From "Unemployability" to "Productivity": Taking Ownership of Your Personal Development

As long as we at GhanaThink have been organizing Barcamps, one topic keeps coming up: the "unemployability" of our graduates #inGhana. People talk about how school feels so distant from the actual world of work that it almost makes no sense. These conversations have also ensued through our Konnect groups. It’s a tough reality to face, but as I often say, we have to refuse to "make or buy excuses" if we want to see real change. Less talk, more action, let’s drink malt to that!

My own journey took me from studying Science at Presec-Legon to MIT for Civil Engineering and Stanford for Construction Engineering Management. But if you look at what I do today with GhanaThink and consulting in the workforce readiness, youth empowerment and digital spaces, it’s clear I didn't stay strictly in the "engineering lane". I followed my professional interests into technology and youth development because I realized the value of being versatile.

What does "Versatility" actually mean?
When I talk about versatility, I’m not just talking about Okyeame Kwame’s song called Versatile. For those in school, it is about being able to do a lot more than passing exams with flying colours. It’s about:

• Developing soft skills and the ability to work in teams.

• Researching and holding positions in clubs or societies while still maintaining your grades.

• Being able to do more than what is strictly on the syllabus.

The Competence Gap
The reality on the ground is that there are many incompetent graduates, and none of the youth reading this should fall into that category. We see it in the National Service (NSS) trap: too many people depend on NSS to "sort them out" or hope for a "big institution" to retain them just because they were connected to someone there, or they worked hard.

But hard work alone isn't a promise of a job. You help yourself most when you use that service period to improve your actual competence. If a company sees you've proven your value, they are far more likely to find a way to keep you.

Practical Steps to Build Your Value

If you want to be part of the solution, start with these:

• Master Productivity Tools: Learning how to use Google Apps, Microsoft Suite, and other professional software is a baseline requirement now. You need to be able to use it for more. You should familiarize yourself with the menu options and what they all do, especially for Google Apps.

• Focus on Output: Don't just list "job descriptions" on your CV. Show results. Instead of saying what you can do, show what you have done. Quantity those results as well to showcase that you know your work, you did the work and you know how to measure your work as well.

• Be Proactive at Work: If you feel your boss is keeping all the "real" work and just sending you on errands to go buy waakye on a #WaakyeWednesday & jollof on a #JollofJeudi, confront the situation (politely!). Introduce new ways of doing things, meet with your colleagues to see what tasks you can take on (easily) or intentionally write reports on your work even if you weren't asked.

• Skills Over Certificates (Sometimes): In fields like IT and cybersecurity, a Master's degree often matters less than professional certifications and real-world experience. Don't worry about getting a "First Class" if it means you're ignoring the cutting-edge skills you need to actually do the job.

Creating the "Critical Mass"
If we want to transform the "unemployability" narrative, we have to look at mentoring at Barcamps, Junior Camps and elsewhere, not just as volunteering, but as a strategic economic lever. When we mentor youth to be productive and competent, we aren't just helping one person; we are fixing the market. Right now, finding a highly competent, "ready-to-go” hire for many companies feels like searching for a Ghanaian who has used the Kasahorow Keyboard before. This makes hiring expensive. Many companies #inGhana spend months interviewing, testing, and often settling for "good enough" because the "great" candidates are so rare.

By intentionally mentoring more young people, we create a critical mass. When "competent" becomes the standard rather than the exception, the entire ecosystem changes with an economic ripple effect.

Here are some benefits:

• Lower Hiring Costs: When employers have a reliable pipeline of productive youth, the "search friction" goes down. They spend less time and money on recruitment cycles and remedial training.

• True Value at Work: A competent hire doesn't just "show up" when they are appointed to; they solve problems. They understand how to use tools, how to communicate in teams, and how to deliver results without constant hand-holding. This is the "Vim" that moves a company forward.

• Better Salaries: This is the part people often miss. When an employee is highly productive and creates significant value, it becomes much easier for a company to justify—and afford—higher salaries. Low productivity often traps wages in a low bracket. Competence earns the leverage for better pay.

The Bottom Line

We often talk about the government or big institutions fixing the "job problem," but an immediate solution that we can control and cultivate is peer-to-peer and professional mentoring. We can accelerate this process, create pipelines that are more promising that what we hear from politicians.

The Bottom Line 

Let's stop repeating the problems and start talking about the solutions. Whether you are working at a pump at a fuel station or sitting in a bank office, use every opportunity to network, learn processes, and build those soft skills. GhanaThink is doing its part through the Barcamps, etc, and Jobcamps which have been put into our Komseko program. When we raise the floor of competence, everyone—the youth, the employers, and the country—wins.

The responsibility ultimately falls on each of us to take our personal development seriously. For job seekers, no one is coming to save you—you have to save yourself by becoming too valuable to ignore. This has been the ammunition I have leveraged all these years and I hope we can all leverage similar to be better for careers, centres, circles, communities, cities, countries, etc.

More Vim!