The Ethiopian Job Market and Finding Jobs in Ethiopia

With the number of higher institutions growing rapidly, there are now a lot more people with higher education than there were 5 or so years ago. The Universities that used to have 4 and 5 departments now have 10 or more of them. There has also been a huge increase in the number of students enrolling at Universities. With that amount of students graduating with Degrees and Diplomas every year, it is becoming increasing more difficult to find jobs in Ethiopia.

People use many ways to look for jobs in Ethiopia. Newspapers, Notice boards and online job sites are some of them. With internet access now possible in many parts Ethiopia, online job hunting is becoming one of the most convenient ways of hunting for Ethiopian jobs, especially for those who prefer to stay indoors while searching for jobs. Within a matter of minutes, it is now possible to search for a suitable job and apply for it.

However, spotting a vacant position online and sending out a resume does not exactly guarantee one a chance to land a job. In addition to preparing good resumes and references, one has to make looking for employment a job by itself. As in other places, to find and keep your job in Ethiopia, you will not only need the necessary qualifications, but also the experience and the skills necessary to accomplish the tasks at hand.

In general, many companies in Ethiopia are reluctant to hire inexperienced new graduates. One of the reasons is that they do not have enough time or money to train these new graduates and prepare them for the job. The other and more series issue is that, universities are now mass producing graduates with less focus on quality. As a result, many graduates are ill-prepared to meet the demands of the work place. For this reason it is common to hear Ethiopian jobs recruiters complaining about the low quality of applicants they are getting these days.

Other than preferring the experienced over the inexperienced, some organizations may also be predisposed to hire graduates from select universities. This is can especially be the case in an environment when there are more applicants than there are jobs.  Some organizations may just call on graduates from certain universities that they consider to be worthy which, in many cases may be the university found in the capital itself - Addis Ababa University.

On the brighter side, there are a lot of new businesses that have been opening up in the last decade that are willing to hire the more energetic, fresh and enthusiastic new graduates. There are also paid and unpaid internships available in many small and big organizations. This is mostly a win-win situation for both job seekers and recruiters: job seekers get the experience and exposure they need to get the next job, and companies get their work taken care of for less or no money. Other than such internships, there are also companies more inclined to hire new graduates for the benefits of having young, fresh and enthusiastic professionals at the workplace.

The key to getting jobs in Ethiopia, with or without experience, is to be able to present to the recruiter, all of one’s skills and strengths in a way that will make the employer believe that one is perfect for the job at hand and can solve its problems. In other words, the key is to put one’s best foot forward.

For more information on Employment in Ethiopia, please visit Ezega.com, the largest site for Ethiopian Jobs, Real Estate, Classifieds, News and Entertainment.