The World Bank, in conjunction with the United Nations, held a number of different events in various countries around the world on October 17 to mark the International Day for Eradication of Poverty, 2018. These include an inspiring in-country dialogue session and interactive video conference on the theme “Africa’s Youth and the Future of Work.”

Although different speakers pivoted on the value of soft skills in today's workforce during both the in-country and video conference events, the questions of some of the participants at the Accra event show that a number of people are not particularly sure about what constitutes soft skills and how to develop them.

Of course, the panelists, as well as myself, gave further useful interventions on what soft skills are and the need to cultivate them as a student or job seeker. However, after speaking with one accounting student who approached me after the session, I made a mental note to share further thoughts on this subject. In this article, you will learn what soft skills are, why they are becoming increasingly important, and how to essentially develop them.

I think that the best way to understand soft skills is by understanding hard skills. It is generally accepted that hard skills are what you learned or studied in school that can be defined and quantified on paper. Specifically, they are competencies like the ability to use software tools, write, do accounting, etc.

On the flip side, soft skills are those abstract, intangible skills that are difficult to quantify and are not usually taught in the classroom. They are skills we use in navigating everyday life and making human connections. Soft skills are often referred to as transferable skills or professional skills.

From data collected in over two years of our methodological research in making sense of the persistent disconnect between education and industry requirements, below are three main sets of skills employers categorize as soft skills:

People Skills - this includes teamwork, interpersonal skills, communication, leadership, and customer orientation. 

Self Reliance Skills - this includes self-awareness, proactivity, willingness to learn, self-promotion, networking and planning action. 

Life Skills - this includes problem-solving, flexibility, business acumen, critical thinking, and commitment. 

The importance of soft skills in today’s competitive, fast-paced, digital work environment cannot be overemphasized. The more intelligent technologies continue to redefine our workplace, the more human cognitive skills are sought after.

In fact, soft skills are becoming today’s hard skills. You can be the world’s best software engineer or accountant but if you don’t know how to work with people; if you cannot communicate your thoughts clearly; if you cannot deconstruct complexities and proffer simple solutions, you will not be of much use to anyone.

Candidates that demonstrate these competencies will always be farther ahead in the workplace. Academic qualifications obviously have their place; they open doors but soft skills are what keeps you on the job.

There are many activities that can help you cultivate soft skills. Programs like SFAN’s Readyforwork Career Coaching Program are super important  in developing your soft skills. Through personalized educational contents crafted by employers, one-on-one coaching, and team conversations, participants are equipped with practical skills and exposed to real-world projects that empower them to take ownership of their career aspirations and grow in confidence that yields success.

Also, engaging in community service and volunteer programs are crucial ways of improving your soft skills. They help you generate goodwill that comes from teamwork and collaboration. Volunteering is also a great way to sharpen your leadership skills, networking skills, and problem-solving skills.

Furthermore, participating in group discussions, events and social networking can be another way of developing your soft skills. Learn to speak up whenever you have the opportunity and get comfortable standing in front of people. If you are afraid of public speaking, well my friend, you're not alone - 41% of people across cultures around the world are terrified about public speaking. The vital thing to note is that public speaking is not a performance but a conversation from your heart.

One of the most important lessons I've learned in my career is that nothing is a given. Things change fast and knowing how to think on your feet is a skill that'll take you places. I can write about this in two books because of its importance in the workplace today. Train yourself to be a problem solver. The most uninspiring thing you can do is to be the girl or boy that always go to your boss or team leader with problems. Everyone sees problems but not everyone sees solutions. Hence, before you point out a problem, have a solution on hand. It will set you apart from others.

The good news is that all these soft skills are learnable. With careful observation and practice, you can improve on each and every one of them. The most interesting thing about human being is that nobody is born smart - we all start at zero. Believe it or not, there was a time when Einstein couldn’t do his ABCs. Chimamanda Adichie definitely didn’t start her career as a great communicator. 

Neither was Barack Obama a remarkable leader as a teenager. They all learned and practiced these crafts until they perfected it. Now that you know the traits you should cultivate for the future of work, you too can do the same! Sign up here to receive more tools for career development and to be in the know about our epic events and training programs.

Collaborating on a global scale, the World Bank and the United Nations orchestrated a series of impactful events on October 17, 2018, to commemorate the International Day for Eradication of Poverty.

Accra Talks Soft Skills on World Bank Poverty Eradication Day

soft-skills-what-they-are-and-how-to-develop-them

In my first year of grad school, I was overwhelmed by the amount and 
density of the required (and recommended) readings. I spent hours 
slogging through all of it. I had piles of notes. But I felt lost. 

So now, in the interest of revealing the #HiddenCurriculum of higher education, I share these tips with students:  

First, read as much of each article/book as it takes to identify: 

The data/methods used to answer the research question  

The fundamental patterns that support the central argument/answer  

The evidence that points to those larger patterns (e.g., statistical
 correlations, examples from field notes or interview transcripts, 
etc.)   

The limitations (i.e., what questions it doesn't answer; what perspectives or possibilities it doesn't consider)  

How do you cite the article/book/chapter in your own work (i.e., 
some research shows that X; some studies use method Y; authors have 
debated the best way to conceptualize Z, etc.)  

Second, figure out how each reading relates to other things you've 
read, especially other things by the same author or in the same 
subfield/genre. Does this particular study: 

Support, explain, clarify, extend, or challenge what's been said before? 

Third, identify which books, articles, or chapters you'll need to 
read in full. Those include readings that speak directly to your 
research interests and the projects you're planning to complete. With 
those readings, you should be able to clearly articulate how your work 
builds on, is informed by, and is different from what's been done 
before. 

Fourth, choose a citation manager (essentially a digital tool that 
allows you to keep track of the articles you read and also cite those 
articles more easily in your writing). There are lots of different tools
 out there. Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, etc. I haven't found one that's 
perfect, but there are a bunch of free options, so I'd suggest starting 
there and trying to find one you like. Once you choose a citation 
manager, put *everything* you read into it. Use it to take notes.  

Use the tag features to group readings by subfield and method and argument. 

It'll make your life (and your research) *way* easier down the line. 

Fifth, and finally, remember that the #HiddenCurriculum of academia 
makes it easy to feel like a slacker for even considering not reading it
 all. But that "feeling like a slacker" thing is exactly how the 
#HiddenCurriculum produces impostor syndrome. No scholar can read (or 
has read) everything. Certainly not in full. 

But the solution isn't just to skim haphazardly or skip half the 
readings on the syllabus or quit reading entirely. The solution is to 
approach reading like research--with a set of questions to answer and 
clear set of strategies to use in doing so.  

By: Jessica Calarco, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Indiana University 

Jessica Calarco, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Indiana University

Jessica Calarco, an esteemed Assistant Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, draws from her own experiences to provide invaluable insights to students grappling with the demanding world of graduate school. In her illuminating narrative, she recounts her initial struggles in the face of copious and complex readings, ultimately feeling adrift in a sea of notes.

Unveiling Strategies for Conquering Overwhelming Academic Readings

beyond-the-abstract-reading-for-meaning-in-academia

There are certain traits that make you successful in a job.

In my previous article, I shared some insights on the 6 biggest job application mistakes you must avoid at all costs. A gentleman reached out to me after reading the article to ask if I could write a follow-up piece on what employers look for when hiring.

I have had the pleasure of participating in numerous recruitment exercises both through personal engagements with institutions like President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) West Africa (as a consultant responsible for assessing and interviewing applicants from 9 YALI West African countries including training a team of local and international assessors and interviewers) and through SFAN’s job placement initiatives.

Regardless of size, industry or legal structure, the five traits below are distinguishing traits many employers look for in a prospective new hire.

Smartness - clever, witty, or readily effective attitude 

Whenever we sit down with a client for a briefing, this is one of the traits mentioned again and again as the first thing they want from a new hire. The reason is simple -- employers want someone who can get the job done.

It’s no longer enough to focus on the job description, you need an experience and mastery of other transferable skills like social media, communication, email, etc. Therefore, your ability to demonstrate both industry competence and related functional leadership will set you apart.

Passion - strong and barely controllable desire 

The business world is getting increasingly fierce, thanks to technology and competition. A passion for your work helps you maintain the level of focus and commitment required to survive and thrive. Consequently, recruiting managers are keen to find candidates who can progressively demonstrate dedication and commitment to their job. When someone cares about the job, he or she can go the extra mile in delivering above and beyond expected results -- not just doing the barest minimum that earns him/her a paycheck. A candidate with passion adds great value to the company.

And, it is easy to tell whether a person is passionate or not. One meeting or interview with a candidate is enough to tell you whether he or she is passionate. 

I have seen that candidates that approach an interview with enthusiasm and have concrete goals for their career, a self-development plan, and are able to articulate their thoughts usually perform well on the job. As any recruiter will tell you, self-motivated candidates are like flickers of light; they help others find direction.

Kindness - the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate 

We live in a world where everyone does not have the same starting point. Therefore, you must be compassionate and considerate in how you treat yourself and other people.

We have all heard of the power of little acts of kindness. A prominent example is the incident of August 2016 Olympics Games in Rio De Janeiro. Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino where four laps from finishing the 5000m race when they tripped and fell. The American athlete, Abbey D’Agostino got up first but instead of continuing running, she pulled up her opponent and said, “get up, we have to finish this!” Unfortunately, shortly after that, her knee gave out; she had injured her right leg in the fall. D’Agostino was on all fours on the Olympic track, her face writ in pain.

Realizing what had happened, Hamblin stopped running and reached back for her. They continued to run side-by-side in the bottom spot until they finished the race. These women have never met each other before.

Although this might be an exceptional case, we encounter issues and situations in the workplace every day that one may be tempted to look the other way. However, one act of compassion may be all you need to make a lasting difference. And, it starts with being gentle to yourself because if you are not kind to you, you cannot be kind to anyone else.

Angela Duckworth 
 is an American psychologist and researcher. As part of her work, she 
spent years researching traits that make a person successful or not. 
From Westpoint Military Academy to National Spelling Bee to Private 
Sales Enterprises to Hollywood, one significant characteristic she 
learned as a distinguishing factor for success is a simple word, grit. 

Grit, as she defines 
 it is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals; stamina, 
ability to stick with your future day-in-day-out, and working hard to 
make that a reality. Grit is living life like a marathon, not a sprint. 

Our era of instagramification has led many to believe that 
success (in jobs and life) can be automated like social media posts and 
grocery orders. But then you study highly successful people and you 
realize that to be successful at anything you do requires a mind-blowing
 work ethic. Candidates that demonstrate the ability to hustle and reach
 for their goals will always outshine others who want things to happen 
by autopilot. 

Research has proven that talent alone does not make a person great; the world is filled with talented failures. 

Carol Dweck , the Professor of Psychology at Stanford University popularised the idea of Growth Mindset through her book “Growth Mindset: The New Psychology of Success ”.
 It says that the ability to learn is not fixed, it can be learned. In 
other words, failure is not a permanent condition, it can change with 
efforts. 

Integrity - the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles 

Being dependable and trustworthy one of the most important traits in the
 workplace. It fosters a great work environment.\n\nNo one wants to deal
 with someone or a company that says one thing but goes on to do an 
entirely different thing. We all want someone that can follow through, 
take responsibility for their actions and execute on commitments. 

Strive Masiyiwa
 is the billionaire founder of Econet Wireless. His teachings are filled
 with stories taken from his own experience in which he steadfastly 
refused to compromise his principles. Masiyiwa says that integrity is 
one of the major reasons for his success in life and business: “In my 30
 years running a business (remember I started in 1986),” he wrote,” I’ve
 met and known some highly gifted entrepreneurs who looked ready to set 
the whole world ablaze, but after a few years, some of them failed 
spectacularly. Whenever I looked back on what had happened… more often 
than not, it was an issue of integrity.” 

No matter how much success a person accumulates by compromising or 
cheating, it will eventually fizzle away. Every culture and belief show 
there are no shortcuts to success. It may be painful to maintain your 
honest stance but in the long run, it will pay off.

In the words of Brian Tracy,
 self-development trainer and coach,  “there should be no exceptions to 
honesty and integrity. Integrity is a state of mind and is not 
situational. If you compromise your integrity in small situations with 
little consequence, then it becomes very easy to compromise on the big 
situations.” 

Top 5 Key Traits Employers Seek in Prospective New Hires

5-distinguishing-traits-employers-prospective-new-hire

Everybody knows that 
getting a rejection email for a job application really sucks. But in 
reality, about 98% of job seekers are eliminated at the initial resume 
screening. Only 2% of job candidates make it to an interview.

Unfortunately, recruiters don't usually give candidates an absolute, 
meaningful feedback on why they were rejected. To help you catch the 
“bullseye” of employers, I started sharing the rookie mistakes I see job
 seekers make time and time again.

This series started with an insight into the Biggest Job Application Mistakes You Must Avoid at All Costs, followed by 5 Distinguishing Traits Employers look for in a Prospective New Hire.
 In this concluding part, we shall review 6 cardinal red flags 
recruiters look for in a job candidate. If you are currently looking for
 a job, well my friend, it is your lucky day! I am about to show you the
 cheat sheet hiring managers use for recruiting.

The first red flag for a hiring manager is a discrepancy in a 
candidate’s resume. This could be in the form of regular gaps in 
employment history, lies about past employers or an embellished job 
title.

In today’s competitive job market, it might be incredibly tempting to
 embellish your resume. If this is you, think again! Any form of lying 
on your resume will definitely come back to bite you. When a recruiter 
determines there is a discrepancy in your copy (whether online or 
offline), that’s game over.

The worst-case scenario is when you pulled a “Mike Ross” and 
eventually get the job. The day the truth materializes, the public 
humiliation will paint a black shade over your career prospects, 
permanently.

Nevertheless, if the discrepancy is in the form of employment gaps, 
the solution may be in adjusting your resume. Use your summary statement
 to level with any inconsistency the hiring manager might pick up on. Be
 sure to keep your copy within 100 words.

Profiles that show frequent job hopping is a big red flag. In fact, 
talent professionals argue that resumes filled with short-term gigs 
indicate the candidate lacks commitment, is poor at building 
relationships or burns out quickly.

The recruitment process is often time-consuming and expensive. And 
so, losing an employee after a year means wasting precious time and 
resources on training and development, only to lose the employee before 
that investment pays off. Plus, many recruiters may assume the employee 
didn't have time to learn much at a one-year job, says Jeanne Meister, 
HR Partner, Future Workplace.

Historically, there are few available data on how long an average 
worker should stay in a job in Africa. Nevertheless, career experts 
recommend that in an ideal case, you should try to stay at each job for a
 minimum of two years.

In the words of Amanda Augustine, a career advice expert for 
TopResume, no matter how badly you want to leave your job or move onto 
something bigger and better, you don't want to be branded a serial 
job-hopper.

That said, if you are faced with the job-hopping or employment gap 
dilemma, use the functional resume strategy to put a positive spin on 
your copy. Optimize your template to focus your on your skills, what you
 have achieved and your abilities rather than time spent in or out of 
jobs.

According to Recruiterbox, 43% of employers use social networking 
sites to research job candidate. Also, 51% of employers who check a 
candidate’s social media profiles have found content that disqualifies a
 candidate. In fact, this survey  found that 70% of employers use social media to look for red flags on a candidate.

Here are four things your online presence show hiring managers:

1. Stats and results - factual data referencing accomplishments like growth percentages or direct bookings

2. Attention to detail and seriousness - A complete LinkedIn profile shows that the candidate is a detail-oriented and serious job seeker

3. Recommendations from former employers and peers - research shows that the inclusion of testimonials may share more about a candidate’s performance and personality.

4. Community involvement - Participating actively in
 online groups or volunteering suggests that a candidate has more 
interest and solid connections with a particular industry or community.

With this understanding, you need to be circumspect with your online 
interactions. Your digital footprint provides deep insight into who you 
are, what you care about and what you bring to the table. Consequently, 
any serious-minded job seeker will do the legwork of putting a good 
front on his or her digital platforms.

Use the tips in this article  to adjust your digital presence, create a compelling value proposition, and move your career prospects further, faster.

It is common knowledge among recruiters (and supported by research) 
that you can evaluate the potential performance of candidates based 
on their speech. Majority of recruiters listen/look out for the 
following magic, or the lack thereof when evaluating candidates: 

1. Pronoun: “I” and “me” - studies show that low and
 average performers use about 400% more second-person pronouns like you,
 your and about 90% more third-person pronouns like he, she, they than 
high performers.  

2. Tense: workplace experience stories told in the 
past tense - studies show that low and average performers use the 
present tense 120% more and the future tense 70% more.

3. Voice: usage of active voice - studies show that 
low and average performers often use the passive voice 40%–50% more than
 high performers. 

The use of vague languages, such as “familiar with” or “participated 
in,” could imply the candidate didn’t actually work on the project or 
they simply assisted in some way, courtesy to a LinkedIn research.

There's an old and probably overused saying among marketers which is 
that people hear what they see. Inappropriate and unprofessional photos 
on your social media touchpoints can raise a red flag to recruiters.  
They often portray you in an unprofessional light.

So, before you share your next twerk video or Instagram photo with 
your boobs up in the air, your pants sagging or your drunken eyes 
looking at the world like “Klint Da Drunk” think of the potential career
 limiting implications of such graphics.

A job seeker is far more likely to make an impression with employers 
if she or he has a professional, high-quality photo. The solution is 
simple: Get dressed up and hire a good photographer, says Ismael Wrixen,
 CEO, FE International.

In my journey to find the top 10% of entry-level job seekers and 
match them to jobs that have prospects for career progression, personal 
development, and economic prosperity, I have read thousands of resumes. I
 have seen the good, the bad and the very ugly ones.

A CareerBuilder survey found that 58% of all resumes have a typo of 
some form. Resumes with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or poor 
formatting indicate that you lack attention to details. While some 
people may want to argue that it is human to make mistakes, many hiring 
managers have a very strong opinion about this matter; almost to the 
point, and often to the point that one single typo is an automatic veto.

Why? Because how you do anything is how you do everything, the logic 
goes: if a candidate does not pay attention in getting his or her tenses
 right, where else will he or she show the same lack of discipline?

Yet, attention to detail is one of the all-time proxies for job 
qualification many of us highlight in our resumes. Therefore, if you 
have the audacity to tell the recruiter that you are “an excellent 
communicator with great attention to detail,” then you better bring it. 
Quite frankly, if you don't, well, it’s your fault for being so sloppy 
and careless–sorry!

To avoid shooting yourself in the foot before you even start 
competing for the hiring manager’s attention, please use a grammar 
checker like Grammarly to proofread your stuff and make necessary 
adjustments.

There you have it - from pre-screen to post-hire, the knowledge of 
what hiring managers look for and what they avoid in a candidate is now 
at your disposal. As the job market becomes increasingly tighter and 
recruiters continually look for smarter and more sophisticated 
candidates, the least you can do is to prop yourself up with all the 
secrets I’ve shared with you in this article. Observe them, commit them 
to memory and when you have scaled through the process, remember to pay 
it forward. 

Biggest Job Application Mistakes You Must Avoid at All Costs

5 Distinguishing Traits Employers look for in a Prospective New Hire

this survey

tips in this article

Everybody knows that getting a rejection email for a job application really sucks. But in reality, about 98% of job seekers are eliminated at the initial resume screening. Only 2% of job candidates make it to an interview.

Avoiding Red Flags and Landing Your Dream Job

jobseekers-candidate-red-flags-recruiters-look-for

Agriculture is the future of work in Africa. This may seem counter-intuitive, and, to be sure, technology will play a critical role to ensure that 12 million Africans entering the job market every year find their fulfillment along national, regional, continental and global value chains. Established technology start-ups like Alibaba, Airbnb, Amazon, and Youtube created platforms to capture economic value. Those riding the wave of these startups in Africa are disconnected from where the value lies on our continent: agriculture.  

Agriculture was the foundation that sprung into manufacturing then industrialization in North America, Europe, and Asia. That was the path taken to transform economies. In Africa, we started along that trajectory and then we got caught into development that held the promise that Africa would catch up. We did not. In the process, agriculture lost its importance. 

Ghana, the average cocoa farmer is 55 years old, yet many young people are unemployed. That disconnect between the opportunities for an apprenticeship in agriculture is an example of the issue we must address. 

While agriculture might be perceived as a dead-end career for youth, the sector employs 60 percent of the labor force in Ghana and sustains 66 percent of the livelihoods of the population. 

Diversification along agriculture’s value chains through a host of start-ups could allow us to leapfrog through adequate storage, use of renewable energy and greater access to markets. Songhaï in Benin, Kailend in Togo, and Kheyti in India hold some of the answers that we ought to have. 

While farmers would not make the current Forbes 30 Under 30 lists, they could become a central part of what youth focuses on if employment and stronger ecosystems are what some tech entrepreneurs are trying to build. Without that ecosystem, most of the celebrated entrepreneurs would not have flourished because the means of production, savings and disposable income would not have been available. 

For example, the increase in bandwidth created an opportunity for Youtube to become a platform for access to content. The existence of a reliable payment system combined with a reliable property market and identification systems gave Airbnb a platform. Most importantly, Airbnb came at the height of the recession when individuals were seeking to either save on accommodation or earn cash. Alibaba and Amazon, search engines with warehouses , connecting willing and able market players. All these companies, at various stages, can capture economic value at a price that people are willing and able to pay.  

Most start-ups that are household names today took advantage of an important, but often overlooked factor; timing. It is estimated that timing accounts for 42 percent of success and failure for start-ups. But they benefited from strong agriculture, manufacturing, industrial complexes that created a generation that could accumulate wealth. 

We are yet to create that generation in Africa, partly because agriculture does not entice youth for the creativity to transform it. But my generation needs to make agriculture great again. To succeed, we need appropriate farm infrastructure to support large-scale farming and post-harvest activities. We also need secondary value addition and processing for small-scale operators in view of plugging into local to global value chains. 

As such, one can start any menial job as a stepping stone to where one wants to be. To have limited our range of possibilities to urban tech entrepreneurship while agriculture still employs the largest share of Africans is a structural change that we ought to address. Tech start-ups need a customer base with disposable incomes beyond urban centers. 

A strong agricultural rural base is the foundation of economic transformation. Without that foundation, we are repeating similar mistakes that gave prominence to development aid for our countries and external sources of funding for African start-ups. 

The real innovation, one that transforms community life, will come from mastering agricultural value chains for smallholder farmers. Increasing productivity and income in Africa starts with smallholder farmers.

They represent 70 percent of the population. They produce 80 percent of the food consumed in Africa and are at the forefront of strategies for agricultural transformation. As such, AgroCenta, in Ghana, provides smallholder farmers with a route to market via digital platforms. In addition, its integrated solution offers logistics and transportation. 

It is an indication of what start-ups could do to direct resources towards strengthening the foundation. It is our moment to transform for good. Pooling our own resources to raise patient capital is the starting point for our agricultural ventures. Start-ups need to understand people and systems so that their innovation solved a real African problem. 

The Forbes 30 Under 30 list needs a new category: Agriculture. Corporate Africa, in the absence of direct funding, has a range of skills and capabilities that can complement the absence of funds. 

Africa has a plan. But it continues to be punched in the face by unemployment. Start-ups without deeper roots in agriculture will not take us to where we want to go. Our destination is wealth for all. Our best vehicle is agriculture. Tried and tested by others, it is time we make agriculture the start-up that matters. 

12 million Africans

60 percent

Songhaï

Kailend

Kheyti

warehouses

Agriculture is the future of work in Africa. This may seem counter-intuitive, and, to be sure, technology will play a critical role to ensure that 12 million Africans entering the job market every year find their fulfillment.

Agriculture as the Key to Economic Transformation in Africa

the-start-up-that-matters-the-most-agriculture

In September 2017, SFAN matched Prince Dogbe with GFA Consulting Ltd;
 a corporate finance boutique based in Accra, Ghana and specialized in 
fundraising advisory for companies that operate in West and Central 
Africa. We caught up with him recently to talk about his career journey 
and future plans. 

Tell us about yourself and what made you choose this career path? 

My name is Prince Ishmael Xorlali Dogbe, and I am a leader with a 
keen interest in entrepreneurship and socioeconomic development. I am 
currently a Junior Analyst at GFA Consulting Limited. In my spare time, I
 contribute to the work of a technology start-up that specializes in 
branding and advertising and a non-governmental organization that is 
focused on youth empowerment through career development.

I have a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Ghana,
 Legon and a certificate in entrepreneurship from EQWIP HUBS (a Canadian
 youth development organization based in Ghana). My vision is to become 
an international leader in entrepreneurship and socioeconomic 
development. Ultimately, I aim to make transformational impacts in the 
lives of people in Africa and the world at large.

This vision influenced my choice for a career in advisory and 
consulting. I believe that this career will give me the opportunity to 
build a credible level of experience and expertise in research and 
innovations. Also, it will help me gain knowledge in strategy and 
leadership across diverse sectors so as to contribute meaningfully to 
the growth and development of Africa and the world.

What were your experiences before your employment? 

Briefly, I would say that my experiences prior to my employment were 
more of building the needed capacity to thrive in business and any 
corporate environment. Therefore, prior to joining GFA Consulting 
Limited, I enrolled in several pieces of training and capacity building 
seminars. Prominent among these was the EQWIP HUBS skills development 
and entrepreneurship training program, where I got the opportunity to 
develop exceptional interpersonal relationship skills and strong 
business acumen.

It was during this training program that I got to know about Stars From All Nations (SFAN) and participated in the Quantum Leap Career Fair
  which they organized in collaboration with the British Council in 
April 2017. I must say that this has been one of the greatest 
opportunities in my life so far because my current position at GFA 
Consulting Limited came as a result of a recommendation from SFAN to the
 Managing Director of GFA Consulting Limited. I would, therefore, want 
to use this opportunity to once again express my heartfelt appreciation 
to Mr.

Tom-Chris Emewulu and the entire SFAN team for the opportunity and 
their support and confidence in me right from the beginning up until 
now. I am grateful.  

What has been your major achievement(s), challenges, and major responsibilities in your current position? 

I started off in this new position as an intern with three other 
colleagues who were equally good and more academically qualified than I 
was. And so to me, the major challenge so far has been working with 
these colleagues as a team and at the same time competing with each 
other for the ultimate position as a full-time Junior Analyst. The major
 achievement is becoming the first full-time employee in the fundraising
 advisory and business support unit of the Company. I see this as a 
major achievement because of the level of expertise required to be in 
such a position.

What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? 

This question is an interesting one. Simply put my motivation to 
get out of bed every morning is my vision. Becoming an accomplished and 
robust leader in our time and in our part of the world requires 
discipline and tenacity in character. Life should become better in 
Africa for all and not just some! But, it must not be at the expense of 
integrity. 

This is what drives all my decisions and actions at any point in 
time. My vision is also the reason I know that my current position is 
the best fit for me, and that is why I can get out of my bed every 
morning and head to the office knowing that it is an opportunity for 
me to work towards making that vision a reality. 

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?  

I see myself as a well-rounded global leader with a high 
understanding and competence in research and innovation, strategy, and 
leadership across diverse sectors and industries. This I intend to 
accomplish through continuous learning and research, applying myself and
 building good strategic relationships. 

My advice to job seekers and students is this: commit to a personal 
development plan and build excellent interpersonal skills! It is the 
foundation of any successful business relationship. The reality is that 
there are so many roles out there that need to be filled, yet employers 
are still unable to match skills to these roles primarily because of 
this one thing: attitude! Your attitude is what determines whether your 
skills or qualifications are relevant to an employer or not. It is not 
taught in lecture rooms but cultivated and developed through the daily 
interactions we have with the many people that come our way in life.

To students: take advantage of the leadership, capacity building and 
entrepreneurship opportunities that come to your way whiles in school 
and even after school with all diligence. Trust me, it gives you an 
exposure beyond the lecture room. Above all and the most important is 
that you need God at the center of it all in order to actually 
experience real success in life!  

Prince Ishmael Xorlali Dogbe

Quantum Leap Career Fair

In September 2017, SFAN matched Prince Dogbe with GFA Consulting Ltd; a corporate finance boutique based in Accra, Ghana and specialized in fundraising advisory for companies that operate in West and Central Africa. We caught up with him recently to talk about his career journey and future plans.

Career Journey and Future Plans: An Interview with Prince Dogbe, Matched with GFA Consulting Ltd in 2017

the-power-of-personal-development-interview-prince-dogbe

It can be frustrating when you send in your application for a job 
opening but do not receive a response from the hiring manager. Apart 
from the fact that the job market is competitive as ever, the reason you
 are not hearing back from hiring managers may be some of these limiting
 job application mistakes I am about to share with you. 

One thing many job applicants do not take into serious consideration 
is that their application is the first point of contact with the company
 they are applying to -- it is an opportunity to slingshot your copy 
into the hiring manager’s shortlist. Therefore, you must do everything 
necessary to grab that opportunity and make the employer go wild over 
your copy!

From an experience of reviewing numerous applications within the past
 two years, the following are some of the biggest mistakes people commit
 while applying for jobs.

Not following the application procedure and poor email etiquettes 

Here is the rule of thumb you should bear in mind when applying for 
any job: every company has a recruitment process that prospective 
employees are required to follow. For the most part, it is usually 
simple and will be communicated in the application form. You will do 
yourself great service if you follow whatever procedure is required of 
you. 

If the job application is via an email, ensure you add a heading to 
your email. Because emails can contain viruses and irrelevant 
information, email headings
  are how busy people decide whether to open it or not. Also, I think it
 is generally unprofessional to send an email without a heading. For 
employers, how you do anything is how you do everything. 

If you cannot add a subject line to a mail that announces your first 
contact with the company, how likely is it that you will do any 
different when you are hired? 

Experts have said that a good job application subject line should 

Contain the job title you are applying to 

Here is an example of a good job application subject line: 

Administrative Assistant Job - Edith S. Boakye. 

Furthermore, your email address should reflect the professionalism you seek to portray. 

Emails such as sexybaby123@gmail.com is a turn off for many hiring managers. A better and more professional email address would be edith.boakye@gmail.com. Some recruiters recommend that you set up a separate email account for job-related purposes. 

One major deal breaker in a job application process happens over the resume. Regardless of size or industry, this study
 suggests that many recruiters, hiring managers and human resource 
professionals are still utilizing resumes as the basis for great first 
impression in a recruitment process. 

In a recent survey of over 300 hiring managers, Top Resume reveals that the followings are the biggest resume deal breakers candidates should avoid:

Incorrect or missing contact information 

Outdated or irrelevant information (hobbies, age, marital status) 

Failure to demonstrate and quantify results  

Annoying buzzwords and/or obvious keyword stuffing 

Too generalized/not customized to match job listing 

Repetitive words or phrases used in multiple job descriptions 

Including a headshot (the photo may be distracting or unprofessional) 

Format and/or design is too elaborate (a one-page resume is more ideal for most resumes) 

One of the most important tools in your job application arsenal is a 
cover letter. If it is true that a resume is like an appetizer to a 
hiring manager, then the cover letter is like the main ditch for 
determining if the candidate will proceed to the next stage of the 
recruitment process (in some instances, the reverse may be the case).

Therefore, ensure to put some thought into crafting this real estate.
 Be diligent in your research of the company; understand whom to address
 your copy to and skillfully highlight the keywords that are relevant to
 the job while demonstrating that your personality fits the 
organization’s culture - that is if it actually does.

Lastly, keep in mind that with an increasing number of software tools
 being utilized to navigate through a stockpile of applications, the 
cover letter is usually the first thing the hiring manager will see, 
especially as the pile minimizes to ideal candidates.

Not knowing the company you’re applying to 

You’ve read the job application and you've made your resume 
waterproof. Now, you just want to quickly send in your resume so it can 
be the first thing the recruiter will see. While it can be useful to 
send your resume as early as possible, you miss a great opportunity if 
you do not research the company you’re applying to work for.

As any recruiter will tell you, there is nothing as frustrating as 
calling a candidate for an interview only to find out that he or she 
does not know anything about the company’s business.

For starters, researching the company will help you tailor your cover
 letter as explained above. It also helps you connect with people that 
already work there and gives you the chance to determine if the company 
is headed in the direction you want to go.

Not keeping a good social media presence 

Here’s another secret for job seekers: most hiring managers will 
check out a candidate's social media presence before making a job offer.
 In this digital age, the first thing most recruiters do before 
contacting you is to Google your name (your LinkedIn profile is usually 
their first destination), and if you have not kept a good social media 
presence, you will be at a loss. 

For a technical role as a web or software developer, I will want to see some repository on Github or websites you've built. 

No company will hire someone that is perceived as a reputation hazard.
 Hence, endeavor to keep your profiles as professional as you can get 
and watch your comments and posts. It is easy to get entangled in a "flame of wars
 " that means nothing to you but might matter very much to your 
prospective employer. More so, be careful that you don’t vent your 
frustrations about brands or people online -- you never know where your 
next job may be coming from. 

This article has further recommendations from recruiters on how to keep a great social media presence when looking for a job. 

One major reason a resume is not an objective source of information 
for a recruitment decision is that many applicants lie on their resumes.
 Consequently, employers are devising numerous strategies to catch those
 who tell a fib through various online and backdoor reference checks.

If a recruiter determines that a candidate lied in his or her 
application, the candidate has marked ATS and that will be the end of 
that candidate's chance of ever getting a job in that company.

Another reason it is inadvisable to lie in your application is that 
even if you don't get caught in the recruitment process, it will 
eventually come up at some point. When that happens, you will not get 
away with it. Experts recommend that “by making friends with employees 
on networking sites like LinkedIn, job seekers can demonstrate how their
 personalities and aptitude are a match for the employer and this makes 
not having an exact match inexperience less of an issue”.

The job search process can be extremely overwhelming and tedious. 
But, when you finally find that opening that matches your qualification 
or can be a great stepping stone to your career goals, you want to 
ensure that you put in the efforts by making your application 
irresistible to the hiring manager. 

In the words of Vince Lombardi,
 the price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and 
the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best 
of ourselves to the task at hand. 

email headings

This article

It can be frustrating when you send in your application for a job opening but do not receive a response from the hiring manager. Apart from the fact that the job market is competitive as ever, the reason you are not hearing back from hiring managers may be some of these limiting job application mistakes I am about to share with you. 

Launch a career in

Finance · Digital Marketing

UX/UI · Engineering · Data Science

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Accra Talks Soft Skills on World Bank Poverty Eradication Day

Unveiling Strategies for Conquering Overwhelming Academic Readings

Top 5 Key Traits Employers Seek in Prospective New Hires

Avoiding Red Flags and Landing Your Dream Job

Agriculture as the Key to Economic Transformation in Africa

Career Journey and Future Plans: An Interview with Prince Dogbe, Matched with GFA Consulting Ltd in 2017

Crucial Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for Jobs

Why Hiring Managers Aren't Responding to Your Applications

Navigating Cultural Diversity in the Global Workplace

Powerful Strategies for Building a Winning Personal Brand on Twitter

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Launch a career in

Finance · Digital Marketing

UX/UI · Engineering · Data Science

SFAN Breakfast Meeting 4: Key Takeaways on Marketing, Branding, and Budgets

Accra Talks Soft Skills on World Bank Poverty Eradication Day

Unveiling Strategies for Conquering Overwhelming Academic Readings

Top 5 Key Traits Employers Seek in Prospective New Hires

Avoiding Red Flags and Landing Your Dream Job

Agriculture as the Key to Economic Transformation in Africa

Career Journey and Future Plans: An Interview with Prince Dogbe, Matched with GFA Consulting Ltd in 2017

Crucial Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for Jobs

Why Hiring Managers Aren't Responding to Your Applications

Navigating Cultural Diversity in the Global Workplace

Powerful Strategies for Building a Winning Personal Brand on Twitter

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