Thursday, September 25, 2014

Email Etiquette: Some of the basics that you need to know

The technological advancement today has made email part and parcel of many people’s lives as they have almost replaced the traditional letters. We need email addresses to join social networking sites, to either keep in touch with family/friends or to simply go about with our professional work. Therefore, there is no doubt that whoever is subscribed to any of the social media platforms, has an email address. That’s how important email is to us in today’s world.

Often times, we complain and lament about receiving too many emails and having no time to read through them all. Some people have close to 5 email accounts that they have to check on daily basis for fear of missing out on important communication. Being one of the people with multiple email accounts and one who has suffered poor email etiquette but at the same time guilty of poor email etiquette, I thought to myself about the value of emails and decided to share some of the email etiquette on twitter, now summarized in this blog post. The common mistakes that people make and what to avoid when using email. In no particular order or category, the following are my findings based on my knowledge as a user.

Photo via http://redbus2us.com
1. Read email in its entirety: When you receive an email, please read it in its entirety before thinking of replying. If you must, read it more than once. This is extremely important because some people do not put the key points in the initial paragraphs and you could miss important information by reading it partially. Reading the entire message informs your reply.

2. Acknowledge receipt of Email: When you receive an email that requires a detailed response and you are too busy to reply immediately, acknowledge receipt. It is so rude to receive an email, read it and completely ignore it. A simple message such as “I acknowledge receipt of your email and I will respond to it as soon as possible” is a sign of respect for the sender and appreciation for their time to send you an email. Please make sure you actually reply when you are ready to.

3. Out of office auto responses: When you leave an out of office auto response, please do not let it exceed your return dates or when you are able to respond to your email. It is very unfortunate to indicate a date only for a sender to receive an out of office auto response a week past your return date. Always deactivate it as soon as you are back to work. If you work with a team, It is polite to share the email of an alternative contact person in your absence.

4. Clear Subject Line: When writing formal emails, make sure the subject line is clear and that your main points are captured in the first paragraphs. Avoid writing what is irrelevant to the subject or purpose of the email. Read morehere

5. Emotional Emails: When you receive emotional emails or emails that require tough decisions to make, do take sometime before you reply. Give them deep thoughts and reply from a logical point of view and less from an emotional one. This is so because emails can be saved and used many years later for reference. They could be used against you in the event that you over reacted in your response to such emails.

6. Replying to all: When emails that may require individual feedback are sent to all recipients;- say on a mailing list of dgroup, Try not to REPLY TO ALL especially in workplaces. Some people reply an email to all (even to over 1000 people) with a message like “Thanks for the email”. This not only distracts people from productive work but fills their inboxes too. If you do not have to, do not reply but if you must, you can do it to only the sender unless you are required to reply to all.

7. Official Email addresses: When you have an official email address, keep the conversations through it strictly official. You can never know who is stalking your email at work. Do not use your official email to discuss your private business or family issues. Because when your leave that workplace, it will be deactivated and remember that your employer may have access to it.

8. Forwarding emails: Desist from forwarding “Funny”emails to dgroups or mailing lists because it annoys people. Know who to forward what to. Just because something is funny to you does not mean it will be funny to everyone. Also do not forward a whole chain to someone as you might send information that they do not need to know about. Where necessary, Edit messages before forwarding

9. Email Signature: If you choose to have an email signature, make sure that all the information indicated is correct and up-to-date.  Your telephone contacts should have your country code to cater for friends who leave beyond your country boarders, your social media links must also be accurate. Try to include as much details about your alternative communication channels. For example; a link to your blog, alternative email as well as Skype ID

10. Simple language: When writing an email, keep your language simple. Today, people receive hundreds of emails on daily basis and using jargons in your emails only increases the burden that they have to deal with. You will not impress anyone by using ‘big language’. It will only get your messages deleted. Also avoid using shorthand like many youthful people do when sending SMSes. Not everyone is excited about shorthand especially for formal emails. For example writing “gr8” to mean great, “4get” for forget.

11. Email Usernames: When choosing a username, Try to use your actual name(s) or initials because this becomes your Identity. Funny addresses raise suspicion and messages from them could be treated as junk. Using your name makes it easy to identify your emails or give them priority.

12. Delivery Notifications: When you send an email that you consider important, activate your settings to notify you when the recipient opens it. This is very important to track who has received and read or attempted to read your email. It also gives you a clue about those who take long to respond to emails even if they read them as soon as they receive them.

13. Sending yourself a copy: When sending a job, consultancy, assignment or scholarship related email, it is important to send yourself a copy too. This is good because in the event that they require you to resend it, you can easily locate it, edit it and forward it.

14. Sharing Friend’s email: Just because you know a friend’s email address does not mean that you should share it with each and everyone especially without their permission. Also for event organisers, it is so rude for you to add one’s email to your organisation’s or company’s mailing list without their permission just because they attended your event and left their details behind including their email addresses. Please seek permission.

15. Do a spell check: This is a function that is ignored by many email writers. Before sending an email, proof read for consistency and understanding. Once that is done, run a spell check and correct any grammar errors before you click send

If you are the kind that keeps on forgetting to respond to your emails on time, there is good news for you. There are services that can help remind you. Both free and paid for; ‪http://www.lettermelater.com  or‪http://www.boomeranggmail.com/hp3/index.html 

 Please add any other tips in the comments section!!

Re-blogged from The Citizen Journalist

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

TWAS-CNPq Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme

The National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) in Brasilia, Brazil, and TWAS offer up to 10 postdoctoral fellowships each year to young scientists from developing countries (other than Brazil) who wish to pursue postdoctoral research in natural sciences.
Deadline
28 July 2014
Country
Brazil
Level
Postdoc
Minimum degree held
PhD
Duration
Minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 months
Field
01-Agricultural Sciences
02-Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology
03-Biological Systems and Organisms
04-Medical and Health Sciences incl. Neurosciences
05-Chemical Sciences
06-Engineering Sciences
07-Astronomy, Space and Earth Sciences
08-Mathematical Sciences
09-Physics
Age limit
45
Sandwich option
no
Programme Details
  • TWAS-CNPq Postdoctoral Fellowships are tenable at research institutions in Brazil for a minimum period of six months to a maximum period of twelve months. They are awarded to scientists from developing countries (other than Brazil) to enable them to pursue postdoctoral research in the natural sciences.
  • A list of research institutions in Brazil where TWAS-CNPq Fellowships are tenable (CAPES-Conceito 5, 6 and 7) is available for download here: CAPES List.
  • CNPq will provide a standard monthly allowance which should be used to cover living costs, such as accommodation, food and health insurance. The monthly stipend will not be convertible into foreign currency.
  • Information about living conditions, such as possibilities of accommodation, transportation, and any other issues related to the candidate's stay in Brazil must be obtained locally, directly from the host institution. Neither TWAS nor CNPq can provide this information.
  • The research activities are developed in Portuguese in most institutions, but communication will be mainly in English.
Eligibility
Applicants for these fellowships must meet the following criteria:
  • Be a maximum age of 45 years on 31 December of the application year.
  • Must not hold a visa for permanent or temporary residency in Brazil or in a developed country.
  • Hold a PhD degree in a field of the natural sciences.
  • Be a regular employee in a developing country (other than Brazil) and hold a research assignment there.
  • Provide evidence that s/he will return to her/his home country on completion of the fellowship.
  • Not take up other assignments during the period of her/his fellowship.
  • Provide an official acceptance letter from the host institution (please refer to the sample available at the CNPq weblink http://www.cnpq.br/web/guest/chamadas-publicas) . Only CAPES-listed (levels 5, 6 or 7) Brazilian institutions are eligible (see point 2 above).
  • Prove knowledge of Portuguese or provide a certificate of proficiency in Spanish or English (if these languages are not the candidate's mother tongue).
  • Have an updated Curriculum Vitae on CNPq’s Lattes Platform (see note on online applications below).
  • Present a detailed research plan agreed by her/his host supervisor.
  • Be financially responsible for any accompanying family members.
Submitting your application
  • Applications to the TWAS-CNPq Fellowships must be submitted online only.
  • The call for applications where you will find the programme details, eligibility criteria, required documents and certificates as well as the online application form is available via http://www.cnpq.br/web/guest/chamadas-publicas
  • Applicants must be aware that CNPq and TWAS will not accept applications submitted by any other means except via the online application form.
  • The call for applications for 2014 is currently open and will remain open until 28 July 2014. No applications will be accepted after the deadline. Therefore, it is recommended to submit your electronic application as early as possible.
  • Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
  • Applicants should submit the Acceptance Letter from a CAPES-listed institution to CNPq when applying. Without preliminary acceptance, the application will not be considered for selection.
  • Queries concerning the call for applications to the TWAS-CNPq Fellowships programmes should be directed to: twas.ascin@cnpq.br
  • Applicants should be aware that they can apply for only one fellowship per year. With the exception of theVisiting Scientists programme, all other fellowship programmes offered by TWAS and OWSD are mutually exclusive.
Downloads

Contact Details
• TWAS Fellowships Office
ICTP Campus, Strada Costiera 11
34151 Trieste, Italy
Phone: +39 040 2240-314
Fax: +39 040 2240-689
E-mail: fellowships@twas.org
• National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)
International Cooperation Office (ASCIN)
SHIS Quadra 01 Conjunto B, Bloco "D",
Edificio Santos Dumont
Lago sul Brasília, DF, CEP: 71605-001
Brazil
Phone: +55 61 3211-9441
Fax: +55 61 2108-9442
E-mail: twas.ascin@cnpq.br

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

PhD positions sandwich model: University of Hohenheim and African counterparts

Up to 3 PhD positions (sandwich model with African counterparts)

University of Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany) with its long-standing inter-disciplinary and internationally-orientated research tradition in natural sciences, agricultural science, economic and social science offers up to three researcher positions (Dr. sc. agr.) within the BMZ-funded research project “LegumeCHOICE - Realizing the underexploited potential of multi-purpose legumes towards improved livelihoods and a better environment in crop-livestock systems in East & Central Africa”. The project is coordinated by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (Kenya) with close cooperation with national counterparts in Kenya (ICRAF, KARI), Ethiopia (ILRI, EIAR), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (UCB). Hence, the
selected candidates will have the opportunity to work in an exciting and international environment.
 
On equal qualification, candidates with nationalities of the respective target countries (i.e., Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya) will be preferred. The positions are subject to additional successful co-funding by project partners and external funding agencies (e.g., DAAD). 

Background and project goal: Current farm-level production and productivity of legumes is limited for many areas of the humid tropics (e.g., Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo) and below what is technically feasible. Reasons underlying the limited success include (i) focus on a specific class of legumes without considering the overall farming systems, (ii) ‘pushing’ a specific legume technology rather than responding to specific farmers’ constraints and objectives, (iii) promoting legume technologies in absence of an enabling environment for their uptake, and (iv) lack of detailed understanding of the priorities and constraints faced by farm systems. LegumeCHOICE will address these issues by providing the missing links between existing research efforts, farmer demands, and an enabling environment for legume cultivation. The overall goal of the project is to improve food and nutrition security, reduce poverty, and enhance the production environment of smallholder farmers and rural populations through facilitation of the smart integration and use of multi-purpose legumes, providing food, protein, feed, fuel, and/or organic matter in crop-livestock systems. LegumeCHOICE will provide knowledge to farmers and development partners facilitating farmers to make rational decisions for enhancing short and long-term contributions of multi-purpose legumes to farmer livelihoods including aspects of legume production, input supply systems, and markets.

PhD studies will focus on the following research areas:
  • Nitrogen (N) cycling in legume-based cropping systems: this topic will focus on biological N fixation and its contribution to crop quality and soil fertility. Field and lab-based analyses will include the assessment of geochemical N fluxes in tested cropping systems with the overall goal to identify those particular legumes providing the best short- to long-term productivity potential under local soil and climatic conditions.
  • Carbon (C) cycling in legume-based cropping systems: this topic will focus on the contribution of identified legumes to C sequestration and energy provision for microbial processes (with close links to N cycling). On basis of field and lab-based analyses, the focus will be carbon use efficiency of decomposing soil microbes as regulated by biochemical quality and hence decomposability of organic inputs deriving from tested legumes.
  • Biophysical modelling of legume-based cropping systems identified according to farmers’ requirements will allow comparative analyses of their benefits and trade-offs under various management options. Scenarios will include crop rotations and intercropping, inputs, timing of management (cropping, manure application) and different legume types. Biomass formation, soil C sequestration and N cycling will be evaluated for each scenario. Model parameters will be measured in field experiments representing the main system options. In a following step, LegumeCHOICE uses the outputs of the biophysical model to give recommendations for legume-crop combinations considering long-term sustainability of the systems.

According to your qualification, please select only one core topic for your detailed application, but indicate, if applicable, your interest in another topic.
 
Requirements
  • Strong knowledge of and affinity to crop and/or soil sciences as well as soil biology.
  • Strong knowledge of studying terrestrial N and C cycling as well as biochemical quality of plants.
  • Experience in performance of greenhouse and field experiments is an asset.
  • For the modelling study, good mathematical skills and experience in biophysical modelling are required,
  • Good working knowledge of English is a must.
  • Intercultural competence and willingness to stay at University of Hohenheim for academic (PhD study program) and research work.

Location
Candidates will be based at the Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics under the supervision of Professor Dr Georg Cadisch, Dr Frank Rasche and Dr Carsten Marohn. Logistics of field trips to target countries will be supported by local research partners.
 
Starting date and duration
Earliest start of studies is 01 October 2014, duration is 36 months.
 
Contact for more information
Dr Frank Rasche, phone: +49-711 459 24137, email: frank.rasche@uni-hohenheim.de
 
Applications
Your application should be sent electronically to Gabriele_Kircher@uni-hohenheim.de with only ONE pdf document as attachment including your motivation letter and research ideas to the research topic selected, CV, BSc/MSc-study transcripts and three recommendation letters.
 
Application deadline is 26 July 2014.

Monday, March 17, 2014

First class in and out of varsity

By KITAVI MUTUA
More by this Author
When Eric Mumo graduated from university with a First Class honours degree in 2009, he got several exciting job offers, but he declined them all. Fresh from Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology, the statistics graduate opted for commercial farming and set up his base in the most unlikely of places — his arid village of Nzangathi in Kitui County.  He started with Sh150,000 of personal savings that has now grown into a thriving farm worth Sh16 million in assets and 12 full time employees.
In just five years, Mr Mumo has built up a steady enterprise which includes dairy, fish, poultry and horticultural units on his 15-acre land and won several innovation awards. At first, his peers and some family members feared that he was gambling with his future instead of seeking formal employment. They felt, and genuinely so, that his good academic papers and young age should not be channelled into risky and unpredictable ventures like farming but rather into the flashy corporate world. However, determined to pursue his ambition, and armed with passion for his dreams and a little capital, Mumo bought a Friesian dairy cow. “I bought the first dairy cow in 2009, and soon after I added two more. I started supplying fresh milk to local restaurants” he says. Each cow was producing on average 14 litres daily, which he sold at Sh60 per litre at the nearby shops, earning Sh2,520 daily.
With the steady income of Sh75,000 per month, Mr Mumo invested the profits in more cows. Today he has 28 cows. The breakthrough came when he decided to diversify into tomatoes and water melons.  “My decision to stop relying on rain-fed agriculture and to engage in drip irrigation was the turning point as this ensured I  was in business throughout the year.”
The 29-year-old went full blast when he sunk a borehole, which enabled him to put his father’s entire 15-acre farm on drip irrigation. “In the first season, I harvested hundreds of tonnes of water melon, which I sold in Nairobi, recovering the costs of my investment and bought an Isuzu pick-up truck,” he  recalls. With a kilo of water melon then going for Sh32, each trip to Nairobi was fetching on average Sh48,000, and he could make several in one week.  When the Saturday Nation sought Mumo for this interview, we found a delegation of 80 farmers from the Embu Anglican Church Diocese learning from his simple, but effective farming techniques.
The farmer has been recognised by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Agriculture for his outstanding innovations in food security.  Last year, he was listed among the most innovative and promising young farmers in the country, besides being pre-qualified as a dependable supplier of fish fingerlings in the region. Mumo stands out because of his ability to integrate all the farming units, where they inter-depend on each other to reduce production costs.
Having recently diversified into commercial poultry and fish farming, all the units now depend on each other and nothing goes to waste. “We’ve established a poultry incubator which gives us 528 chicks every three weeks and 10 fish ponds each with a capacity to hold more than 3,000 fish but the demand for both is overwhelming,” he said. He explains that all the four units — dairy, horticulture, poultry and fish — support each other. “Poultry manure goes to fish ponds to support the algae fed on by fish, the enriched pond water is channelled into the horticulture farm together with recycled dairy manure while the waste vegetables are fed to the chickens in a fascinating cycle which saves production costs.” 
The farmer says Ukambani region can easily sustain itself if only enough water was made available to every home. Every week, he is kept on his toes by overwhelming orders to supply all sorts of produce including day-old chicks, tomatoes, fish, milk to the market. In a good month, proceeds from milk, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables can fetch him Sh500,000 gross. He makes more when he sells in bulk. Mumo urges the youth to dirty their hands to make money. 
His farm has created 12 direct jobs, and many others indirectly. Mumo intends to turn his farm into a demonstration centre where farmers across the region can visit and learn from the simple ideas and replicate them in their homes.

Eric Mumo Phillip feeding fish at one of of his many ponds at his Nzangathi farm in Kitui County. PHOTO | KITAVI MUTUA  NATION MEDIA GROUP
IT HAS NOT BEEN EASY
Since Eric Mumo ventured into commercial farming, he has learned on the job the hard way and overcame odds. From seeking credit to finance his projects, to marketing his farm produce and managing workers, he faced challenges he never expected. Getting a bank loan to invest in farming was his worst nightmare because the interest rates are high and there is no grace period. “Banks are asking us to start repaying their loans in the first month, and yet there is no crop that can yield results in such short time.” This frustrates many farmers.
Mumo urges the government to establish a branch of the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) in every county to support farmers. The other challenge has been lack of skilled labour, which has forced him to invest heavily in training his workers. “Most people who seek jobs in farms are semi-illiterate. Such workers cannot manage a poultry house, or monitor the health of fish or dairy cows,” he explains, adding he incurred huge losses until he started training his workers.
The farmer explains that agriculture extension services are not sufficient. “Kenya can sustain a double digit economic growth if agriculture is made a compulsory subject up to Form Four to make the youth stop their obsession with white collar jobs.” Mumo has also learnt to invest in marketing and quality of his produce.
“I’m very keen on the quality of my products because I target mostly Nairobi and export market where consumers demand the best,” he says.

Source: Daily Nation, Saturday, March 15, 2014

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Innovative doctoral education for global food security

Prepare your career as an international scientific expert within the area of global food security by participating in Training for successful doctoral students

Makerere University and SLU invites all interested participants to apply  for the following:


Makerere campus

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Short Course on Restoration of Degraded Semi-arid Landscapes for PhD Students in East Africa

PVS0109 Restoration of degraded semi-arid landscapes – Livelihood, Livestock and Land use, 10.0 credits

Restorering av degraderad semi-arida landskap – levnadsvillkor, boskap och markanvändning


Time

1 Sep 2014 - 16 Jan 2015, 30%, Mixed
Cycle
Postgraduate
Subject
Agricultural Science
Application code
SLU-P0004
Location
Uppsala
Distance
No
Language
English

Application deadline:   16 May 2014

Syllabus approved: 2014-01-10 

Subject: Agricultural Science

Marking scale: Pass / Failed

The requirements for attaining different grades are described in the course assessment criteria which are contained in a supplement to the course syllabus. Current information on assessment criteria shall be made available at the start of the course. 

Prerequisites:
Accepted as a PhD student in SLU or East African countries.

Objective:
The course will provide understanding of multifunctionality and complexity of rangelands. The students should be able to relate gained knowledge to their own research topic, but also to other disciplines in a multidisciplinary context. The students should also get an insight and understanding in participatory methods and experience in use of some of the methods. In addition, through small project work, do multidisciplinary analysis and reflection.

After completing the course the student shall be able to:
  • describe pastoralism and multifunctionality of rangelands
  • describe grazing strategies and explain consequences of overstocking and overgrazing
  • discuss animal husbandry and animal production in relation to sustainable intensification
  • describe, discuss and analyze co-benefits and trade-offs between desired landscape functions of different restoration methods/techniques
  • describe the drivers of vegetation changes
  • explain carbon sequestration in rangelands under different management regimes
  • use participatory research methods in practice

Content
This is a multidisciplinary course and it is relevant for students in different disciplines such as animal science, soil science, agroforestry, ecology, agricultural economy, rural development, etc.

The course will start with a video meeting/seminar to be followed by literature studies by the students at their home university. Field work will be the core in the course and the students will work in smaller groups or pairs during most part of the course. A high degree of interaction will be achieved by regular discussion and reflection sessions and the students will also make presentations, of individual and group assignments. The field work will be done in a "real case" where restoration of degraded rangelands has been established at different times since mid-eighties and is still going on. This gives the student a unique possibility to learn processes and changes of rangelands restorations but also to relate to their own research topic in a bigger picture. The pair of students will work with both a farmer who has implemented restoration and a farmer who has not. This in turn could be a sort of extension where the farmer not implemented can see effects of restoration methods. The up-start of the field work will be carried out at JKUAT (Nairobi) with 2 days of lectures and the students will have a possibility to meet and discuss with researchers from ICRAF and ILRI. During these two days, the students will also do individual presentations of the literature read and how they relate it to their own research area. During the field work the students will visit and interview farmers and also collect some basic data as well as "transect walks". The outcomes of the field part will later be presented orally in an end seminar but also in a course report done in a scientific report as well as in a popular science way, e.g. magazine like.

Literature:
Required reading is assigned by the course organizers. Information about the course literature will be available at least four weeks before the course starts.

Examination:
The examination will be composed of several parts: Introductory presentation of own research in relation to literature. Participate in all activities and exercises. Presentations of assignments and field work both orally and in written form. Approval of scientific report completed within three weeks after the field work in December and a short report written in a popular scientific way.

Additional information
All costs for the course (teaching travel costs and accommodation) will be covered by the course for students from SLU, JKUAT and other universities in East Africa. Student from other Nordic universities can take the course if place is available on their own expenses.

The course will be linked to a new research platform involving SLU, ICRAF, ILRI and other universities in Sweden and Kenya; the Triple L Initiative (www.agri4d.se)

The course will be running from September 2014 to January 2015.

Responsible department: Animal Nutrition and Management, SLU; Dept. of Forest Ecology and Management, SLU; Dept of Botany at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya.

Location: Nairobi and West Pokot, Kenya

Responsible department
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, SLU


Submit your application to the course leaders:

Ewa Wredle and Gert Nyberg

E-mail: Ewa.Wredle@slu.se; Gert.Nyberg@slu.se

Friday, February 21, 2014

Just Graduated


By Stephen M. Mureithi (PhD)

Congratulations for your excellent results:) Now that you have just or is about to graduate, what next?

Still have dreams? I hope yes. OK, good because if you stay focused you will be able to achieve them. There is nobody who can stop you apart from yourself and the limitations you set for yourself in the mind. God has already provided you with the potential and ability to achieve what you want in life, so go for it. And honor him when you get there.

Things to do:
Acquire Financial Education – At the University or College you have so far acquired academic and professional education which is key to excelling in life as you serve the society. But as you will soon (or you have already) realize, the world deals with money, and to be successful, you’ve got to learn how to deal with it. So, endeavor to acquire financial education, without which you will not be truly successful in life despite your achievements in academics and profession. Like a three legged stool, acquiring the three will make you stable and successful. Where do you start? Read books – I suggest you start by reading ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ here!
Get right back to college – Continue with your studies (M.Sc./M.A. or PhD). There is nothing cool like studying while you are young. However, what you choose to pursue at postgraduate levels has to fit in your long-term career goal, not just to fill a nothing-to-do time gap. Interested? See some Master and PhD Scholarships here!
Find a job/management trainee-ship positions - The advantages of getting into employment as quickly as possible are:
  • Start earning income! You've probably got a student loan to pay back, and your parents have probably got plenty to spend their missing millions on, rather than their 'boomerang' offspring!
  • Employers are more impressed by people who have shown commitment to work, and are willing to learn new things (ask questions).
  • Gets you in the habit of getting out of bed early in the morning - the work routine.
  • You're more likely to encounter people who can help you in your career while seeking for a job, than while in the couch!
Don't make the mistake of thinking you should wait until a job in your chosen field comes along: it may never do so, or maybe not for quite a while. There's nothing wrong (and everything right) with getting a job that gets you started, and continuing to look out for 'a proper job'. You could change jobs several times over the first five years of your working life before you acquire the label 'job-hopper'. Employers understand that it takes a while for young people to find their feet.
The vast majority of people 'fall into' long term careers by this process of trial and error, and never end up in what seemed like 'the proper job' at the outset.
OK! So you've decided to take this advice and get cracking. Now, what exactly should you do?
Attitude (Your mind)
Be as flexible and open-minded as you possibly can be! If you are willing to take any job, anywhere, for any (reasonable) money, then you are more likely find a job sooner than if you are not!
CV (Resume)
Prepare a CV! The internet has many resources on how to write a Good CV.
Referees
Obtain permission from two or three people to use them as referees. Ideally, these should include your college tutor and someone who employed you in an industrial placement during your degree, or a vacation job for example. Failing that, use a family friend who holds a professional position: doctor, lawyer, pastor, employer, for example. Include the names and contact details (including email) of your referees on your CV.
Magazines – include daily newspapers in your local reference library.
Apply to every job that interests you. Do not worry if the advertisement asks for more experience than you have to offer. The employer may not be able to find an experienced person, and by applying you will be saving him the expense of re-advertising for a trainee position in a month's time. Secondly, they may have another, unadvertised job for a trainee. Thirdly, what have you got to lose by trying?
If you have been able to obtain back issues of publications, apply to every organization that advertised the sort of jobs you are interested in, in the last year (or in fact, as far back as you like!). Write a slightly different covering letter to accompany your CV:
Dear Sir/Madam, I noticed that in last January's issue of The Daily Nation that you were advertising for a Soil Scientist position. This is exactly the sort of job I am looking for. If you have any current or forthcoming vacancies for Trainee Soil Scientists, then I would be very interested to meet you. I enclose a CV for your consideration.
Do not worry about doing this: they might not have filled the job, or they might have filled the job, but the new person didn't work out very well, or they might have a new junior position. Again, what have you got to lose?
Internet
If you have access to the worldwide web (preferably on broadband, with unlimited access), scour the internet for information and potential job (scholarships) opportunities.
Seek internships – whether paid or unpaid, internships helps to build up your experience that you will table as you seek for jobs. Employers are more likely to hire a person who is volunteering somewhere than one just tarmacking in the streets.
Volunteer – Not many organizations will refuse you to work for them, even for free. Many will soon put you in the payroll if they find you persistent and valuable. Works the same like internships, but the later have short time frames.
Start a business – If you are entrepreneurial (everyone should be able) you can start a business which you have passion, knowledge and skills in. Agribusiness for example, offers many opportunity for agriculturalists who do not mind getting dirty while earning good money. You are surrounded by a crowd of both old and young people who have employed themselves and created jobs for many others. Start now, start small and grow Biggest:)

Things not to do:
Do not sit at home – pity parties’ leads nowhere. Wake up and do something positive.
Do not do drugs, prostitution, alcohol or crime – If you didn’t do it so far, why start now? Concentrate on healthy living, and you will live long, healthy and happy:)
Do not waste time – thinking you are still young is wasting life. If there are things you need to do, do them now.

The Author is an Entrepreneur and a Lecturer in Land and Water Resource Management at the University of Nairobi. Comments can be left under this post (click title) or sent to stemureithi@uonbi.ac.ke