Why do so many gifted and talented people become seemingly frustrated at lack of opportunities to show case their skills and gifts to the world?
Why do many become bitter, dejected, unhappy and even depressed or sad over their inability to convince any one of their impressive ability, skill and capacity?

Many people have a hard time finding the right job, skills and openings to demonstrate their capabilities, potentials and prowess in powerful and flawless delivery of tasks. Cases abound where less talented folks fill up the space and then by the time their is opening, they end up becoming the boss of  super talents, who end up frustrated at the mediocrity and indolence of some of these bosses; and  guess who makes the recommendation for promotion, firing or gets the praise  at the end of the day? The truth is that the best opportunities are best taken in the raw form. Examples are all round us to see and learn from.
So, I will be sharing some tips to let you navigate  the uncertain terrains of the busy world out there.

1. Nobody owes you anything.As simple as this sounds, its difficult for most people to accept this reality. You are your own master and captain. Your acceptance or otherwise is 100% dependent on your personality and what others enjoy by being around you.
   

Ten Tips to Improve your Vocabulary

Everyday of our lives, the need for effective communication and relevance cannot be over emphasized-using the right words, which convey the right and succinct meanings to the hearers and readers alike. Excellent interpersonal interaction and a poise in personal effectiveness is null and void without a good use of Vocabulary.
Here are  ten tips to improve your vocabulary to achieve that self esteem and improve your already rich reservoir of words.

1.  Decide why you need new words: Decide your area of interest-medical terms, automobiles, agriculture, oil and gas, speech writing, leadership, public speaking, GRE, IELTS,etc This will enable you tailor your  search on the subject area and just get ready explore all the way!
2. Read! Read !! Read!! : There is no other sure way of learning new words than reading.You will find words right there in a "natural habitat" than in a boring list. Once you find an unfamiliar word, try and guess its meaning from the context, or look up in a dictionary if you are not satisfied.
3. Use New Words Right Away : I remember  watching  an interview granted by a former chief of staff to the Former Edo state Governor, Hon Patrick O. : in his words: 'I am a man of many compendium(books) and I make use of the new words that I learn from my study".Either in writing or in speech,  If you don't use it, you'll lose it
4. Subscribe to a word-a-day- List: Sites like wordsmith.org, www.oed.com and so many innumerable sites offer excellent services in that regard at absolutely no cost. Sign up and print the words out and use them.
5. The need for a good Dictionary: Oxford and Longman's Dictionaries are still very relevant in this guise. You can never go wrong with a good dictionary
6. Ask for help: Requesting the cooperation of friends and family in the use of new words is a lot of fun and very interesting. The use of games like scrabble is very helpful here. Actually, someone from Nigeria recently won a world scrabble championship. It creates a form of "buzz words" atmosphere and a cool feeling- trust me. 
7. Set little word-hunt goals: The best way to master words is by you checking them out and finding them with regards to a particular relationship or application.
8. Buy and Use Good Thesaurus: Thesaurus helps to expand a word in every direction. Tips like synonyms, antonyms use can change the way you use a word for the best. 
9. Listen to and Watch good radio and TV programs: TV ads, captions and and pronunciation of words seen in spelling can remove uncertainty.
10. Don't forget to check the pronunciation of the new and difficult words in your dictionary: Checking out the etymology which will give a succinct information on the right use of the word.

WHY ECONOMIC RECESSION IN NIGERIA MAY NOT END IN 2017 OR 2018.

There is recession in Nigeria!!!! Hunger in the Land!!! Famine in Nigeria!! Are some of the headlines that I have come across on some portals and websites describing the  malaise currently impacting the average Nigerian on a negative level. The prices of crude oil has not risen to where it used to be,militants have not backed down on destroying oil infrastructure, investments in the oil and gas sector has reduced as investors are scrambling for escape routes, multinationals are downsizing, job loss is a reality in the private sector, no ray of hope in sight for the average opulent Nigerian whose source of income has been threatened or closed down in the face of harsh economic reality.

The heat is real in the Nigerian socio-economic sphere because of rising cost of good and services with no significant rise in disposable income of the average Nigerian. This is as a result of the means that the value of the Naira against its foreign counterparts has weakened in terms of purchasing power. I have been a keen observer of the events for almost a year now and I have witnessed policy somersaults, overhaul, and outright reversal inconsistent with a serious drive to end currency depreciation.
The challenge facing the Nigerian economy is hydra headed including  fiscal, trade, instability, etc.

What do I mean by fiscal? Fiscal policy of a nation  is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to monitor and influence a nation's economy. It is the sister strategy to monetary policy through which a central bank influences a nations money supply(Investopaedia.com)  A Fiscal policy refers to all monetary policies guiding government spending and borrowing. In the face of dwindling business and enterprise activities, it means lesser tax will come to the government than expected; 

 The economic direction is usually amplified by the direction in which major fiscal policies of government is headed. For example, recently, the monetary policy rate was jacked from 11% to 12% and from 12% to 14% within a space of 3months(12% in March, 14% in June 2016).If from 11 to 12% the interest rate is increased by 100 basis point(100%) then your guess will be as good as mine considering the 12%-14% increment.

 This is the rate at which the CBN lends money to deposit money banks operating in the country.    which means that up from interest rate on fixed instruments like the treasury bills and bonds rose to a record high of 14-18% depending on various tenor and 22-25% which means that people with spare cash will rather go and keep their money in banks to yield interest rather than produce or manufacture.

The following are the reasons why I am sure Nigeria may not come out of recession in 2017 and 2018

• Low refining capacity: According to Ifeanyi Uba, heavy demand for dollars are from  petroleum marketers who need to import petrol, diesel and  aviation fuel(kerosene inclusive) into the country. Research has shown that crude oil has about 5,000 fractions that can be gotten from it after fractional distillation and it is from these fractions that majority of indstries in Nigeria get their raw materials: Plastics, textiles, polymers, polyesters, petroleum wax, grease, petroleum jelly, lubricants for automobiles and earthmoving equipment, packaging materials for sachet water, bottled water, foot wear, clothing, fertilizers, etc are some of the by products obtained from crude oil and most Nigerian companies import most of these items at the moment.

• Low electricity generation for Industrial and manufacturing purposes: One of the main operational costs of most manufacturing industries operating in the country is in power generation. These businesses spend as much as 60% of their operational costs on power generation. Diesel is a major fuel used by these companies. Rising cost of diesel will  mean production will be halved,cut or out rightly discontinued.

• Fiscal and monetary policy: Many manufacturing companies depend on forex for their raw materials and if they don't have access to the official window at the appropriate time, time value of money would have eroded their expected profits.

• Low Agricultural production; There is a lot of noise about agriculture yet little has gone into creating a value chain for agricultural products to ensure all year round availability. Ever year thousands and even millions of tonnes of perishable goods are wasted due to poor infrastructure for a sustainable agricultural production and storage. The Nigerian state officials on highways do not help matters either- Bad roads+ road block+ extortion+ time wastage+ arrest are some of the ills bedevelling agriculture in modern Nigeria. Export potential of agricultural commodities can never be realised until these bottlenecks are addressed and removed.

• Farmer- herdsmen clash: Boko haram has successfully rendered the vast land of NE Nigeria to  fallow  as a result of the death and displacement of thousands of farmers. Herdsmen and farmers clash has resulted in countless loss of lives with its attendant effect on Agricultural output.Examples abound in Southern Kaduna, Plateau State. Benue State, Taraba State, and south Eastern States.

Solution: 

Government is responsible for the welfare of her citizens and the people must hold her government responsible for that sacred duty as laid down by law. If need be, every Nigerian farmer must be able to bear arms for protection against intruders and marauders into farmands. In Switzerland, land tenure system permits agriculture in homes and they exchange proceeds after harvest which is one of the reasons swtizerland has unparalleled standard of living and a healthy population. Small scale agriculture can boost communal participation, it is capable of eliminating poverty and making food available of reasonable costs. 

                                                   THE  ASSET
                         
                 

The greatest asset any young person can have right now is their strength. The strength of their passion- when they fall in or out of love, strength of their emotions-in expression and interactions and their strength when dealing with a foe- young people are some of the most violent crimes are being committed by young people hence without an iota of a doubt, young people are strong.

However, young people have an orientation, a background, a family , a society and a group of peers who have in one way or the other made some inputs into a young folk's life. The responsibility of a man to his family, friends, society and country is one of the most taught values in modern education and informal gatherings.
 The strength of the youth is his fire power to drive his will down the road of execution without any hindrance- and if any, he rages his way through his obstacle like a mother bear robbed of her whelp.
If for any reason, a young man reaches his dead end, his last hope, his winding tour, if he peers out of the window of security to find his retinue of friends and admirers but finds none- How dejected he will be!!!
 A strong man finds joy his abilities, a man of great ability relishes every moment of triumph as his stamp on the foot prints of time- a memorial that cannot be erased by the cacophony of activities and businesses. A strong man finds time to look inwards then outwards, not the other way round.
Great men have humility, compassion, meekness, love, purity and above all equity and justice for his fellow men.
Where there is no brother hood there will be falsehood and false hood is the author of wormwood which makes the souls and lives of men bitter with fire and anger. Brotherhood is the bond of  blood, sweat and honor to abide and be true to one another in the face of daunting difficulties-no matter how life threatening!
A young man's strength can win a heart thousands of miles away in the wilderness and bring her home hundreds of furlongs into the woods for a relish of a lifetime in the cabin. Fortunately, the strength can raise funds, start a business, run the vision, create the services, manufacture the products, push the market and forge a name that will remain indelible in the hearts of the sea.

Arise! Arise oh Young one! Raise up from your dust and shake it off!! Your time is now. Not tomorrow, not yesterday!! It is now!!!

The contribution of each economic sector of India to its Employment of Labour in 2010(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_Percent_labor_employment_in_India_by_its_economic_sectors.png)

The global economic sectors can be easily classified into five distinct groupings:

1. Services Sector
2. Agriculture
3. Manufacturing
4. Transportation/Infrastructure
5. Technology

Other classifications like construction, real estate,tourism, arts, entertainment etc, can be grouped  either under services sector or Infrastructure depending on the classification model employed by relevant agencies in the various countries.

Agriculture is the oldest profession known to man and not Prostitution as widely claimed in some quarters.  Human civilizations thrived or perished at their level of expertise or ignorance on agricultural practice. Survival meant an instinct for food, water, heat and shelter.  With this came devices for hunting and producing more food, tools, for cutting, fire making, shelter making etc.

A great industrialist once said " Agriculture, Manufacture and Transportation are the core essential duties of man, failure of which his life will never see a balance". How true! The modern economy still depends to a large extent on agriculture because of an ever- increasing gap between the rich nations who are self-sufficient in agricultural production and developing nations who are ravaged by wars, diseases, famine, corruption and extreme poverty.
Agriculture is the largest employer of labour in most developing countries of the world today and it is no news that the United Nations with other relevant global agencies, have recognized this as an important means of combating severe hunger, poverty, diseases and malnutrition in many nations.

A case study of a BRICS country (India)

"Agriculture is an important part of Indian economy. At around 1.53 million square km, India has the second largest amount of arable land of any country after the U.S.A.,with percentage of cultivated land compared to total land area being close to 52℅, second highest after Bangladesh(over 68℅) among major labour-intensive agricultural economies. Although the total land area of the country is only slightly more than one third of China’s or the U.S.A.'s, India’s arable land is marginally smaller than the U.S’s,and marginally bigger than china's. In 2008, a New York Times article claimed, with the right technology and policies, India could contribute to feeding not just itself but the world. However, agricultural output of India lags far behind its potential. The low productivity in India is a result of several factors. According to the World Bank, India's large agricultural subsidies are distorting what farmers grow and they are hampering productivity-enhancing investment. While overregulation of agriculture has increased costs, price risks and uncertainty, governmental intervention in labour, land, and credit markets are hurting the market. Infrastructure such as rural roads, electricity, ports, food storage, retail markets and services are inadequate. Further, the average size of land holdings is very small, with 70% of holdings being less than one hectare in size. Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 46% of the total cultivable land was irrigated as of 2016, resulting in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the monsoon season, which is often inconsistent and unevenly distributed across the country. To bring an additional two crore hectares of land under irrigation through various agriculture schemes including Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP)for which a provision of Rs 80,000 crore has been sanctioned in the union budget. Farmer incomes are low also in part because of lack of food storage and distribution infrastructure. A third of India's agriculture produce is lost from spoilage".(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_India)

Personal Opinion

Developing and Developed countries around the world all have their peculiarities which make them unique. However, it is important that the young ones take the advantage that agriculture offers as this is guaranteed not only to bring them to a closer level with nature, it will also ensure efficient and judicious use of currently endangered nature's resources, bearing in mind that some generations left what we have now with us and we have similar responsibility to ensure that the cycle goes round.