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Opinions of Thursday, 5 November 2020

Columnist: Oware Iddrissu

Does the degree certificate secure jobs?

A lot of students graduate from various Universities in Ghana annually. File photo A lot of students graduate from various Universities in Ghana annually. File photo

It was astonishing to see boundaries of students celebrate one of the greatest days in their academic and social life in the University of Cape Coast.

The thrills that spur their abilities to graduate at long last was very commendable from claps of appreciation to shouts of joy and happiness.

To many, it was the first open door to professional life and to many, it was just the add up to an already achievement.

Graduating for a degree certificate is a promising journey to individuals careers life but the question to be asked is, does the degree certificate really matter in modern Ghana to finding employment?

It is a true fact that a degree attached to ones professional life boost his or her curriculum vitae for his preferred job.

But how many people are employed with only their degree certificate without any additional experience accommodated?

Most employers have employments scale they apply before they employ the first-degree graduate into their companies.

I call it the scale of “experience balance”, I mean they expect most of us to have an already touch about the work before they employ us.

Students who have extra experience or skills attached to their Curriculum vitae are sometimes employed easily.

We might ask where can these experience be achieved? It is a good question to ask.

As a tertiary student, aside from the theories, we are bombarded in the classroom we have to take part in volunteering and internships in the name of acquiring skills and in-depth knowledge about our profession.

Volunteering and taking internship seriously under a professional program does not only give us abundant knowledge on a profession but also guarantee us a 90% job employments in the company in which we work and at different workplaces as well.

Awards make a student stand out among his class and his field of studies but does not necessarily give employments.

Some students have had the opportunity to sail abroad to study on the tickets of scholarships, some of these scholarships were given by the school whiles some were given by different countries.

Students who are privileged to embark on their education journey globally sometimes get jobs in the country.

It is either you start your own business or better equip yourself for more ideas if you don't get a scholarship. It is always not all students who graduate from their first degree that are able to continue to the next level of education, as Masters class, hence,
securing a job in the country is not an easy task, it comes in hands with many activities that one has to offer.

Sometimes after all the ups and downs, there is sometimes rejection of resume and at a point, it is not even delivered to Managers.

Meanwhile, a degree graduate who has had almost 50% of his tertiary life volunteering, attending internships and summits in other institutions is 60% job impregnable.

Aside the ideas and knowledge achieved under summits and volunteering projects, students with great potentials and enthusiasm are able to meet their mentors and role models. These models and mentors are able to help students get employed.

Technical skills are one of the tools and equipment that guarantees one to the gate of employments.

Technical skills is a profession on its own, it gives one a second chance in life, aside from government jobs technical skills also provides jobs for people.

Technical skills like Carpentry, Masonry, Driving, electrician and many more, provide additional experience to individuals in life. One who has got the skills in the aforementioned skills can be a boss on his own without taking his certificate and curriculum vitae for job seeking.

Meanwhile, if a student has got all the technical skills attached to his career life makes him more sumptuous and vulnerable to employers.

The degree certificate alone cannot always secure a job for graduates but a certificate blended with internship experience and technical skills make a graduate wanted by employers.