Youth priority areas as 2021 unfolds

Youth priority areas as 2021 unfolds

What you need to know:

  • Several graduates detail things they are planning to do in 2021 that will support them to reach both their long-term and short-term goals.

As we are still exploring different options in various spheres of life in the early stages of 2021, the youth are set to make decisions that will make or break their career foundation as the year progresses. So, what then are the career priority areas that the youth should focus on?

Speaking to Success, Smart Codes chief executive officer Edwin Bruno says 2020 affected a lot of youth in terms of employment creation and in the technology sector.

“The youth must live by the ‘code of self-creativity’ in 2021. They have to invent new methods that were not used in 2020 which will assist them economically,” said Mr Bruno.

He explained that the youth must embrace the art of learning new things on a daily basis as this would prepare them in either employing themselves or getting recruited in organizations.

“Every youth must develop a positive competent character that will make you ‘your own person.’ We are in an era where several people can have thoughts similar to yours, thereby diluting the quality of uniqueness, so you need to discern yourself from the lot,” Bruno advised.

He stated that currently, the employment sector is not the same as it were the past five years, despite the presence of many opportunities.

“Before a person graduates, they must figure out how they can turn their own hobbies into self-employment as this will prevent them from struggling for organizational jobs,” notes Bruno.

He concludes that 2021 should not be the same for everyone, urging people to target for a more successful year compared to 2020.

Several graduates detail things they are planning to do in 2021 that will support them to reach both their long-term and short-term goals.

“I have planned to work hard this year, 2020 was a very difficult year because it revealed how I should live if at all I’m to make a difference in the years to follow,” says Hawa Mathias, a student at Saint Augustine University of Tanzania (Saut)

She says that she is prepared to face her fears head-on by being prayerful as this will help her through day-to-day anxieties

“I have also developed an attitude of self-respect, because in the past, I used to ignore important things because I believed that I was incapable of doing them,” says Ms Mathias

According to Goodluck Swai, a University of Dodoma (Udom) Graduate, 2021 will be a year to reminisce all the things that went sideways in the past year and redo them all with a new mindset.

“I studied Information Technology, but I was barely managed to merge it with the outside world even though it was the most enjoyable course,” he says

Swai says his focus will now be on technology because it’s a growing sector and he has knowledge about it, as well as agriculture because it is where wealth lies, he says.

“I know about agriculture because it has been a family business for decades but I will no longer neglect it because I understand that it is the right path to attaining wealth,” he details.

Meanwhile, Joram Kanji, a taxation graduate of the Institute of Finance Management (IFM), says his focus in 2021 is bettering his saving habit.

“I have planned on saving every penny because my 2020 savings were spent on both necessary and unnecessary things,” he says

He reveals that he is planning to start a business that will relate to the course he specialized in at the university.

“Lastly, I want to have the right circle of friends that will challenge me to do better, we graduates understand how influential friendships can be, so I have started to work on that,” he says.

Shedrack Mgimwa, a graduate of University of Dar es Salaam (Udsm), said his motto for 2021 in terms of career-building is ‘goals clarification and advancement’.

“I am working at having clear targets and plans for all my dreams, because I believe that through them is where my career development and achievement will be found,” he says

He notes that people should not be influenced by the current globalization force but by own passion, as this directly affects them in their own betterment.

With the technology growth around the world youth in Africa are also in the process of moving fast towards technology advancement. A lot has happened through technology growth and the youth are taking up chances to learn and implement different things in connection to the tech ecosystem.

Gilliard Abbas is a Web Designer based in Dar es Salaam.

He says the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected the world and a lot of people lost their jobs. “For a developing county like Tanzania where a growing number of its people are internet users this was a unique opportunity for the youth to learn more on how to market and brand what they do through online.“A majority of those who used the internet last year searched for information on how to cope with the pandemic and find other alternative surviving tools. However, this was a unique moment for youth to show the world what they have. Unfortunately, some of those who had access to the internet failed to make good use of it,” says Abbas. He says, this year the youth should learn how to brand themselves, how to brand their business, how to maintain customers and tap into online advertising.

Spending time jumping from one website to another without asking how that helps you grow career-wise and at a personal level creates more room for failure.

Naamala Samson is a Learning and Development Manager at BRAC Tanzania. He says 2020 taught him how to capitalize on online opportunities.

Through technology advancement, he was able to gain access to piano lessons and be able to practice daily. He says he has always wanted to learn piano playing but lack of time curtailed his desire. However, during the working from home session, he was able to learn more through internet.

Adding to that, he says a group of artistes came together early last year and recorded a song about Covid-19. Most of the recording activities and pre-recording were collected through people with technology on how to make video collage from different places to create a single record.


Using social media groups

“Through learning piano lessons, I also gave more attention to collecting online job adverts and share them with my contacts through a WhatsApp group called ‘Fursa Lounge’ comprising members who are looking for jobs. The group has helped a lot of people in search for jobs,” says Naamala.Commenting on the matter, Lilian Liundi from Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) says, this year youth should learn more on international treaties and agreements and see how fellow youth from different parts of the world implementing the treaties.

She says, there is a lot to learn from those international agreements that entail elements of youth empowerment and opportunities that guide youth on how to prosper.

“There are a lot of opportunities like learning vocational skills that can foster self-employment,” she adds.