The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association has declared that the challenge among jobseekers in Nigeria is their unemployability.

The association insisted that there were many jobs in the country without the right skill sets to fill them.

The Director-General, NECA, Dr Timothy Olawale, stated this at the recent job fair organised by the association.

He said, “You want employment, there are jobs but you cannot get them because you are unemployable.

“To get a job, you must make yourself employable by being prepared with the skill set that is needed by that particular prospective employer.”

Olawale said the association had created the job fair to take care of the gaps in the job market.

The fair, he said, would provide jobseekers with the opportunity to meet with employers who needed their skills and to interact with career counsellors who would counsel them on the right career path to follow.

He expressed concern about the current unemployment situation in the country, saying that there was also an underemployment situation, such as a grown man hawking snacks on commission.

He said such an employee would only live from hand to mouth on a daily basis and the money generated from such a venture would not have any significant impact on the life of the person concerned.

During a presentation at the event, a director at TGI Group, Mr Tomi Oni, advised jobseekers to be creative and develop other competencies beyond their core competences.

He said they should not focus on money but seek to acquire experience even if it meant working on a volunteer basis.

He advised jobseekers to develop the habit of feedback and to be analytical.

Oni said, “Make meaning out of data and develop skills in technology. You can look at old things and create new things out of them.”

He advised jobseekers to learn about the competencies required at an organisation when applying for a particular job, so that they could be equipped with both the paperwork and the answers that might be needed.