Youth urged to look for jobs in demand-driven unconventional areas

Panelists at a youth leadership forum in Ho on Friday, urged young people to look for job opportunities in demand-driven unconventional fields, rather than spend years looking for conventional jobs.

They, however, noted that these opportunities might be many, but at the reach of only those who think ‘outside the box’.

Sheila Penelope Bartels-Sam, Maximus Ametorgoh, Anne Amuzu, chief executive officers for InCharge Global, Popout Digital and Nandimobile companies, respectively were addressing Barcamp 2012-Ho in Ho.

The “Barcamp” phenomenon is a free networking forum, streaming mainly through modern telecommunication technologies, where the youth discuss, demonstrate and dialogue on issues of interest.

It was organized under the aegis of the GhanaThink Foundation, an NGO based in the USA and Ghana and the Centre for Creative Youth, Ghana.

Mr. Ametorgoh said conventional education must go along with self-development to make the individual total and prepared for the world of work.

He said one must, “read out of the academic circles,” show interest in issues outside the programme of choice at the various schools.

Mr. Ametorgoh said without that regardless of the quantum of resources a country had, its development might be sluggish because “it is human development that triggers national development”.

Mrs. Bartels-Sam observed that many Ghanaians passed out of schools without knowing what to do, except that they wanted jobs.

Ms. Anne Amuzu said an individual should be passionate about choice of business or work to have that zest to follow it through.

There were entrepreneurship-driven sessions, with mentors meeting participants with special interests in Information Technology, Entrepreneurship, Project Management, Online Journalism, Marketing and Branding and Fashion.

Mr. Gameli Adzaho, a Media Relations Officer of GhanaThink Foundation told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that 15 forums had been organized in various areas in the country since the programme commenced in 2008.

He said since Ghana’s demographic profile put the youth at about half of the population, they (youth) were major stakeholders in the nation’s development.

Mr. Adzaho observed that eventually it was the position of the youth on the canker of corruption and poor sanitation awareness in the country that would streak through the consciousness of the populace to bring the needed change.

Mr. Eli Aidam, Local Organizer of Barcamp, said the youth in the Volta Region must be brought into the business development programmes running in the region.

Issues discussed in groups during the “Breakout Sessions,” included: breaking the trend in the high failure rate at the BECE, risk management in business, and sanitation.

Mr. Ato Ulzen-Appiah Programme Manager, Google-Ghana, one of the sponsoring companies observed that technology must be used to raise the living standards of the people.