Prioritizing Certificate or Skill Set in an Evolving Society

By Nnenna Joseph

We live in an evolving world and change is inevitable. In time past, we fostered the belief that to succeed one needed a certificate. That has been flawed as recent studies have shown that skill set is more important than certificates. Statistics have shown that skill sets have produced more employment and self employed persons than degree holders.

The society of today has proven that certificates are just pieces of paper, at a job interview, a certificate will get you a seat, to get you the job, you require skills. Certificates show that you have learned a skill but it’s very important for you to know that you need to know the things your certificate says you have.

As a degree holder, you need to have skills related or unrelated to your degree, to survive in the society of today.
Certificates are a way of showing that you have acquired certain knowledge, it is a proof and its importance cannot be overemphasised. With a certificate, you will be given an opportunity to prove your worth.

However, our educational System has been flawed because It focuses on imparting theoretical knowledge. The theoretical knowledge will shape your cognizance but will never be enough. Students are judged on the basis of marks they secure in exams. Students learn loads of subjects in their life but they don’t know a thing. They cram the books and vomit them in the paper.

One of the advantages of going to school is that you learn how to behave in society. You learn how to communicate with people. You learn how to walk in a line. You learn behavioral skills, you understand the importance of friends, these skills are actually pretty much important.

This is one of the reasons why our youth are not getting placed. A large percentage of engineering graduates are unemployable because they do not know things. Companies keep evolving with time but the educational system hasn’t changed. Completing a particular course and getting a certificate doesn’t make you skilled, your practical knowledge is what is required.

This is where skills come in, a mass communication degree should be accompanied by sound writing skills, or broadcasting skills or copy writing skills.
There are other skills that are unrelated to one’s course of study, a graduate of philosophy can pursue a skill in web development.

Who Should Take A Career in Broadcasting?

Someone might ask, what are the importance of these skills. Even in the absence of certificates, you can acquire a skill and pursue a profitable career with it. Most skills are not certificate based so it is either you have learnt them or not. With skilled jobs taking over the employment sector, a skill can land you a job or make you self employed.
The onus is on you to choose which you prefer, getting a certificate and garnishing it with the right skill set, or getting a skill as a stand alone career.

If you are looking at getting a digital skill, there are various digital hubs where these skills are taught. The top hubs in south east Nigeria are:

Abia– Rad5 hub
Anambra– DevAmplify Hub Awka.
Anambra– DigiHub Nnewi Digital Villa
Ebonyi: Testrogen Hub Abakaliki
Enugu: Genesys tech hub
IMO: Oluaka institute