The Office of Career Services on June 19, 2020 hosted a Career Webinar in partnership with the Unilever Academy on “Preparing for Employment in Today’s Digital World”. The Webinar was hosted live on the Cisco Webex Platform. Over 100 students attended the webinar.

The speaker for this webinar was Michael Gathu, the Growth Manager at Unilever Kenya. Moderating the questions was Brian Amani, the Employer Brand Executive, Unilever. The Office of Career Services was represented by Johnson Kinyua, Director Career Services and Naomi Nyaboga the Chief Information Officer.  The Career Office has been running series of webinars in partnership with Unilever since May 2020 as part of mitigating the effects of covid-19.

In his presentation, Michael highlighted the main types of work and why it is important for the students to know where they fit in well if they are to excel in the job market.

  1. Creative: Unique, imaginative, non routine, and autonomous.
  2. Skilled: Standardized, talent driven, professional, and directed.
  3. Rote: Interchangeable, routinized, outsourceable, and managed.
  4. Robotic: Algorithmic, computerized, efficient, and purchased.

Unemployment and underemployment are high around the world in this 21st century. It has been said that Robots kill jobs but they do create jobs, too. It is therefore important for students to be ready for the future of work. To be prepared for the future of work, then active learning, active experiments and active branding are all critical.

Learning never ends. Immediately one lands a job, it if vital to keep learning new skills and knowledge in your area of expertise. To be original, you must become an inventor, always strive to create something new in your filed of work. Take advantage of the Free LinkedIn Learning courses and Coursera among other online platforms offering free courses particularly during this covid-19 period. Quoting Alvin Toffler “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and learn.

Personal branding is critical as one prepares for the job market. Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are – Malcom Forbes. One’s value is way much more than just character. It is all about your purpose; everything you do is about your purpose ranging from your career aspirations, tasks that you are proud of, tasks you prioritize, how you carry yourself. Mastering yourself will give you true power to explore your career potential and know your limits.

In conclusion, Michael emphasized on the importance of thinking out of the box and not letting failure put you down.  Failure really is success in progress.