It doesn’t matter whether you are studying molecular what what or something-engineering, the truth is, there are thousands of others taking that particular course. After you graduate, you are probably going to wait for a long time before you land your dream job. Or never find one.
And I’m not even talking about the existing skills gap here. It’s simply that there are not as many job openings as possible for all fresh graduates to be taken in.
In September 2019, I attended Mwananchi’s Jukwaa la Fikra —a forum that aimed at discussing ways to equip youths with relevant knowledge and skills to help them navigate the workplace of today. During the forum, it was revealed that about 700, 000 to 800,000 youths from different levels of learning institutions enter the job market every year in Tanzania. That is the number of graduates who are entering the job market that is already full. This sobering reality of youth unemployment is showing no sign of ending any time soon.
The real question you should be asking yourself right now is what will be your next step after you graduate? This brings us to our topic: College Side Hustles.
It’s totally understandable that studying is your full-time job while you are at college, but you have to be prepared for what is coming after that.
Don’t fall for the First Class trap
Gone are the days when scoring good grades used to be synonymous with getting a job. Today, a first-class graduate and a lower second graduate can all be cooked in the same pot of unemployment.
This is not the time to focus on your studies twenty-four-seven. You will be disappointed.
Once you hit the streets as a fresh graduate, the narrative changes from ‘Study Hard’ to ‘Employ Yourself’. Now, how are you going to be able to employ yourself if you spent four-good-years in college learning about lizard skeletons in the biology lab or preparing to be a good accountant? Apparently, it is not going to be easy. You need to wake up kijana!
Start early, fail early and learn early
Are you going to blame the government for not creating more jobs or you are going to go ahead and start a small business instead?
To avoid the missing next step after graduating, it is advised that you start engaging in small business activities as early as possible. By doing so, you will gain entrepreneurship skills that are rarely taught in your school topics.
There are many entrepreneurial activities you can do while in the comfort of your campus room.
Whether it is a YouTube channel or a blog, opening an online store or freelance writing —anything that is introducing you to the world of business, keep doing it. You will never know how it will play out in the end.
Get inspired by those already making it happen
Below are a few examples of Tanzanian students who are changing what is traditionally known to be a student —they are not just studying hard and wait for a job, they are creating their own job and make themselves employable.
- Miriam Lucas, a medical student at Hubert Kairuki who is also a YouTuber currently with a 3K+ viewership and 251 subscribers. She’s planning to keep this YouTube thing going to the next levels.
- Salvatory M. Sylvester, a third year student in Actuarial Science at the University of Dar es Salaam is also running SmatWashTz: an online laundry service where you can order directly from his App.
- Balbina Gullam, a second year student at the University of Ardhi, is a founder of HudumaSmart: a social enterprise connecting domestic workers with potential employers.
Start with what you love
In a world where everyone is swimming in the pool of unemployment, it is time to start thinking about creating your own job, and the place to start is starting with what you love. Turn your passion into a job. While everyone is searching for a job, try creating your own.
Start thinking of the things you can easily do. Those are the ones you are good at. It may be dancing, singing or painting — there is a way to turn that into a business.
In the world where good grades don’t amount to anything, what is there to lose if you divide your time for studies and try out some small business. It is actually the smartest way to live college life than wasting your time trying to fit in every trend.
Don’t gravitate to what is normally done. It’s time to take a big disruptive change in your life. It is time to be imaginative and try to find opportunities where others only see confusion.
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Kweli kabisa. Yaaani du… Nasubiri job for like 1 year now. Wakati side hustle ya event promotion inanilipia vizuri na muda wa kazi ni flex. I think ntajifunza hio biashara ya event promotion and try to do it myself kwenye maeneo tofauti za dar.
Ni kweli, Wakati tunasubiri baraka za kupata kazi, ni vyema tukaendelea na shughuli zingine zinazoweza kutupatia chochote.
Honestly …there is much to be learnt in this kind of article though it seems to be directed to that one generation keeping themselves busy in different campuses…fitting in every trend among others costed us ! But we still have time to turn the \”being employed mentality \” into what miriam, salvatory and shakur are doing.
Shakur, thanks for writing this article. What you have highlighted above reflects the mentality that most of the graduates have in mind as soon as they graduate. I geaduated with BA in Law Enforcement two years ago but decided to engage in provoding Translation &Transcription services. The bottom line is “we got to think beyond our BA’s”
When our attention is split, so is our effort. There is science today that shows that humans are not good at multitasking. While I think making money is important, I hesitate to discount the value of a strong education. Schools offer opportunities to make money as well, such as teaching assistance, information technology support and library administration. If students spend more time in school, and in addition find gigs within school boundaries, could \”education\” become more valuable?
Millennials are complex beings, Professor. While science may say otherwise about multitasking, Millennials are already multitasking. From spending time online to attending concerts, they’ve already divided their attention. It’s our job to show them how to split their time for things that might be valuable to them. I agree with you that students should be aware that working on their side projects doesn’t mean ignoring their studies.
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