Rare institution where university graduates learn relevant job skills

Nairobi; Kenya: Among the many criticisms that have been levelled against the education system, none bites more than the constant jibe by employers that the graduates being released into the job market are all paper and hot air. That they have book-knowledge but have no clue how to actually do something.

It is a claim that many company CEOs and supervisors can agree with. The Kenya Federation of Employers has frequently complained that something is not right when graduates brandish their spectacular degrees but have near zero understanding of what they were supposedly training for.

So bad has the situation been that some employers have resorted to retraining their fresh employees or recycling old workers.

But one institution is helping graduates become relevant in the job market. The ISA International School of Advertising in Nairobi has come up to bridge that gap in the marketing, public relations and advertising fields.

INDUSTRY SPECIALISTS

The institution is unique. The learners are either fresh graduates or employed people seeking to sharpen their skills in order to get that much needed edge.

Their instructors are not lecturers or career teachers but rather industry specialists who have at least 10 years in the fields of marketing, PR and advertising. They (the specialists) are taught how to teach and then in front of small groups of eager young people, they share secrets gathered from years of practical work in the industry.

The director of ISA, Susan Makau says the instructors share with the students what the industry needs, what to expect from employers, how to seamlessly join the workplace, to see opportunities for growth within an office or the industry, and most importantly, how to think creatively within industry structures.

But why does she feel that such an institution is needed in Kenya?

SOFT SKILLS

“There are basically four reasons why we need such institutions: Academia has fallen out of touch with current industry needs - meaning graduates are not at par with industry expectations. There is also serious lack of soft skills among graduates - skills like communication, self awareness, confidence and presentation skills. In addition, there is evidence that most graduates are having a hard time finding gainful employment,” she explains.

Lastly, Ms Makau herself suffered when she got into employment some decades ago. She says that back then, the entry of a graduate into the job market was dependent on their immediate supervisor.

If they happened to land a good supervisor, they would be fine and have a seamless entry but if they got an disinterested one, they would be frustrated in their initial days at work.

This is the right time for such an institution is because the Kenyan economy is growing, she says.

“Our economy is growing fast and that means the different sectors are growing even faster. In fact, our industries are growing so fast that we need to urgently update our skills set.

The levels of professional skills are going up, faster than colleges and universities are providing,” she says, adding that this is the reason why some Kenyans resort to going abroad to upgrade their skills before coming back to seek upper-management positions.

CASE STUDIES

Three months of training, followed by three months of industrial attachment, numerous real industry project case studies and practical presentation skills, transform ISA graduates into strategic and creative thinkers.

And when Makau talks about how the institution puts the students in the right frame of mind and in the right position to navigate today’s job market, one can’t help but wonder if she is not falling into the old criticism that has been levelled against learning institutions in Kenya - the idea that they produce graduates who can’t think outside the box, people who rely only on the beaten path to find their way.

She says no. They are not producing “system oriented individuals”.

“The industry that we are targeting is not a stifling one. What we give them is a frame work within which to work in the industry. They need to know how the industry operates, after that, they can get as creative as they want,” she concludes.

All this notwithstanding, in June this year, a survey by the Inter University Council for East Africa was released and it showed that only 25,000 students out of the 50,000 that graduate annually in Kenya are ready and suitable for employment.