For many graduates and those completing university, the most dreaded moment of their lives is that job Ad that requires 3 years experience.

They wonder, what in the world wrong with employers? For those 3 years they were in a classroom preparing for this job. Isn’t that experience enough?

Well, not for so many jobs in Uganda. Your degree or diploma is not good enough to get you that job. You need to have practiced what you studied.  

The good news is that you don’t have to wait until graduation day to gain some experience to get you that desired career.

Here are 5 ways you can get employers looking for you;

Make a plan

First, you need a plan. Let’s not forget, success always follows a plan. What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to be? Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? I’m a purpose fanatic and I believe, until you have a vision, there’s not much you’re going to get out of life. What do you want to get out of your course? If you don’t love your course, then what are you passionate about that you would consider pursuing? Get time away from friends and ask yourself some deep questions.

Invest in your skills

We’ve been raised to believe that the only way we can get experience is through a job. That is a wrong mindset. You don’t need a job you need skills. If you have identified your skills, work on them. Most often than not, success at any workplace is not measured by first, second upper or lower class, it is measured by performance. How have you used your skills to benefit the company?

Investing in your skills is highly dependent on what you want to do. When I was a student of Journalism at Makerere University, almost all students who specialized in photojournalism bought themselves cameras. No lecturer ever coerced them to do so. They identified a skill and invested in it.  Your skill might not require buying equipment, it might be attending workshops, reading books related to your skills, finding a mentor, whatever it is, just don’t go to the market place unskilled.

Volunteer

You’ve certainly heard this advice before and simply brushed it off because it is not profitable. People go into volunteer work for two reasons. Either they want to serve out of a good heart or they want to learn and grow their skills. In this case your aim should be the latter. I did a lot of volunteer work while at University and I’ve never regretted any moment of it. In fact I always looked forward to it because I was learning new things for free and at my own time. Your timetable gives you a lot of free time. Clubbing and partying won’t really make you a better person. Volunteering gives you an insight in how companies and businesses operate, it gives you an opportunity to explore, make mistakes, learn from them without any kind of pressure.  Plus, you also get to create useful connections.

Share your work with the world

In the wake of the digital revolution, you don’t need a CV any more. Create stuff and put it out there. Are you into videos, become a Volgger, crush YouTube. Do you love pictures, become an Instagramer. Blog about your area of interest. You don’t need to be 50 years old to be an expert. Be consistent. Share your work and employers will chase you down, that’s if you’re still looking for a job by then. One personality that stands out when it comes to leveraging social media is Martha Kay also known as the Range Rover girl. She constantly shared her passion and work on YouTube and Instagram and that got her a lot of mileage.  

Freelance

Don’t turn down a gig because it is giving you peanuts, look at the bigger picture. Freelancing is the best way to get hands on experience for any skill. I was a freelance Journalist with the New Vision in my first and second year at the University. The insight and exposure was undoubtedly rewarding. For example, I learnt that being a journalist requires you to be sensitive to what’s happening around you. You’ve got to discern an angle everybody else missed.

Sometimes you need a little insight before you dip both feet in the water.

So look for opportunities to freelance and you won’t regret it.

Let me highlight this: Don’t do all this for your job or to make your future employer happy. Do this for yourself. Invest in yourself because when that dream job never shows up, you will have the experience to create your own.