UNILAG students get soft skills training

Graduating students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) have received employability skills (soft skills) traning, courtesy of General Electric.

The seminar, which held at the UNILAG, centered on preparing the students for employment.  It was anchored by Soji George & Co. (JSG Business and management consultants) in conjunction with the Foundation for Leadership and Education Development (FLED).

MrSoji George & Co. founder, Soji George, said the training was aimed at exceptional brilliant graduating students.

He said soft skills deficiency in graduates was a major reason for unemployment in the country as top recruiting firms look for these attributes in aplicants.

He said the training was focused on students’  presentation and communication, personal branding, how to work with others, among others.

George said: “I was in England for about 26 years, and I lectured in top universities in England. When I came to Nigeria, I saw many good first class graduates but they couldn’t get a job. I recruit for top companies, but I’ve not been able to get graduates from Nigeria because simply there is no soft skill. That’s why I felt that is the problem and we are very grateful to General Electric (G.E).

‘’We are going to Port Harcourt next year for this soft skill training . So, we say that in Nigeria, we need soft skill and that’s why we are passionate about it. The value we are bringing on board has to do with presentation and communication, personal branding, what to wear, how to work, how to sit down and interpretation of your body language and of course, most especially comporting yourself. All these you will need to be a complete person. It doesn’t matter if you have the best degree, the best part is are you able to work with people? Are you able to look for an area where you are better than the other? All of these we need to bring together.

‘’The truth is that most employers ask for first class or second class upper. So, we want to position these ones that have hard skills and are deficient in soft skills to be all rounded. Those who have lower degrees have to struggle because the resources are limited.”

Rosemary Danesi, a lecturer in the Department of Employment Relations and Human Resource Management in UNILAG, urged universities to include soft skills in their academic curriculum, adding that students require it for job opportunities.

“Right now, our students do not need this. Unfortunately, our curriculum in UNILAG does not have soft skill as a part of the curriculum. In the future, university authorities should think about this,” she said.