Job seekers need to know the kind of candidates Nigeria employers actually need for those job openings, is it applicants with good paper qualifications and certificates or applicants with good skills and hand-on practical knowledge and experience to handle the job in questions, should you acquired more certificates or more skills? Candidate With Paper Qualifications Or Practical Skills – Who Gets the Job? This has been a major controversy in the labour market space in Nigeria and outside Nigeria.
What is Paper Qualification for a Job Opening?
Paper qualifications can be referred to any academic qualification in form of physical certificates that job seekers can tender to employers in form of paper as evidence to show that they meet the employer’s job requirements and such should be given the job.
What is Practical Skills For a Job Opening
This has to do with all the various hand-on practical skills and experience a job seekers has acquired over the years for a particular job. Sometime such job seekers may have various paper certificates to equally back up those skills but most time they don’t have papers certifications to back up the skills and experience. However, these candidates are so skillful in the job in questions that he or she is ready to defend it practically when called upon by potential employers at anytime even with little or no preparation.
Paper Qualifications VS Hand-on Practical Skills, Which is Better for Job Seekers and Employers in Nigeria
It may be difficult to prioritize one over another as both are needed for career advancement, it all depends on what the employers are looking for and the reasons they are looking for what they are looking for. Sometimes employers found out in the long run that they made mistake for choosing paper qualifications over hand-on practical skills and experience during employment and other times some employers also found out in the long run that they should have prioritized papers questions over hand-on practical skill and experience during recruitment.
However, in this article, we will balance the equation and draw a good line between the two as to what is best for both Nigerian employers and job seekers at different circumstances of recruitment.
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Why Paper Qualifications is Important for Employers, Hence Job Seekers Should Aim For It
There is an adage that says that: Even though the beauty of a plate does not determine the delicacy of the food inside, but it does create first impression and make the food inviting. As a job seeker, your certificates and paper qualification create a first impression about your skills, hence you may not even been called for interview that will enable you display your skills if you do not have good paper qualification ahead of you.
Why Employers Seem To Value Papers Qualification: Even though it’s not the papers that do the job but employers seem to still attache some level of importance to academic certificate and paper qualification. First, they believe the theoretical knowledge you acquired before awarding you those certificate is a good start in your career journey and a plus to what ever practical skills you will acquire later in life.
Secondly, some company will not be able to get certain contacts from other bigger companies if their employees lack certain paper qualifications and professional certificates to handle such contracts. Of course no company will want to risk loosing any contract because of certain shortcoming on the part of it’s employees.
Why Hand-on Practical Skills and Experience is Important for Employers, Hence Job Seekers Should Aim For It
There is an adage that says that: What makes a masquerade a masquerade is not the traditional regalian he is wearing but his ability to perform in the dance floor. As a job seeker, certificates and paper qualifications may get you the job, of course you will soon be thrown out of the same job if you lack the hand-on practical skills and professional experience to perform the duty you are employed to perform. So you must acquire as many skills as you can acquire with relevant experience even though you have already acquired so many paper certifications for yourself.
Why Employers Seem To Value Practical Skills And Professional Experience: Your wonderful and impressive professional certifications may help a company to qualify for certain contracts but the company does not only want to win a contract but also want to deliver the job so as to retain the job. So if you seem to be of little or no value to the company that employed you because you lack the required skills to do the job you are employed to do, be rest assured that they will soon show you their exit door.
So What Should Nigerian Job Seekers Aim At, Certificates / Paper Qualifications or Practical Skills and Professional Experience
From the discussion in this article so far, it can be deduced that both paper qualifications and practical skills are equally important to employers hence job seekers must aim at the two. Having one without the other will definitely reduce your chances of employment and the ability to keep your job even after employment, hence you must aim at getting the two.
Conclusion:
A job seeker with relevant certificates / paper qualifications as well as hand-on practical skills and professional experience usually stand out among other job seekers. Most employers in Nigeria will not hesitate to engage candidates in this category. In our years of experience in HR services, we have found out that this has always worked and it’s still working. Hence we advise all job seekers to invest reasonable amount of time and money in acquiring practical skills and paper qualifications / certification. We hope the advise in this article help you land your dream job soon.
Best of luck in your job search.
The JobTest Team!
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