3 Reasons Your Degree Will Not Get You a Job in Kenya

A harsh reality: More than 50,000 good graduates are released into the job market every year, but unfortunately there are never 50, 000 good jobs waiting for them.

Many candidates think that having a degree is all it takes to land a well paying job with housing, airtime, transport and other allowances. This is wrong!

According to HR Managers, having just a degree will not land you a job because of the following reasons:

1. Lack of Internship experience
Most candidates look down upon internships because they are unpaid and/or the stipend is too small. Internships being the most important thing in your career success, provide valuable hands-on experience that makes an employer interested in you.

Kenyan employers consider internship experience as experience. If you are waiting to become a manager with only a degree and 0 years experience, then it is going to be a long wait.

2. Having a sense of entitlement
Recent graduates believe that having a degree entitles them to be chosen first in any job they apply for. They also feel that their degree means that they should earn Kshs. 50, 000 on their first job and nothing less.

Newton Ogwora, a HR Assistant at Rose Avenue Consultants says that, “If you have a degree with little to no work experience, then you should not feel entitled. Get the experience first, then you can now confidently ask for the job you deserve.”

Mr. Ogwora advises that job seekers should not be too aggressive, more so if they don’t have the required skill. “Get the experience, then you’ll be able to have the bargaining power in regards to pay and perks.”

3. Poor soft skills
Soft skills are inclusive of personality traits, interpersonal skills and social skills. Having a degree only gives you the hard skills necessary to be in the job market, but soft skills are what determine whether you get the job or not.

Examples of soft skills include communication skills, analytical skills, flexibility, patience, leadership skills, problem solving skills and team player skills. HR managers are on the look out for these skills.

Your degree will get you shortlisted for an interview, but your soft skills help you land the job and advance in your career.

What sets you apart as a candidate is not the number of papers you have to your name, but the skills, passion and experience you have in a particular field.