Skills youth should learn

Youth
Youth
Photo credit: NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The Covid-19 pandemic, though bringing hardship, has created a huge demand for certain skills.
  • Companies are outsourcing and more people now work from home.

The African bullfrog lives in the hot and dry savannah. To survive the harsh heat, it burrows underground and seals itself in a mucous sac that hardens into a cocoon, in which it can stay for up to seven years, if need be. When rain does come, the water softens the cocoon, waking the frog to carry on with its life.

In the same manner, youth must align their skillset to the uncertain economic environment.

The Covid-19 pandemic, though bringing hardship, has created a huge demand for certain skills. Copywriting is one. This is the ability to use the written word to persuade someone to take action. That action is often to buy a product or service. Every advertisement, social media post, home page and promotional email is a product of copywriting.

All companies do some type of content marketing and they need copywriters. A copywriter makes a brand and message stand out to boost sales. It is simply selling through the written word. And you don’t need to be good at writing or languages.

The second skill is project management. Companies are outsourcing and more people now work from home. With projects and people spread out, it is hard to keep track.

This creates a demand for alert, agile project managers — particularly organised youth with high emotional intelligence — to manage people and deadlines remotely.

The third is digital marketing. Before Covid-19, it was merely a supplement to get more business. Now it’s a necessity. Clients favour firms that uphold social distancing by going virtual. Clients can access products, services and information at conveniently.

All these skills meet three criteria that encourage the youth to learn them. One, you can learn from the comfort of your home. Two, you won’t take years to learn them. Three, one can get a job or start a business. Let youth use the cocoon of quarantine to learn skills that will secure their financial stability.

Ms Otieno is a lawyer and mass communication trainee. [email protected].