The Director-General (DG) National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig Gen Suleiman Kazaure on Friday launched the national CV bank and job portal in Lagos.
The portal, nyscjobs.org, which was developed by the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) of the NYSC in conjunction with Diamond Bank, Dragnet, Blogme, Gr8tjobs.ng, and Sigma Pensions, allows corps members to upload their curriculum vitae (CV) and employers to post vacancies and screen candidates.
Corps members can also post short videos to sell their skills to employers.
Kazaure said it was part of the NYSC’s programme to promote employability after the one-year scheme.
“Despite the obvious difficulty of securing white collar jobs and the overriding benefits of self-employment, a good number of our graduates are still inclined to trying their lucks with paid employment. This is why management considers it appropriate to buy into the idea of helping corps members to package themselves for employability in the highly competitive labour market.
“The portal we are launching today will, among other benefits, serve as a platform for corps members to get information on job vacancies and market themselves to protective employers, serve as a large pool for employers searching for suitable candidates, and provides means of verification of credentials.”
In her keynote speech, CEO Uconnect/Gr8tjobs.ng, Mrs Omomene Odike, said the initiative would provide employers with a creditable platform to find new graduates at the click of a button.
She underscored the need for the three stakeholders with access to the portal to do their parts to make the initiative work as planned.
“This portal will eliminate waste of time and paperwork. But all three stakeholders must play their parts – the corps members must upload their CVs, the NYSC must sustain the portal, and the employers must post job vacancies. Technology does not work on its own. It is people that make technology work,” she said.
She advised corps members to stay competitive in the labour market by getting relevant technical and soft skills not taught in school.
Managing Director of Dragnet, Mr Baba Ikazaboh said the portal allows employers to filter candidates by location, gender, qualification and other indices.
He added that it was a cost-effective way for small scale employers to screen candidates without paying expensive fees to HR firms.
Lauding the initiative and partnership, head, Retail Banking, Diamond Bank, Robert Hill, said the portal was good response to what young people want based on research by the bank.
“The youths are really important to us. We cannot ignore 60 per cent of the population. They are the people we need to be helping. It is great to see the NYSC helping youths to showcase themselves,” he said. – The Nation.
