Minimum Wage in Nigeria is Now N18,000: Acting President Goodluck Jonathan’s Gift to Workers

A new pay package for Nigerian civil servants will be operational in three months, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, has said. When operational, the least paid worker would go home with N18,000 at the end of every month as against the N7,500 minimum wage that presently obtains.

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan

Jonathan while addressing workers on the occasion of the May Day celebration, pleaded with the civil servants to shelve their planned five-day warning strike scheduled to commence tomorrow, and assured them that the issues in dispute would be resolved within the next three months.

He also disclosed that he had directed the Minister of Labour, Chief Chukwuemeka Wogu, to ensure that negotiations with the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council achieves the desired results within the next three months.

“This important assignment of which I understand you are respectfully represented in the committee is nearing conclusion. The National Committee on Parameters for Wages in the public segment is also working assiduously to ensure that we have a mechanism that will make for adjustment on workers’ remuneration gradual.

“I sincerely plead with the civil service unions to negotiate with the government because of the warning strike they have presented to us. I believe very sincerely that Nigeria and indeed the rest of the society must develop to a point that workers will not negotiate for salary increase,” he said.
Jonathan said this year’s Workers Day celebrations coincide with the Golden Jubilee of the nation’s independence.

He gave the assurance that the federal government was working assiduously to address issues of employment generation, Niger Delta crisis, electoral reform, power supply and other necessities for national development.
“For me I promise honest service. I will give all my heart and mobilise every available talent of Nigerians wherever they are to meet the expectations of our people. As we are going into an election year, the issue of credible of election is top on my agenda to national liberation.

"I have taken the challenge of an inadequate power supply, peace and rapid development of Niger Delta, food security as well as overall security of all Nigerians and promoting credible elections as priorities in the concluding months of this administration," Jonathan said.

Jonathan also told the rally of thousands of workers that his government would give Nigerians free, fair and credible elections in 2011, compared with previous polls that were judged to be largely flawed by local and international observers, including the United Nations and the United States.
He also promised to improve security in the restive, oil-rich Niger Delta that has in the past three years been the theatre of kidnappings and attacks.

Jonathan expressed government's resolve to provide a conducive environment for the workforce.
He said his presence at the occasion was a demonstration of the administration's belief that to build a strong democracy, there must be a virile labour movement.

According to the Acting President, no nation can develop beyond what the collective efforts of its working population can present. "The rate and size of a country's development is dependent on the size of its economy and therefore the need for an expanded economy for the good of our people", Jonathan said.
He said there was an on-going effort by government to create a new Nigeria anchored on social justice, industrial peace and harmony, due process and the rule of law and thus called for a collective effort to achieve a solid and prosperous nation.

Jonathan promised to provide honest service on his part as government works towards ensuring transparency and accountability in the conduct of its business.

President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Omar Abdulwaheed in his speech said the negotiation over the National Minimum Wage has dragged for several months. He said they were earlier hoping that the issue would have been concluded and that the government would announce it to the workers on May Day (yesterday) based on the agreement reached.

“In the same vein, we have followed the negotiations on relativity in the public service and the apparent lack of progress in the process. The distortion occasioned by the consolidated salary structure in the public service is not only unjust but against the principles of equity and social justice,” he said.

He pointed out that the tripartite committee had completed its work. “Your Excellency, the ball is now in the court of the executive arm to fast track the promulgation of the committee recommendations into a New National Minimum Wage Law. Nigerian workers will not accept any further delay on this matter,” he said.
President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele, expressed disappointment that the civil servants were offered only a 10 per cent salary increment while the Police and other services got between 60 and 100 per cent.

He also called for sincere efforts to address the various problems of the country which have all contributed to hinder the country’s growth.

“TUC will support any action taken by the Association of Senior Civil Servants to address this injustice as we will not accept anything less than N18, 000 as minimum wage payable to Nigerian workers.”
The theme for this year's celebration is '50 years of Nationhood and the Working Class: Challenges of Good Governance, Unity and Credible Elections'.

Source: www.thisdayonline.com

Unemployment in Nigeria: Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Aptitude Test In Abuja reveals high rate of Unemployment among Nigeria's youths..

Boilerplate phrases you need to re-structure on your resume in order to secure more job interviews.

By Liz Ryan

Kill this: Results-oriented professional

Replace with your own version of this: I love to solve thorny supply-chain problems

Kill this: Excellent team player

Replace with your own version of this: At Acme Dynamite, I partnered with Engineering to cut our product cost in half

Kill this: Bottom-line orientation

 Replace with your own version of this: My accounting-process overhaul saved the company $10M in its first year

Kill this: Superior communication skills

Replace with your own version of this: I led a two-day offsite that yielded our 2010 product lineup and a $40K cost savings

Kill this: Possess organizational skills

Replace with your own version of this: Reduced customer-complaint resolution time from three weeks to one by revamping the process

Kill this: Savvy business professional

 Replace with your own version of this: I'm a PR manager who's gotten his employers covered by Yahoo! and Time magazine

Kill this: Strong work ethic

 Replace with your own version of this: I taught myself HTML over a weekend in order to grab a marketing opportunity

Kill this: Meets or exceeds expectations

Replace with your own version of this: Invited to join our executive staff at a strategy summit during my first year at the company

Kill this: Strong presentation skills

Replace with your own version of this: Was recruited to join Acme Dynamite after my boss heard me speak at a conference

Kill this: Seeking a challenging opportunity

Replace with your own version of this: I'm looking for a midsize manufacturer primed to grow its business in the Pacific Rim

Source: www.asklizryan.com.

In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap

December 1, 2009
In Job Hunt, College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap
By MICHAEL LUONY Times

Johnny R. Williams, 30, would appear to be an unlikely person to have to fret about the impact of race on his job search, with companies like JPMorgan Chase and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago on his résumé.But after graduating from business school last year and not having much success garnering interviews, he decided to retool his résumé, scrubbing it of any details that might tip off his skin color. His membership, for instance, in the African-American business students association? Deleted.“If they’re going to X me,” Mr. Williams said, “I’d like to at least get in the door first.”Similarly, Barry Jabbar Sykes, 37, who has a degree in mathematics from Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta, now uses Barry J. Sykes in his continuing search for an information technology position, even though he has gone by Jabbar his whole life. “Barry sounds like I could be from Ireland,” he said. That race remains a serious obstacle in the job market for African-Americans, even those with degrees from respected colleges, may seem to some people a jarring contrast to decades of progress by blacks, culminating in President Obama’s election.

But there is ample evidence that racial inequities remain when it comes to employment. Black joblessness has long far outstripped that of whites. And strikingly, the disparity for the first 10 months of this year, as the recession has dragged on, has been even more pronounced for those with college degrees, compared with those without. Education, it seems, does not level the playing field — in fact, it appears to have made it more uneven. College-educated black men, especially, have struggled relative to their white counterparts in this downturn, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for black male college graduates 25 and older in 2009 has been nearly twice that of white male college graduates — 8.4 percent compared with 4.4 percent. Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.A more recent study, published this year in The Journal of Labor Economics found white, Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire more whites and fewer blacks than black managers did. The discrimination is rarely overt, according to interviews with more than two dozen college-educated black job seekers around the country, many of them out of work for months. Instead, those interviewed told subtler stories, referring to surprised looks and offhand comments, interviews that fell apart almost as soon as they began, and the sudden loss of interest from companies after meetings. Whether or not each case actually involved bias, the possibility has furnished an additional agonizing layer of second-guessing for many as their job searches have dragged on. “It does weigh on you in the search because you’re wondering, how much is race playing a factor in whether I’m even getting a first call, or whether I’m even getting an in-person interview once they hear my voice and they know I’m probably African-American?” said Terelle Hairston, 25, a graduate of Yale University who has been looking for work since the summer while also trying to get a marketing consulting start-up off the ground. “You even worry that the hiring manager may not be as interested in diversity as the H.R. manager or upper management.”Mr. Williams recently applied to a Dallas money management firm that had posted a position with top business schools.

The hiring manager had seemed ecstatic to hear from him, telling him they had trouble getting people from prestigious business schools to move to the area. Mr. Williams had left New York and moved back in with his parents in Dallas to save money.But when Mr. Williams later met two men from the firm for lunch, he said they appeared stunned when he strolled up to introduce himself.“Their eyes kind of hit the ceiling a bit,” he said. “It was kind of quiet for about 45 seconds.” The company’s interest in him quickly cooled, setting off the inevitable questions in his mind.


Discrimination in many cases may not even be intentional, some job seekers pointed out, but simply a matter of people gravitating toward similar people, casting about for the right “cultural fit,” a buzzword often heard in corporate circles.There is also the matter of how many jobs, especially higher-level ones, are never even posted and depend on word-of-mouth and informal networks, in many cases leaving blacks at a disadvantage. A recent study published in the academic journal Social Problems found that white males receive substantially more job leads for high-level supervisory positions than women and members of minorities.

Many interviewed, however, wrestled with “pulling the race card,” groping between their cynicism and desire to avoid the stigma that blacks are too quick to claim victimhood. After all, many had gone to good schools and had accomplished résumés. Some had grown up in well-to-do settings, with parents who had raised them never to doubt how high they could climb. Moreover, there is President Obama, perhaps the ultimate embodiment of that belief.

Certainly, they conceded, there are times when their race can be beneficial, particularly with companies that have diversity programs. But many said they sensed that such opportunities had been cut back over the years and even more during the downturn. Others speculated there was now more of a tendency to deem diversity unnecessary after Mr. Obama’s triumph.

In fact, whether Mr. Obama’s election has been good or bad for their job prospects is hotly debated. Several interviewed went so far as to say that they believed there was only so much progress that many in the country could take, and that there was now a backlash against blacks. “There is resentment toward his presidency among some because of his race,” said Edward Verner, a Morehouse alumnus from New Jersey who was laid off as a regional sales manager and has been able to find only part-time work. “This has affected well-educated, African-American job seekers.” It is difficult to overstate the degree that they say race permeates nearly every aspect of their job searches, from how early they show up to interviews to the kinds of anecdotes they try to come up with.“You want to be a nonthreatening, professional black guy,” said Winston Bell, 40, of Cleveland, who has been looking for a job in business development.

He drew an analogy to several prominent black sports broadcasters. “You don’t want to be Stephen A. Smith. You want to be Bryant Gumbel. You don’t even want to be Stuart Scott. You don’t want to be, ‘Booyah.’ ”Nearly all said they agonized over job applications that asked them whether they would like to identify their race. Most said they usually did not.

12 Tips to Get Your Resume Noticed by Tory Johnson

Gone are the days of simply mailing your resume, receiving a call, shaking hands at the interview, and agreeing on a start date for that new job. The Internet has taken over the recruiting landscape, and everyone is required to submit a resume online. While that brings greater efficiency to the process for employers, it can be awfully maddening for job seekers. But it doesn't have to be that way if you know how to navigate the system.

Consider these 12 tips before pressing "submit" to send your resume:
1. Search job boards and the websites of employers that appeal to you. Print out the job postings that you're interested in pursuing before you apply.

2. Use a highlighter to mark the keywords and industry language used to describe the requirements and responsibilities.

3. Compare those words and phrases to the language that appears in your current resume.

4. Figure out how and where to add the most relevant keywords to your resume, assuming you have the specific knowledge, skills, and experience. Applicant tracking systems will search for keyword matches -- the more matches, the better, which often determines if a recruiter opts to view your resume.

5. Once you're confident that your resume reflects a strong match, go ahead and submit that targeted resume online.

6. If the system requests a cover letter, write a short one that expresses why you're a strong match and why you'd like to join the organization. This is a chance to tout your research on the role.

7. Never submit a generic, one-size-fits-all resume or cover letter. If you really want the position, you'll customize all documents for each job.

8. Once you apply, get to work to find an internal referral to make a personal introduction. Here's how:
Make a list of 50 people you know and ask each one if they know someone who works (or has worked) at that employer.
Attend job fairs to meet face-to-face with employers and other professionals.
Create a free profile and become active on LinkedIn.com or Facebook.com, which boast a combined 60 million users. Surely you can find someone who knows someone to make that connection.

Create a free Twitter.com account and "follow" friends and post requests for help. (You can follow me at Twitter.com/ToryJohnson where I post job leads and where fellow followers can help with contacts.)

Join an association in your field and network with like-minded peers.
Connect with your high school and college alumni groups. Old pals could be new connectors.
Talk to your unlikely network. For example, look at the class list of the parents of your kids' friends. Anytime my kids hear about a friend's mom or dad who's lost a job, they tell them to call me. Even though we don't know each other, we have a common connection that can sometimes lead to a contact.

9. Follow up with a call or email to the recruiter responsible for filling the position. Never say, "Did you get my resume?" Instead be ready to reiterate your strong qualifications and interest in the role. You'll have just a brief moment to sell yourself, so rehearse before making the call or sending the email.

10. Don't know the name of the right person? Cold-call the company and ask an operator to put you through. If that doesn't work, do a Web search on the term "recruiter" or "HR director" along with the name of your employer of choice. The results may reveal the name you're trying to find. LinkedIn is another resource to find the correct name.

11. Stay top of mind. Every recruiter is different, which makes this a challenge. Some say you're welcome to follow up weekly. Others say every other week is enough. And then there are some who'll tell you to never call. Find the right balance so you're politely persistent without crossing over to a pest.

12. Ask directly for advice on how and when to follow up. A simple question, "What's the best way to keep in touch?" will give you the details you need to stay ahead of the pack.

12 Tips to Get Your Resume Noticed by Tory Johnson

10 Boilerplate Phrases That Kill Resumes

The 2009 job market is very different from job markets of the past. If you haven't job-hunted in a while, the changes in the landscape can throw you for a loop.

One of the biggest changes is the shift in what constitutes a strong resume. Years ago, we could dig into the Resume Boilerplate grab-bag and pull out a phrase to fill out a sentence or bullet point on our resume. Everybody used the same boilerplate phrases, so we knew we couldn't go wrong choosing one of them -- or many -- to throw into your resume.

Things have changed. Stodgy boilerplate phrases in your resume today mark you as uncreative and "vocabulary challenged." You can make your resume more compelling and human-sounding by rooting out and replacing the boring corporate-speak phrases that litter it, and replacing them with human language -- things that people like you or I would actually say.

Here are the worst 10 boilerplate phrases -- the ones to seek out and destroy in your resume as soon as possible:


Results-oriented professional
Cross-functional teams
More than [x] years of progressively responsible experience
Superior (or excellent) communication skills
Strong work ethic
Met or exceeded expectations
Proven track record of success
Works well with all levels of staff
Team player
Bottom-line orientation

You can do better. What about adding a human voice to your resume? Here's an example:
"I'm a Marketing Researcher who's driven by curiosity about why people buy what they do. At XYZ Industries, I used consumer surveys and online-forum analysis to uncover the reasons why consumers chose our competitors over us; our sales grew twenty percent over the next six months as a result. I'm equally at home on sales calls or analyzing data in seclusion, and up to speed on traditional and new-millennium research tools and approaches. I'm fanatical about understanding our marketplace better every day, week and month -- and have helped my employers' brands grow dramatically as a result."

You don't have to write resumes that sound like robots wrote them. A human-voiced resume is the new black -- try it!

By Liz Ryan

10 Boilerplate Phrases That Kill Resumes