Dear HR, please save us pain of the long wait for nothing
Job seekers wait to hand in their documents at County Hall, Nairobi, on May 26, 2017.
The high rate of joblessness among the youth hardly news in Kenya today.
According to the 2019 population census, more than a third of young people have no jobs.
Data shows that 5,341,182, or 38.9 percent of the 13,777,600 young Kenyans, are jobless. These are people aged between 18 and 34, who should be the most productive segment of our population.
A recent World Bank survey revealed that Kenya has the highest rate of youth unemployment in East Africa at 17 percent. Neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda had rates of 5.5 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively. These grim statistics could help explain the crisis that employers face every time they advertise for a vacancy.
Human resources personnel receive thousands of applications for vacancies that sometimes only require a single candidate, even as over 50,000 graduates join the job market every year.
My concern is does anyone ever sit back and think about the plight of the unlucky candidates?
Do they spare a thought for individuals who took their time to draft CVs matching the job requirements and the graduates who never stop browsing the net for the next vacancy?
The sad the reality is that the unlucky job-seekers stay in the dark, waiting day and night to see a phone call or an email.
They do not necessarily expect “you are hired!” message but just a confirmation that their application was received, that it is being considered, that they have been shortlisted, that they have been invited for an interview or even a regret letter. All they pray for is that someone on the other end acknowledges the effort they put in their application.
The long wait is very excruciating, especially when one keeps praying for a position that has already been filled.
What would it cost to give an update on social media that the position they advertised has been filled? This would go a long way in reducing tension among unlucky candidates.
It would also help them have closure and move on with their job hunt and lives in general.
Are you aged 10-20 and would like to be Nation’s young reporter? Email your 400-600-word article to [email protected]
