Career Destinations Summit 2010

Speakers at this year’s ‘Career Destinations Summit 2010’ have called on the country’s tertiary graduates and the youth to equip themselves with relevant career planning skills to enhance their success in the job market.

Participants were also urged to include in their future planning a decision on a career path that would meet the expectations of income, progression and fulfillment.

“The job place today is looking for prospective employees who have technical competence, critical thinking skills, and are team-players with innovations, as well as employees with multi-task management capacity and are computer literate.”

The ‘Career Destinations Summit, organized by CiTi F.M, seeks to provide an informative platform for career advises for tertiary graduates, equip participants with relevant career planning skills for success in the job market and also provide a platform for participant engagement with prospective employers.

Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwasi Ahwoi making a presentation at the opening of the programme in Accra said: “Government remains committed to creating jobs for the youth as a way of developing a rich resource pool and harnessing much needed human capital to support a rapid socio-economic development.”

He revealed that the public sector employment in the country is dwindling and government refocuses and downsizes its operations and manpower levels.

Mr. Ahwoi indicated that the demand for food security and eradication of poverty has turned the agricultural and agro processing sectors into potential massive job creators as private sector responds positively to government’s interventions.

In 2009, the Youth -In-Agriculture Programme (YIAP) created 47,000 jobs. For 2010 it is creating jobs for 197,000.The YIAP is a programme designed to encourage the youth to take agriculture as a business.

“The prudent macroeconomic policies, structural reforms, and constructive government interventions in various sectors of the economy have led economic stabilization, growth, and a vibrant private sector.

“The country now looks set to enjoy even stronger growth rate when oil production comes on stream in the last quarter of 2010,” Mr. Ahwoi remarked.

Albert Ocran, CEO of Combert Impressions said: “there is the need for a new orientation for graduates and the youth to really learn what is happening in the corporate world in order to be relevant,” emphasizing that job hunting has become an exercise in futility for many”

He advised participants to position themselves as a unique brand in the competitive market place, since the current globalization, information explosion and technology has brought huge competition in the job market.

The recent Ghana Living Standard Survey Five Report revealed that the private sector employs 66.7 percent of employed adults in the country, while the public sector accounts for 28.5 percent.

Within the private sector, formal sector account for 18.9 percent, while 47.8 percent are employed in the informal sector.

The bulk of the country’s employed persons, 81.9 percent work mainly in the three main industry groups namely: agriculture (55.8 percent), trade (15.2 percent), and manufacturing (10.9 percent). The other industry groups account for about 18 percent of the employed population.

Among other speakers at the programme included Robert Ahomka Lindsay, former investment promoter, Ghana Investment Promotion Council, Patrick Awuah, founder, Asheshi University, Martyn Mensah, CEO Kasapreko Limited.