1. Spoken english
It is so sad that majority of Nigerian students in tertiary institutions don't bother about polishing their spoken and written english. Some graduates speak english worse than a toddler, making one wonder what they spent 16yrs doing in school. You hear them spew gabbage like "he come and slap me and I come and beat him". If you speak such english to an interviewer, even with first class clearly written on your CV, he will probably think you runzed your way through school. The use of words like yeah, goddamn, omo, sh*t, f**k etc should be stopped cos they don't portray you as a decent person.
2. Mode of dressing
Looking fly on campus was one of the things I enjoyed during my undergraduate days. It was fun cos you had so much of the opposite sex around to admire you. The moment I graduated, my orientation changed. Not that a graduate should stop wearing denims and sneakers, but sagging and putting on studs with crazy hairstyle should come to a stop if such a person wants to fit into the corporate world. In the corporate world, you get to mingle with matured or married men with enough decency. Sagging in their midst will make you look kiddo. Just cos your favourite musician davido sags his trousers doesn't mean you should do thesame. He gets paid to do that while you could get fired for doing thesame.
3. Spendthrift attitude
The first time I heard someone say his salary is 70k, I hissed and mocked him in my mind cos that was thesame amount we students spent on phones just to oppress each other. Now I've seen people earning less than 45k even with years of experience. What kind of person do you think you'll turn out to be when all you want is the latest expensive gadgets? In the real world, no one cares about the kind of phone you use. Even on naija campus these days, girls have stopped falling for a guy because of the phone he uses, they now trip for flashy cars. So, before you spend that huge amount on a phone, ask yourself this question: "is it going to improve my standard of living?". I didn't know I could turn my smart phone to a mini laptop with WPS, Excel etc until I got employed. My phone was all about bbm, whatsapp and facebook. I now saw the full potential of the phone. You need to cut down on your spendings. Also, get the idea of clubbing off your mind or it might ruin your pockets. The money saved from disciplining yourself can be used to start something great. Use your head.
4. Laziness
You remember how you use to complain about the large notebooks you have to read for exams? If you lack a good reading culture, it is certain you will be bereft of ideas to contribute to a company's growth. You are always seen reading gossip blogs where you are updated with the lifestyle of celebrities but lack the idea of what the top 20 questions interviewers ask. Scaling through campus days as a lazy person doesn't mean such is likely to continue in the real world. Carrying on with laziness is what leads to prostitution, where a lady feels she can use her body to fetch her daily bread instead of her brain, or where a guy still expects his uncle to be the one to help him achieve his targets even after getting him a job through nepotism. You get to wonder why they spent 16yrs developing their brain in school.
5. Pride
I remember when I was in my final year at school, I was always happy about what the future held for me. I knew I was going to get a job that pays 350k immediately I graduated. Reality slapped me in the face when my first offer was a job paying 30k. I had no choice but to take the offer cos I was already tired of adding more months to the six months I had spent at home just sleeping. Luckily for me, that job paved the way for a better one cos it gave me the needed experience recruiters want to see on a CV. I've now realise that 350k is only feasible for those in the oil sector and those with huge years of experience, not a fresh graduate who doesn't know his left from his right. As you are about graduating, never see any job as demeaning. Take it up while you continue searching for a better one. This gives you experience. A bird in hand is better than a million in the bush. Remember, you are a nobody and no one gives a damn about you out there. So, drop your pride and use your head and hands or end up spending years still eating your mum's food with insults.
