Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Dr. Kobby Mensah, has entreated students to engage in extracurricular activities while in school to prepare them for the job market.

He said this would help them to acquire practical skills needed in the working space, coupled with the accumulated knowledge gained from their undergraduate studies.

“I think the huge issue is how you prepare yourself for the outside or job market that you are now going to face…you have a qualification but that is the hard skill, that doesn’t actually provide you the work but it’s rather the soft skill."

“[For] the practical skills that you need for the job market, [they] are not taught in class, so you need to engage yourself in them,” he advised.

Speaking on the Ideal Students’ Series on Thursday, Dr. Kobby Mensah also stressed the need for students to continue their education after first degree.

“I subscribe to that because you are able to do away with all the education you want to do quite early so that when you get into the job, it’s not now that you will be applying for study leave and all that comes with that,” he argued.

He also noted that: “Because of competition, classrooms are now doubled or tripled in terms of population for schooling. We not having the same rate of job creation so we then have to compete for the small spaces that are actually available…

“I mean people create their own opportunities right after school and they still get jobs or make jobs; others would also want to be employed and when the spaces are limited and you can’t find a job you have to commit yourself to something productive so that it prepares you better when the jobs are available.”

He finally urged students to set long term goals that will help them identify the exact career path and education they would want to pursue after school.

“You have to get your focus on a long-term goal because first degree is very basic now. You have to know what you want to become and whether the path you are choosing will actually give you that opportunity."

“So, for second degree, your consideration has to very deep because that will define your future in terms of your career path,” he added.