Things every corp Member Should Do During Your Service Year

 This article was actually inspired by an email I received from one of the readers of this portal.

I did my youth service in Kano state 2006/2007 and it was one of the best phases of my life. This portal focusing on career and mentorship issues, the advice I will reel out here are within the theme of this blog.

I present below things you should know or do to make your one year NYSC program a value-adding one:

1 ) Writeyour CV and start circulating: I wrote my first CV in 200 level, another one in final year, but the final one shortly after I graduated, before being mobilized for NYSC. But if you don’t have a CV yet, use the NYSC service year to sit down and craft one  you have your CV, start circulating, start completing online job forms.

2.) Enrol for professional exams: No doubt you will have plenty time in your service year, especially since the government has mandated NYSC to post prospective corps members only to government schools (and agricultural sector).Use the time to study. I started my ICAN exams during my service year in Kano. I had all the time in this world to read. I studied on my own, and came out tops in Nigeria at the foundation stage, copping three of the four prizes available, including overall best candidate in Nigeria. Reason: I had all the time to study because I had no worries during my NYSC year. In fact, villages are fantastic places to study. Imagine studying under the trees in front of corpers lodge and the birds singing to your ears. So whether it is an IT or engineering or finance professional examination that is relevant to you, please register before going for or during your NYSC year, and use NYSC year to actively study and pass them. They will be useful in your job search.

 3.) Practice Job Tests: I met in camp people that didn’t know what job tests are. While some of us started taking tests right from university, it is not too late to use your NYSC year to start. Get relevant materials on SHL, GMAT etc and start getting yourself familiar with them. You have all the time during your service year. Pass out and hit the ground running. Of course, this is applicable only if you plan to search for job.

4.) Try new skills: There are new skills you can learn within weeks or months. Use the NYSC year to learn them. It may be some programming skills. Just anything that could be useful now or in the future.

5.) Try out an idea: Although I never had any entrepreneurship idea when I was serving, I saw friends that made cool money from web-designing and similar activities then. If you have some skills you want to sell, or ideas you want to incubate, NYSC service year may just be the time to try it out. Web and graphic designing were not so common when I served and I saw a friend that was doing that in a relatively not-so-techy Kano and making bucks from clients. I also know another “corper” that  was selling clothes and making income. My highly multi-tasking friend, james onome, was teaching in at least 2 schools and some private practices. He was making at least N20,000 monthly in addition to the Federal allawi and state allawi.  If you find yourself posted to the semi-urban areas, opportunities abound.

6.)  Put up a saving : one thing many corp members find very difficult to do during service year is putting up some savings no matter how small they always believe the money they are earning is not enough to foot their bills.This saving can be used to start up a small scale business during/after service year. 

7.) Reflect: NYSC year is the year many people come of age, the year you lose your dependence on home for funding, etc.  It is a good period for you to sit down and think about life, what you want to achieve.

Finally, on a personal (but not career-related) note, I advise people to travel less. While I believe in qadar (predestination), I don’t think there is anything wrong in taking cautious steps. A good precaution is to avoid traveling too often. Nigerian roads are too bad and the fatalistic news I read about auto-crashes involving corps members informed this advice. If possible, you may decide not to travel home more than twice throughout your service year.

Please comment if this article was helpful.