6 jobs you can do while waiting for your NYSC posting

The one thing every serious undergraduate looks forward to is the end of their stay in school when they are finally rewarded with a certificate (or a statement of result in schools that are resistant to development). However, they will soon realise that as a typical university graduate in Nigeria, the pursuit of certificates is far from over. The next one in line is the passport to enter the corporate labour market in Nigeria;  the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate.

If you are lucky you will probably spend only a few months waiting for your NYSC posting. However a large pool of graduates spend a significant amount of time waiting to be posted. Typically, this time is spent doing nothing particularly useful which is sad because time lost can never be regained.

As a recent graduate, you can work and earn real money while at it during this period of waiting. We have compiled a list of some jobs you can engage in while you await your NYSC posting. You can also fall back on some of these jobs if you happen to find yourself back to the waiting line even after your service year.

Freelance Writing

If you have a good command of English and you don’t suck at putting your thoughts on paper, you should consider becoming an online freelance writer. Even without any real writing experience, there are many jobs available for amateur writers online and you can make reasonable income from your home while on them too.

However these jobs won’t come knocking on your door, for a chance to nail a freelance writing gig, you should;

• Research about online writing or talk to people that are already involved in the business. Looking up job offers on freelancing sites will help
• Determine the kind of content you are interested in working on, you may opt for rewriting articles or writing new content about a particular subject such as science or fashion.
• Advertise your business; you can start by advertising on Nairaland. You should also register on free platforms like Asuqu or Fiverr that facilitate online buying and selling of services
• Be good at what you do        
• 
  
• Web development/ web designing

Regardless of your course of study as an undergraduate, you can venture into web design or development if you haven’t already.

You can utilise the free time before your NYSC posting  to take free courses in coding. W3schools, Codecademy and freeCodeCamp are great online resources to help you get acquainted with codes.  If you have at least 3 months of waiting to do, you should consider joining the Switch Fellowship. They are based in Lagos and will teach you coding for free. 

Do your research, start from the basics and you can go on to choose a programming language to start with. With a little bit of coding skill, you may find a team of developers that will be willing to allow you, work, learn and earn at the same time. Even if you don’t, coding is an interesting way to keep yourself engaged and it is one skill you can always fall back on in the future. If you have sufficient skills in coding, you should register on platforms like Fiverr or Asuqu to source for jobs.

Online tutoring

You have probably never considered lecturing online. Well if you are going to be stuck in the house for months waiting for your NYSC posting and you are a guru in any academic area, you should probably give this a thought.

There are people online who are ready to share your knowledge for a price and online platforms like TotalPrep are on ground to connect you to them. You can also source for jobs on free freelance websites. So you can start a science class or an algebra class or even move away from academics and do something more creative like giving lessons on a skill.

Graphic design

Graphic design is a skill that can be learnt by anyone and contrary to what a lot of people think, you don’t need to be good at drawing to be a good designer.  You can make money from designing logos, flyers, book covers, business cards e.t.c.  If you have sufficient skills in graphics design, head on to freelancing platforms to source for jobs, you should also market your skills offline too.

If you know nothing about it, you don’t need any formal education to be a good graphic designer. You can learn on your own and this is a good way to invest the time you will spend waiting for your NYSC posting. You can start by taking free online graphic design courses and reading relevant books. Check out Shaw Academy, Alison and other online resources for free courses.

Singer and songwriter

If you have a good voice and can gain access to a music studio, then you may have customers waiting. Online platforms like Fiverr and Asuqu can connect you to people in need of your vocal powers.

You don’t have to do the singing if you can’t, you can simply stick to songwriting instead if you can handle it. You can also specialise in providing DJ drops, or commercial jingles. Just head on to freelancing sites like Fiverr to source for jobs.