4 Key Talking Points from the MacTay-Huawei Career Fair 2022

MacTay partnered with Huawei to host the 2022 Career Fair as part of our recruitment and selection strategy.

The event was held on August 3, 2022, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja and attracted qualified candidates in IP technologies, information technologies, sales management, programming, data science, account management, supply chain management and procurement, among others.

From on-site interviews and discussions between recruiters and applicants to employment opportunities and internships, the job fair provided businesses and stakeholders the opportunity to select qualified graduates and NYSC corps members seeking placements.

In case you missed this event, here are the four key talking points to keep in mind:

Private Sector Can Complement Governments’ Efforts in Job Creation

According to the United Nations projections, between 2017 and 2050, half of the world’s population growth will be concentrated in just nine countries – including Nigeria. Also, The Economist’s special report predicts that Nigeria’s population will exceed 400 million by 2050.

This population will need jobs, and it will be up to private sector initiatives, partnerships, and collaboration with government and key stakeholders to make this happen.

Guest speakers and dignitaries at the MacTay-Huawei career fair 2022

The private sector is well-positioned to create jobs because it is nimble and can respond quickly to changes in the marketplace. It can also provide jobs not available in the government sector, such as technology and engineering.

The MacTay-Huawei Career Fair 2022 is one of many innovative private sector initiatives that complement the government’s efforts to create jobs for Nigerians, particularly in information technology, software development, and data science.

Skills Acquisition and an Enabling Environment Can Restore Nigeria’s Brain Drain

MacTay recruiters conducting on-site interviews at the career fair

The problem of the brain drain of Nigerian professionals is well documented. Recently, however, the numbers have been staggering: according to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Nigeria lost over 9,000 doctors to the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America between 2016 and 2018.

This trend has also affected the Nigerian ICT, technology and creative industries, with many young Nigerians choosing to “japaa” rather than deal with the country’s challenging working environment and entrepreneurial climate.

However, skill acquisition is crucial to mitigate this effect, as it gives young and aspiring Nigerians the opportunity to further their education, retrain and cross skill. On the flip side, an enabling environment creates a thriving ecosystem where Nigerians are free to flourish, enjoy security, and develop innovative solutions.

These things are necessary for Nigeria to compete in the digital economy. The country has a wealth of natural resources but needs a skilled workforce to turn these resources into products and services that can be outsourced to other countries.

The partnership between MacTay and Huawei for the 2022 Career Fair is strategic and forward-looking, especially when Nigeria’s young and brilliant minds are forced to stay home due to the ongoing ASUU strike.

As a leader in human capital development with over 40,000 trained professionals across various industries, MacTay offers blended and customised learning solutions that help organisations close employee knowledge gaps, improve performance, reduce turnover and increase employee engagement.

Through our partnership with TACK-TMI — one of the pioneers in global learning and development solutions with over 100 years of experience — we help address business challenges and deliver scalable, flexible learning solutions with measurable results.

Recommended Reading: Digital Transformation: MacTay Partners Huawei to Host Career Fair for Nigerian Youths

Career Fairs and SIWES Programmes Can Bridge Nigeria’s Industry-Academia Divide

NYSC corps members present during the career fair

Career fairs and the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) are crucial intellectual development stimuli that can help bridge Nigeria’s industry-academia divide.

SIWES was established in 1973 by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) as a skills development programme to prepare students from universities, polytechnics and colleges of education for the industrial work situation they are likely to meet after graduation.

This programme is important because it gives graduates the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of working in their field of study.

In the same way, but in a slightly different format, career fairs provide a more informal setting where business leaders can meet with graduates and discuss potential career opportunities. This is an excellent way for companies to connect with potential employees and learn more about their skills and qualifications.

While the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) prepares students of tertiary institutions to gain industrial skills and experience relevant to their course of study, career fairs provide employers with a platform to find this talent in a semi-formal setting.

Both are strategic and complementary career development initiatives that can help bridge Nigeria’s industry-academia requirements and ensure that the best talent is nurtured and prepared for the job market.

Recruiting Automation Systems Is the Future of Candidate-sourcing for Organisations

Companies around the world are constantly on the lookout for the best talent, but hiring competent employees is anything but an easy task. The limited budget, lengthy hiring process, limited pool of qualified candidates and the time spent scouring job boards present a recruitment headache for most companies.

With so many applicants to screen and only a handful of qualified candidates, how can HR teams, recruiters, and hiring managers overcome this dilemma? This is where recruitment automation comes in.

Recruitment automation is a category of technology that enables organisations to automate recruitment tasks and workflows to increase recruiter productivity, reduce time to hire, lower cost per hire, and improve the overall talent profile of the organisation.

That said, traditional recruiting methods are no longer enough in today’s age of fierce competition for top talent, limited resources, and shorter timeframes to get suitable candidates. Automated recruiting technologies are the next generation of recruiting. They help streamline and simplify the recruitment process — from sourcing to onboarding.

As a forward-thinking company, we are committed to more advanced, technology-driven solutions to make the hiring process less cumbersome for businesses and more enriching for jobseekers. We demonstrated this at the MacTay-Huawei Career Fair 2022.

Our automated people search solutions help you manage your hiring process — from sourcing, screening, and assessment to matching candidates with open positions based on their skills, work experience, and culture fit.

By consolidating all talent sourcing and recruiting activities into one efficient, unified process, we enable companies to achieve their desired recruiting goals faster than traditional channels.

Whether a job seeker or an employer, our platform offers the best solutions tailored to your specific recruiting or job search needs. Still in its beta phase, we are constantly evolving to meet the growing needs of job seekers and employers.

To learn more about our service offerings and how our automated people search solution can facilitate your company’s hiring needs, please call us at +2349139385550, or email us at: info@mactay.com.