The employer once had your dreams. Yes, the person signing your paycheck, the one you often admire or fear during job interviews, was once a young graduate like you, fresh out of NYSC, hopeful, uncertain, and full of ambition.
The difference is that somewhere along the way, they stopped merely dreaming and started building.
They embraced self-development, learned the hard lessons, took risks, and chose to create rather than wait. You can too.
As a graduate in Nigeria, especially after your NYSC, you must begin to think differently if you want to thrive in an economy where job offers don’t come with certificates, and success is no longer tied strictly to formal employment.
For many Nigerian graduates, the end of NYSC feels like standing at a crossroads. One path leads to dreams realized—career, stability, impact.
The other is a frustrating maze of job hunting, underemployment, or total disengagement.
While some feel disillusioned, others pivot, innovate, and grow. The distinguishing factor is mindset.
The Employer Once Had Your Dreams
This article aims to spark a mindset shift—encouraging graduates to stop idolizing employment and start understanding the deeper story behind every employer: risk, resilience, reinvention.
Understanding the Nigerian Job Market Reality
Nigeria’s unemployment rate among youths and graduates is staggering. Many graduates step into the labor market expecting that their degrees alone will guarantee jobs.
Unfortunately, that expectation often crashes against the reality of:
A saturated job market
Few formal opportunities
Nepotism and favoritism in recruitment
Skill gaps between what was taught in school and what is needed in real-life work settings
Thus, the need for a shift in thinking becomes urgent. If you don’t want to be stuck hoping for job offers that may never come, you must intentionally work on becoming valuable beyond your degree.
The Employer’s Journey Is a Blueprint
Rather than being intimidated by employers, study them. Ask:
How did they start?
What skills did they master?
What sacrifices did they make?
How did they manage people, time, and money?
Most employers didn’t start with millions in capital or political connections.
They began with ideas, discipline, consistent effort, and a willingness to grow through discomfort.
The Employer Once Had Your Dreams
Some of them were tailors who built fashion empires, engineers who started freelance, writers who became publishers, and computer science graduates who built apps and tech startups from cyber cafes or their bedrooms.
The common thread? They created opportunities. And that’s what you must learn to do.
You Don’t Need a Job to Start Working
One of the greatest mistakes young graduates make is equating employment with productivity.
You can work without being employed. You can offer your knowledge, services, and innovations to the world on your own terms.
Examples include:
A mass communication graduate starting a podcast or YouTube channel
An agriculturist managing small-scale farms or offering consultancy to local farmers
A sociology graduate launching a community-based NGO or organizing sensitization campaigns
By starting small and staying consistent, you build credibility, experience, and often, income, sometimes more than a formal job might offer.
Master Your Course and Apply It
A certificate is only as useful as your ability to apply what you studied.
Graduates must take personal responsibility for deepening their knowledge and becoming experts in their fields.
That means:
Revisiting your course materials
Taking practical courses online (many are free or low-cost)
The Employer Once Had Your Dreams
Attaching yourself to mentors or professionals already in the field
Offering to work on real-life projects, even as a volunteer
This builds confidence and competence—two things employers and clients respect more than grades.
The Power of Thinking Like a Creator, Not a Seeker
One major mindset shift you must make after NYSC is to stop looking for who will hire you and start asking, “What can I create?”
Can you create:
A solution to a local problem?
A digital product or service?
A community or platform that meets a need?
Thinking like a creator positions you for:
Entrepreneurship
Freelancing
Consulting
Digital innovation
Even if you eventually land a job, you do so with stronger negotiation power and greater self-worth.
Don’t Just Study Success, Replicate It
It’s easy to idolize success from afar. But as a graduate, especially one navigating the post-NYSC season, the question is: Can you practice what successful people preach?
If a successful businessman reads for 3 hours a day, can you match that?
If a startup founder failed four times before making it, are you willing to endure setbacks?
The Employer Once Had Your Dreams
If an employer built his team from scratch, can you start with one partner or volunteer?
Instead of just celebrating success stories, decode them and replicate them in your own life.
Be a Solution Provider
Every employer pays people who solve problems. So rather than seeking employment, train yourself to be a:
Problem-solver
Critical thinker
Effective communicator
Leader who adds value
When you carry these traits, even employers will begin to seek you out—not the other way around.
Build a Portfolio, Not Just a CV
In today’s world, experience and proof matter more than buzzwords. Start building a portfolio of your work:
If you’re a writer, publish regularly.
If you’re into tech, contribute to projects or code publicly on GitHub.
If you’re an artist or designer, showcase your work on social media.
Let the world see your skill in action, not just a list of it on paper.
Use the NYSC Period Wisely
If you’re still serving, make the most of your NYSC year:
Learn a skill through SAED programs or external training
Build strong networks with your PPA, CDS group, or community
Start a small side hustle with your allowance
Volunteer or intern even if unpaid, it builds your CV
That year can be a foundation for greatness, not just a mandatory service.
In conclusion, the employer once had your dreams, and now they’re living them, not because they were lucky, but because they moved.
You, too, can start where you are. Study success, apply what you’ve learned, solve problems, think differently, and stay hungry for growth.
The Employer Once Had Your Dreams
Let NYSC be your starting line, not your finish line.
Whether you become an employer or an empowered professional, the key is to never stop creating, learning, and doing.
Your future is not something you wait for, it’s something you build.
