Akosua Boadi-Agyemang’s Post

To whom it may concern NAVIGATING LIFE AFTER GRADUATION 🎓 I hope this message finds you in good health, I hope you will take some time to read through this important information that might be helpful to you or the next person. Congratulations on your success to complete your studies. Graduating is an exciting milestone, but it can also be a challenging transition. It is filled with uncertainty and different experiences. As a recent graduate, you may find yourself facing difficulties in various aspects of life, from securing a job to adjusting to the demand of the adult life. I wish to assist you with a couple of my experiences and knowledge, to support you in your individual journeys towards attaining your dreams. 1). BUILDING YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK. -Attend Networking Events/training; it's expands your professional circle by engaging with like-minded folks to learn and share ideas with. -Utilize social media (LinkedIn); Creating a compelling social media profile helps you connect with the relevant professionals in your field. -Join industry Associations; It gives you easy access to valuable resources and networking opportunities. Familiarize yourself with your work. 2). DEVELOP MARKETABLE SKILLS -Continue learning; Invest in your personal growth by enrolling in online courses & attenting workshops to enhance your skillset. -Internships; Practical work experience & learning industry-slecific skills, improves your chances of being hired. (TIP; Use the Botswana labour Market Observatory online to apply for internship). -Voluntary work; Engage with volunteer opportunities that align with your interests, it builds up your resume (volunteer even if it does not align, you never know we're your miracle is going to come from). MORE TIPS ON THE COMMENT SECTION

Here's the Big Deal We All Have Been Waiting For! In 2019, about 5 years ago I started my journey into tech, It wasn't a smooth ride, very bumpy I must say, but here are the highlights; We launched ISELLEARPODS, where we trained 100s of young people on sales and marketing, they gladly supported us to promote our products and this helped us a lot, We launched RUMONEY, we trained a little over a thousand young people on digital marketing, some got internships, some now have well-paying jobs and many of our early and recent team members are now established business owners and service providers, We did TEDxJibowu, unlike anything I've seen before, annually thousands of young people join us to contribute their skills to spreading great ideas from Africa all over the world. One thing has been consistent for me, the passion I have for skilled young people and the great power that these young skilled people have to bring change and development. But the challenge always remains the "Skilled" in the statement. It takes finding a 100 to find 1 "skilled", hence many times on my endeavors with young people we've always had to focus on upskilling ourselves to be able to achieve outstanding results. And that's why I'm very excited to work with Newton Academy to train 1.5 Million exceptionally skilled young Africans on different tech skills over the coming years (Remember the 1 million goal from 2023?😁) We have brought together the best facilitators all over the world to provide industry relevant training for anybody interested in tech and created an environment where they can get all the support, mentorship and resources they need to thrive. This is not another tech training, this is a truly passionate move to bring about change in Africa and we believe that by building these talents, we can raise young people who can service our African markets excellently and then go on to represent us exceptionally globally. If you know this is meant for you, apply now by clicking this link; https://lnkd.in/djvjzPty Join us in taking Africa to the world by reposting and sharing this post with someone who could be a part of this army of exceptional African talents we are raising. Applications close soon, apply now. #tech #training #newtonacademy #africa #prosperityolorunfemi

I'll be paying keen attention to investing in #Social Capital this year! I've been a benefactor of good relationships over the past years. Most of the opportunities that greatly benefited me came from my close network. 🥇 Back in school, I've had friends and colleagues who took up the responsibility of paying for my tuition fees when I encountered trying times. 🥈 My first paid internship opportunity was announced to me by a friend who strongly recommended me to a CEO looking for a first class Economics graduate to join his team. 🥉 I earned my first dollars while serving as a corp member through a friend who recommended me to a foreign pharmaceutical company to manage their market analysis & support their expansion into the Nigerian market. ➡️ The proceeds from that gig got me a laptop which was my major priority while serving in the far Northern part of Nigeria. ➡️ I also got to work on a business plan to facilitate their expansion strategy as a second gig from the same Company. All of these came through one recommendation. 🏅 I can keep listing other benefits... Needless to say, I've also recommended my friends to good opportunities and have leveraged my close network to successfully complete a few projects. ★★★★ But here's the catch 👇 ✅ Be good at what you do or whatever skill you have! ✅ Let your friends know that you are good at what you do! Can they vouch for you? ✅ Nurture that relationship! You'll always need people who will mention your name or recommend you behind closed doors for that life changing opportunity. Here's to all the amazing connections we will forge in 2024! 🥂 Meanwhile, if you happen to stumble on this post and we are not connected, feel free to send a connection invite, hopefully we can learn and grow together. #linkedin #connections #opentoconnect #opentoopportunities #archie #socialcapital #friends #relationships #opentoconnections #linkedingrowth #linkedincommunity

Are you also tired of the polarization we see in our families, communities, countries, across the world? & do you want to be part of fixing it? This might be the right opportunity for you! We are joining forces among a few leading voices, be it on climate change, the economy, equity, education, politics, finance & tech or healthcare, to launch DoYouAgree?. A social media platform capable of breaking our information bubbles, helping us understand why/where we agree and disagree, while stopping reducing complex issues into conflict and starting to collaborate across the lines in finding solutions for a better world. We are at the very initial stages and are looking for more people excited to join this initiative, with the hope to grow it and transform it into a real team: 👨🎓👩🎓 If you are a student or young graduate, passionate about social media and politics, and are interested in collaborating for a few hours per week to support our content creation & social media management (with a possibility of this becoming a full-time job in the mid-term), check out the doc below 🙋♀️🙋♂️ If you are a senior profile, with a background complementary to ours (i.e. especially an expertiese in working on launching/managing large social media accounts) interested in co-founding this project with us, reach out at [email protected]! 👩🔬👨💻👩🚀 If you would like to be an advisor, (we are looking for different sectors of work and different political leanings - i.e. conservative or liberal) and want to join this effort to break the info bubbles, send us your bio at [email protected] N.B. All of this is on a volunteer-base as of now, but we hope - with you - to grow it and offer benefits in the mid-term. Find more info on our website (https://lnkd.in/e54R5sWu) & please help us spread the word - because we need this to happen, and to happen fast, to fix the world we live in. So let's join forces, and make it happen! #jobopportunity #socialmedia #communications #internship #polarization Gregory Cole Amedeo Minichino Audrey Giacomini Jamie Mittelman Lennart Kuntze Jonathan Barth Tim de Rooij

If you had told the young boy in Peru 10 years ago that he could make 6-figures a year by giving keynote speeches in his second language, he wouldn't believe you. When I first moved to the U.S. my goal was to follow the standard career of: getting good grades freshman year, get a solid summer internship at a Big 4 / Big Tech, graduate with honors, have a solid stable salary at a Fortune 500 company, etc. Nevertheless, careers are not meant to be linear. Especially in this AI age. Things move fast. The truth is, I did start at Berkeley - the world's number 1 public university - studying hard, trying to get good grades, however, things didn't come up to plan: I failed managerial accounting. My GPA was 2.6 in college. I didn't get the DREAM internship at an Apple or Deloitte. I got no referrals as an 18-year old immigrant. I had zero network when I was 18 years old. What did I do? I took rejections as redirections to start my own startup, create my own tech venture, start writing a business book, and start my own nonprofit to help women entrepreneurs. Years later, those same companies that rejected my internship applications are now paying me to speak in front of hundreds of their employees to share my American Dream story, my immigrant entrepreneurial story. ARRIBA PERU! #grit #failingforward #rejections

If it's true that FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS APPROVED UNIVERSITY ENTRY AT 18, it might cause issues: 📍Many companies in Nigeria prefer to hire people under 26. So, if you start university at 21 and finish at 25, you might miss job opportunities due to your age. That's why it's important for you to plan early. If you finish high school at 15, you have three years before university. Use that time to build skills, invest in your talents, and prepare for the future. ✍️ By engaging in online courses, workshops, internships, volunteering, part-time work, hobbies, and networking with professionals, you'll discover your passion and set a solid foundation for success in university and beyond.

It’s almost Youth Month in South Africa. Empowering youth is a cornerstone of our practice as a consulting firm. Since 2002, we have graduated over 50 interns / emerging evaluators, many of whom have gone on into careers in the social sector. Through our internship program, graduates acquire relevant skills and knowledge, such as evaluation techniques, data analysis, and facilitation skills. They become more employable in a variety of sectors, including evaluation, research, and development. This demonstrates our commitment to graduate employment in Africa. Sheron is the newest addition to our Southern Hemisphere team. She participated in our recent MEL Bootcamp as part of her learning journey with Southern Hemisphere. Here's what she had to say about how she intends to use the skills she has learned from Bootcamp and how they will advance her career: “During May 2024, I had the privilege of being sponsored by the Southern Hemisphere to virtually attend a three-day bootcamp featuring workshops on Gender Responsive Evaluation, Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Impact, and Measuring Change: Data Collection for Outcomes. Although I had a background in evaluation from my previous job as a project implementer, this experience was transformative in deepening my understanding of how evaluation designs can be gender-sensitive when addressing social problems in the communities we work with. In my role as a project implementer, evaluations were typically standardized, offering little room for input or customization. The workshops, utilized an interactive and participatory approach, incorporating real-life case studies and practical examples relevant to various professional levels in evaluation. This provided me with my first hands-on experience in designing program evaluation tools, focusing on both quantitative and qualitative data collection in programme evaluation, while taking gender issues into account. This opportunity allowed me to explore how considerations of gender and sexuality can be integrated into evaluation frameworks and data collection for outcomes, ensuring that the diverse needs and perspectives of all community members are acknowledged and addressed. The knowledge and skills gained from these workshops have significantly enhanced my ability to contribute to more inclusive evaluation processes in my future projects.” Our commitment to youth employment is unshakeable, join us in empowering the next generation of young M&E professionals to strengthen their impact and contribute to #MeaningfulSocialChange. #MeaningfulChange #SouthernHemisphere #SocialJustice #CreatingMeaningfulSocialChange #Skills #education #Youthemployment

“I got the job!” 6 years in (intern+full time). I joined Microsoft as an #internationalstudent intern (my first and only internship in the U.S.), and since then I’ve worked: - in the field - in corp - in the U.S. & Canada - remotely from the African continent (Botswana) - on F-1 visa - on OPT permit - they’ve immigrated me to Canada and back to the U.S. - worked on my H-1B case and after 2 RFEs, succeeded - they’ve helped me fight for greencard case, and win (my case was ~62 days, super short compared to the years people wait) If you’re looking to start your career at Microsoft, they’ve not only set me up in my career but helped in life. Esp when you think about the fact that, I was born and raised in Botswana — while many tech companies felt that the ROI was not worth it with a population of 2.5 million. Microsoft went in and made technology easily accessible and affordable (also through the Bill & Melinda Foundation). This made their vision of “a computer on every desk and in every home” reality for my family. I utilized that one PC that ran windows to not only search for universities, but, write my university essays using MS WORD to get into university. Coming to the U.S. for higher education where every company/job I applied to rejected me (lol I stopped counting after 250 rejections). Once again Microsoft made their new mission “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more” a reality for me. With not only the essays that got me into university, but my first internship after my third year, and my first job after university. They were the only company intrigued by my talent enough to sponsor my immigration (as they do for many foreign nationals) instead of rejecting me. 💡So, to you reading this, if you’re looking for an internship/to start your career, check out the slew of internships posted here: https://lnkd.in/dU7wsWBX Note: this is not an ad/nor sponsored. I was in your shoes years ago this time, looking for an internship. I got my call in January and secured my internship February 9. Everyone has a story — your time is coming✨ #theBOLDjourney #internship

I feel like I have to have a degree in job-searching just to get a job. This is ridiculous, and I feel like I'm hitting my head up against a wall. The way we connect talent with openings is frustratingly inefficient. In the time it takes me to be approved for a job, I may have changed *as a person*. My skills may have stagnated, because I can't find any place in which to practice them (though I can try, I also have to spend most of my energy just trying to get paid in any way I can, so I can survive), because every organization is spending so long trying to find the *perfect* fit. There is a concept I learned in a college psychology class of "maximizing" vs. "satisficing" -- where some people try to "maximize" the benefit they receive in a situation, while others simply go with what "satisfies" their minimum requirements. The studies show that "satisficers" are happier in the long run, because they still achieve their goals, and do so more quickly. Maximizers may never find the perfect or maximal outcome, have to put far more work in, and may end with having nothing to show for all their efforts. I wish that more organizations would be "satisficers" and not "maximizers." I think we would ALL be happier if we weren't waiting 6 months to... ONE AND A HALF YEARS(?!) just for a response and being forced to fill out hundreds of applications every time we need to get a job. It hurts the economy, it hurts worker morale, and it hurts the missions of all the companies trying to, presumably, get actual work done. And I think it creates a sluggish and de-motivated workforce, leading to a sluggish economy.

🇰🇪 Meet Our Remarkable Learners in Kenya! 🇰🇪 On September 11th, we embarked on the "Workforce Readiness for the Digital Economy Programme in Kenya," in partnership with ILO PROSPECTS. Our mission: to empower refugee talent and other underserved communities in Kenya with essential soft skills training, internships, networking opportunities, and job placements for them to live self-sufficient and dignified lives. As we strive to create sustainable employment prospects for our learners, their progress has been truly inspiring🚀 Our extraordinary learners have far exceeded our expectations in terms of programme progression and the potential to bring value to the remote workplace. Their exceptional talents, unwavering enthusiasm, and remarkable drive have not only enabled them to form meaningful connections with one another and our team but have also illuminated the path to promising remote employment opportunities🤩 Currently, the cohort consists of 64 remarkable learners, each on their journey toward sustainable employment. However, our work is far from over. 👉 Learn more about our programme here: https://lnkd.in/gK8qEZdx 👉 Learn how you can support our learners by providing internship opportunities here: https://lnkd.in/gU_6k76T 👉 Learn about how to get involved as a mentor here: https://lnkd.in/gbbSWCgi #RefugeeEmpowerment #mentorship #RefugeeInclusion