Even though Google is a search technology company, they seem to be keen on a lot of things, like helping students become online marketing professionals.

In 2010, Google Online Marketing Challenge saw more than 12,000 students from 60 countries around the world (including Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria) take part in a global online marketing competition.

In 2011, Google is providing an opportunity for more African students to take part in the global challenge.

The Google Online Marketing Challenge is a great hands-on exercise for undergraduate or graduate students in classes such as advertising, e-commerce, integrated marketing communication, management information systems, marketing and new media technologies.

The competition’s vision is to make students become effective in online marketing campaigns using Google Adwords. Thus they can learn how to use sound marketing analysis to optimize, manage and update a Google AdWords campaign.

How To Participate

If you are a student of any Nigerian/African university, you can get your professor or lecturer to register now. If you are a professor or lecturer, you can register now for the 2011 competition.

Benefits of Challenge

1. Students gain practical, real world online marketing experience.

2. Students also get the excitement of competing on a global level, with the overall winners and their professor/lecturer receiving a trip to the Googleplex in Mountain View.

3. Regional winners and their professor will receive a trip to their local Google office.

How It Works

Student teams receive US$200 of free online advertising with Google AdWords and then work with local businesses to devise effective online marketing campaigns.

Teams outline a strategy, run a campaign, assess their results and provide the business with recommendations to further develop their online marketing.

Teams submit their reports and are judged by a panel of independent academics from all over the world.

So, if you’re an undergraduate or graduate student and interested in becoming an online marketing professional, Google wants you.

For more information, visit http://www.google.com/onlinechallenge/

At a time when Nigeria’s tech scene is gradually becoming the centre of the world’s attention, a Silicon Valley based startup, Identified.com, founded by Nigerian tech entrepreneurs has received seed funding from some of the Valley’s finest angel investors.

Identified is a new recruiting tool that takes your professional data across the social web and compounds it into a simple, yet robust career-building experience.

I recently got introduced to Nedu Ottih, one of the founding members of Identified by Nmachi Jidenma of CP-Africa.com, and he shared some insights into his social recruitment startup.

Here are his responses (unedited) to my questions about Identified.com

Why did you create Identified.com?

Nedu: Identified was created to solve the timeless problem of how to connect companies to job seekers in a seamless, efficient and effective manner. In particular, to replicate the real-world experience in which most people leverage their network in order to get a job.

What’s unique about Identified.com?

Nedu: Unlike other recruiting companies, which are primarily job boards, Identified allows its users to transform their social network into a professional recruiting tool and enables an interactive, dynamic two-way relationship between companies and job seekers

Any revenue model?

Nedu: While Identified has yet to finalize its business model, it plans to never charge job seekers for using its platform

Identified.com recently received funding. Can you comment?

Nedu: Identified has completed a seed financing round of $1.5 million from a diverse and distinguished set of Angel Investors including:

• Eric Schmidt: Chairman and CEO of Google
• Alexander Tamas: Partner of Digital Sky Technologies – investors in Facebook, Zynga and Groupon
• Chamath Palihapitiya: VP of Growth, Mobile and International Expansion at Facebook

My thoughts

A global startup founded by Nigerian tech entrepreneurs that could attract funding from Silicon Valley’s angel investors is worth celebrating.

In just about 4 weeks of launch, Identified.com has added over 6000 users and counting.

In a global economic recession, getting a job means that you need to stand out or be shown the way out.

But since you need to know people who know people that matter to get your dream job, Identified.com wants to help you do just that.

While there are lots of job sites and portals that post job vacancies and opportunities, people still can’t find their dream jobs.

Perhaps Identified.com would help people get the best jobs via social recruitment.

Editors Note: This is a recent conversation that Ayodeji Adewunmi from Jobberman had with Loy Okezie (me), about my eBook, Personal Guide to Career Freedom [available FREE online]. During a market intelligence gathering, he downloaded the eBook and believes “it’s still the most impressive piece of information put together locally (that I have seen)”. Ayodeji Adewunmi is the President/Co-founder of Jobberman, a job search portal. In this interview, I shared my thoughts about jobs and careers in Nigeria. The interview was originally published via Jobberman.com

Enjoy!

AA: I just finished reading Personal Guide to Career Freedom and I am completely blown away. It’s superior to all of the eBooks available locally on Jobs and Careers. It just pointed to you as an outstanding Career Coach or Author. Why did you write the Book?

LO: Thanks for taking the time to read my eBook. After several years of talking with students and job seekers, it was obvious to me that most people were not pursuing their passions in life. Life is a journey, so is one’s career life. Most people would have wished they had the chance to choose a different course of study or career focus before starting their career journey. If only they had a career counselor or coach to guide them. My goal with the eBook is to help people internalize and personalize other people’s career experiences and juxtapose them with their own experiences in order to find solutions to their personal career challenges.

AA: I love the clarity of the book, the use of scenarios is simply outstanding and more directly, the 10 insightful questions to ask your next job interviewer is a winner. Wait a minute – the prose formats, why are you not a Poet (laughs)?

LO: Yes, I thought to really achieve the goal of the eBook, it had to have a human angle to it. People love to read about people’s stories and experiences. Now getting them to relate with these experiences in their own personal careers was critical. Without this element, they wouldn’t possibly see themselves through the mirror of another person’s failure or success in their career journey.

On becoming a poet, I’d say that’s not my calling… (Laughs). I’m a writer with interests in personal/career development, technology and organizational effectiveness. Oh and by the way, I just might be writing fiction just like John Grisham in the future 

AA: Writing has completely changed my life. The metacognition that comes from the process of translating your thoughts into words is profound. I find it interesting that writing is a key agenda in your life. How long did it take you to complete planning, research, manuscript and the publishing? Do you have plans of going with a Publishing House to move the Book Agenda forward?

LO: You’re right about the thinking processes involved in putting one’s thoughts into texts. For me, I write as it comes to me, although I’ve hit the writer’s block several times. For this eBook, it took about 18 months to plan, research, write, proofread, edit and publish. It has already taken me about 11 months now to complete the next edition which will include latest trends in job search and recruitment consulting. Hopefully, the new eBook would be released by the end of this year and published by LoyOkezie.com

AA: In all your talks and trainings on getting a job or changing careers, what have you found to be the most interesting trend or issue in Nigeria?

LO: One word: Salary

AA: What is a common misconception you hear about Jobs and Careers? It seems there is a lot of confusion over this.

LO: Like I pointed out in my eBook, most people don’t know what they are looking for in life – Job or Career. Some say that one comes before the other – find a job and then pursue a career. Others say that your job is your career.

Some years ago, I asked someone: “What do you do?” His response: “I’m a banker.”  Then, I asked: Do you own the bank or work for the bank?” He said: “Of course I work for the bank”. So I asked again: “So what do you do?” He replied: “I’m a cashier”. I said: “Oh, I thought you were a banker?” (Laughs) At the end of our conversation, it was obvious that the young man didn’t know there was a big difference between having a job in a bank and building a career in the banking industry.

In page 5 of my eBook, I defined a job as an activity that earns you a monthly income, and a career as a profession or occupation that generates you multiple streams of income. While this definition may not apply to all types of work-related activity, it still captures the idea. Simply put, a job is a job and a career is a business.

So Personal Guide to Career Freedom is more than a job manual. It’s a career/business book.

AA: It may sound strange in the Western context, but 45/46 pages of eBook I & II could be overwhelming. Nigerians tend to ask and figure things out rather than read any manuals or books explaining the same point better.

LO: When I finished compiling the manuscript, I did feel overwhelmed (Laughs). My thoughts were: Will the Nigerian people have time to read this? Will they even appreciate it? Will they use it? But come to think of it: Why do you think people have challenges in life? In business? In careers? Isn’t it because they lack proper guidance and direction? And where can you find such?

To achieve success in life, business and career, you will need guidance and inspiration from the Bible/Koran, business books, school training, prayer and a bit of luck. It’s easier to take the short road, but what if you reach a crossroad? You don’t want to find yourself in a career desert, where there’s no water, no guide, no path.

AA: You’re kind of living the dream. I don’t know many people who wouldn’t want to make a living as a blogger and social media analyst. You a Pioneer and I find this intriguing.

LO: I’ve found Katherine Whitehorn’s advice quite helpful in my career. She once said: “Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it”. But I’ll also add: “Find out what people really need and get them to pay you for the value you’re able to provide them“. This sums up my career purpose and mission statement.

AA: Thanks for your time!

LO: Anytime, Deji

–

Personal Guide to Career Freedom [Volume 1 & 2] has been specially designed to teach you how to plan, design and manage your career life.

The e-book is the result of several of my coaching sessions with clients from different backgrounds, but with one career purpose: to acquire career intelligence achieve career mastery and attain career freedom.

Last October,  I made a 2-week exploratory visit to the place where all of the world’s information is being gathered, stored and organized.

With an unprecedented access to the highly secretive “Googleplex”, acclaimed New York Times columnist Randall Stross, in his book Planet Google took me and other readers deep inside Google, the most important, most innovative and most ambitious company of the Internet Age.

But perhaps we can only know and learn much about this place that has been described as “one of the world’s best places to work” from someone who has actually worked as a Google intern. His name is Oduntan Odunbanjo, a Nigerian mobile applications developer.

With three previous internships prior to joining Google and one more right after, Oduntan is convinced that Google is in a world of its own. In a recent article originally published at Jobberman.com, Oduntan shares 9 lessons he learned as a Google intern.

I’ve re-published the 9 lessons here with permission. Enjoy!

Lesson 1 –   Build a Unique Culture

If I were to describe the company in one word it would be – UNCONVENTIONAL. It is definitely one of the few places where you can truly be yourself.

No dress code, no fixed working hours, no unnecessary monitoring of how you carry out your work. Even Interns like me are treated like full timers.

Though not the highest paying tech company, it’s arguably the most sought after. This is because of the knowledge of the unique way the company is run.

Just like a recent study shows what truly motivates people, the Google culture allows for independent thinking, mastery of work and provides a sense of purpose.

You can take time to read about how they undertook their IPO. Never had such been approach been taken by a company to the US stock market.

Lesson 2 – Innovate or Die

At Google, a great deal of emphasis is placed on innovation so there’s just no time for competition. For me, innovation really never has to be from scratch.

Its more about having a different approach to solving a problem or improving an existing solution. Google was not the first search engine but it has taken that idea and made it the best in the world.

Google Goggles (an app for Android phones) and the recent Pacman game embedded in the Google Home Page are a few example of the company’s knack for creative solutions.

Lesson 3 – Be more value oriented than revenue oriented

Google never really seeks out immediate ways to monetize their products and services.

Instead emphasis is placed on making the product the best possible, getting people to use it and then later figuring out how to generate revenue.

They understand the simple law that when you create value, money will follow.

Lesson 4 –   Focus on the customer (User)

One of the popular phrases by Google is – Focus on the user and all else will follow. This is so true.

Many people and firms choose instead to focus on the revenue or profit.

I’m not sure if some business managers and owners have ever heard about customer service let alone know what it means. Another issue is developing products without involving the end-user in the development process.

I once asked someone who had 2 similar mobile apps on his phone which he preferred.

He answered: “the one that allows me search through easily”. User experience is a big deal at Google and we should learn to provide solutions and services that will satisfy the customer or end-user.

People aren’t stupid. They know what they want and will flock to where they can get it.

Lesson 5 –   Hire the best

Its essential to hire people with great minds and the right attitude. Googlers are usually exceptionally talented and experienced people with a knack for solving problems.

The Google hiring process isnt perfect and has been crticized for taking too long. The process has however paid off for the company. The secret is to “hire people who are smarter than you”.

The company’s employs on merit-based system and the goal is to hire the brightest minds possible. This is the sole reason why they are far ahead in terms of technological innovation compared with their peers.

A company that hires based on “connections” is doomed to suffer the consequences in time. Its important to give jobs to those who are most qualified.

Lesson 6 –   Take care of Welfare

Well, the whole world knows that there is free food and drinks at Google. The fact that extra care is taken to ensure employees are well taken care is really cool.

This is something that is missing in this part of the world. Employers and management level folks usually feel they do people a favour by employing them forgetting that without their collective contributions they wont be where they are.

One more thing on food. From my experience, I have observed that companies that provide food or at least lunch to staff get more productive returns from their employees. This is no joke.

I remember a firm I once worked for where we’ld spend several minutes in the morning and afternoon contemplating what to order to eat. Meanwhile, if you don’t get something to eat early or at all it becomes difficult to focus on the task at hand.

Several man-hours are wasted yearly around the world as a result of this. Meanwhile, at Google, provisions are made for nutrition and relaxation so people can focus 100% on their work!

Lesson 7 –   Keep working out your model

We all know the Google advertising model that serves as a cash machine. I love this idea of making money while you sleep. But it actually didn’t start out that way.

They started by solving a simple problem of helping people find information and later resorted to monetize it with ads.

Today the company is an ubiquitous name in the internet service business having diversified into other areas.

Even though they wanted to stick to search, they realized that providing quality search services required other products which they decided to develop.

So dont be too rigid with those ideas you have. Start somewhere but be ready to move with the times.

Have one thing you’re number one at but keep up with the trends.

Lesson 8 –   Create useful & relevant Products

It’s important that we solve problems around us with the skills and knowledge that we acquire from various institutions.

The only reason why the Google founders aren’t unknown lecturers somewhere is they made effort to apply what they knew to solve a problem around them.

With my experience, I believe that with the right blend of requirements we can create products and services which will be used globally and will also create massive wealth. Companies like Jobberman are a local example of this.

Lesson 9 –   Be Charitable

In my opinion, Google will always prosper because it’s a giving company. Google gives out lots of scholarships, donations, not-for-profit investments, internships. Please, visit www.google.org to learn more.

Lets have firms like the telecoms operators and banks with huge revenue give something back to the society. They can provide scholarships, internships and facilities to deserving students and institutions instead of the Campus raves that add no lasting value.

Oduntan Odubanjo is Product Manager at Extracens and creator of buukWorm Mobile.  As a former Google Intern, he currently serves as Google Campus Ambassador at OAU. He also co-founder of Tech Titans Nigeria and taught and spoken at several Campus events.

Photo via: OduntanOdunbanjo.blogspot.com

When you are talking about Web 2.0 and social media solutions to searching and finding jobs in Nigeria, Jobberman.com is the place to go to. Launched in August 2009, Jobberman.com is a job search and career development web site that provides next-generation recruitment solutions in Nigeria.

As one of the fastest growing online career portals in Nigeria, Jobberman places a high premium on job search that is relevant and up-to-the-minute.  Obviously, the job market in Nigeria is growing which makes the job search industry very exciting and potentially lucrative. Interestingly, Jobberman hopes to be the ‘go-to’ company for the industry.

What’s Unique?

Jobberman.com is probably the most intuitive job search engine in Nigeria and integrates the best of web 2.0 applications and social media tools in finding the right talents and jobs easily and at the most competitive rates.

And talking about competition in the online job search market, here’s what Ayodeji Adewunmi, co-founder of Jobberman.com said:

The competition makes it interesting, makes it fun, keeps the juices flowing, and it helps us to raise the bar. Keeping up with the joneses is quite tricky, so we had rather stay ahead. One of my corollaries in business is that it’s good to have a lot of competitors because educating a market is a very expansive proposition.

Interestingly, from my recent discussions with Adewunmi, he believes that Jobberman.com could out-job sites such as CareersNigeria.com launched in 2007 which have seen relative success in the industry. Disclosure: I helped to start-up CareersNigeria.com in 2007.

Revenue Model?

Jobberman.com also has a smart business model which includes Advertising (premium ad sales, ad network), Licensing (building SaaS portal for corporations) and Subscriptions (premium services for users like resume services, interview mockups, distribution of resumes to headhunting agencies, etc) These revenue models would be launched next year.

With almost 2000 jobs and over 500 companies listed on the Jobberman.com web site, just within 3 months of launch, the site is one of the job portals to watch in the African space.

The site currently has over 6000 unique visitors and over 50, 000 page views. Jobberman is co-founded by Ayodeji Adewunmi, Opeyemi Awoyemi, Olalekan Olude and Faisal Chohan (a TED Fellow).

After graduation, many feel that they can’t fit into the corporate and business world. Each year, corporate organisations such as PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Accenture, Philips Consulting, etc as well as Banks and telecom companies recruit fresh graduates from Nigerian Universities who they believe have been taught the trends in the corporate and business world in Nigeria.

Most of these companies have recognised the fact that they must run training programmes on specific career-related aspects of their business to equip these graduates with the right skills needed in today’s highly corporate and competitive driven world.

As a graduate, you need these skills to get the right jobs, climb the corporate ladder, and/or eventually build a successful career.

1. Job Interview Skills

There’s no doubt that every jobseeker needs the right job interview skills to be able to at least get a job. As important as this skill is, it is not considered as a necessary course module to be included in the curricula of Nigerian schools. As an undergraduate or graduate who is looking forward to a finding career or job in the corporate and business world, you may soon realise that your school did not prepare you well for the job market.

What you should do: Educate yourself. Attend job interview skills training/seminars. Read tips on job interview skills. Find out likely job interview questions and practice answering them, but avoid cramming:-)

Job Interview skills: personal branding/selling, negotiation, amongst others.

2. Information Technology Skills

Most graduates leave the University each year with little or no knowledge about information technology and computing. Even some computer science graduates are not well equipped with the right IT skills they need to find the right jobs. Whatever course you studied or are studying currently, you may need certain IT skills to get a job or progress in your career.

What you should do: Get an IT training or certification. Buy IT books and teach yourself certain IT skills. Learn some IT skills from a friend or colleague and continue practicing.

IT skills: programming, networking, software developing, amongst others.

3. Presentation Skills

It’s not a new thing to see people shy away when asked to make a presentation at school. Most people due to their nature are not bold enough to stand before people to make a speech or presentation. Since there are no course programmes in the University that train students on how to make an effective presentation, many people find this aspect of their future career life difficult to get through. As a result, they are not equipped to handle meetings, make a project presentation, or even deliver a good presentation during a job interview. This skill has been described as the most-priced skill of the 21st century.

What you should do: Read books on how to make effective presentations such as Dale Carnegie’s. Practice writing a short presentation and make a presentation in front of a friend or family. Enroll in speech training classes or sessions. Be serious and focus on your goal to improve your self-esteem and confidence.

Presentation skills: writing and delivering speeches, effective communication, amongst others.

4. Leadership Skills

This is one of the greatest skills needed to go up the corporate ladder. Even though certain courses in management teach theories and methods, the practical aspects of management and leadership are left out. Even the simplest concepts of management – planning and organizing – are not practiced. As a result, we see examples of poor management and leadership in several aspects of our career lives.

What you should do: Read the book – Winning by Jack Welch. Practice management. Start by planning and organizing your day, week, months, and years if possible. Take management courses in Business schools. Find a job as a management trainee. Start a project or initiative and find people who you can lead. Work as a team.

Leadership skills: team building, persuasion, motivational, time management, amongst others.

5. Networking Skills

In more recent times, networking skills have become an important key to establishing the right contacts, finding the right jobs and building the right relationships in your career life. This valuable tool of the 21st Century has helped millions of people move forward in their careers. Networking is all about meeting new and old people who might help you get a job or change careers.

What you should do: Read books on how to use networking to power your careers. Attend networking events. Start business and professional networking online to find people in your career, build your connections and make career progression.

Networking skills: communication and inter-personal relationship, amongst others.

Okay. The education system in Nigeria did not prepare you enough for the job market. Perhaps, you didn’t benefit from proper career counseling and guidance and you have made the wrong career choices. Or maybe you graduated from a not-to-hot school online and are struggling.

Below are four success strategies to help you become an employable person.

Re-fine

Could it be that your job search techniques need to be refined? Most jobseekers look for jobs in every place – banks, oil companies, etc without success. While this is not a bad strategy, it may make you lose your focus on the key job areas where you can readily find jobs. Or perhaps, you may be looking for jobs in an area that is highly competitive such as the banking industry in Nigeria.

So why not focus 80% of your job search efforts on areas where you are certain of getting a job given your skills, experience, etc Then, use the remaining 20% to look in areas where you are less likely to find a job, due to the high demand for jobs in that area.

Re-structure

If you have been using the same CV design, layout, etc since you started looking for a job, perhaps you need to re-structure your CV. How well you structure it to suit a particular industry or job would determine your success in getting an interview or a job offer. Understand that each job position you apply for is unique and each company or industry has its uniqueness.

You need to understand the job description of each position, the culture of each company and the nature of each job industry you are applying to. Make sure you use the relevant qualifications, skills, experiences, etc for the different job positions in the different companies and industries that you apply for.

Re-define

Perhaps you need to redefine yourself and your career purpose. If you are at a crossroad in your career, seek the help of a career expert. Your career purpose is the driving force of your career prospects. If you can clearly define your career purpose, you’ll be take control of your career life.

Re-brand

Your chances of getting a job in today’s highly competitive job environment depend on your ability to rebrand yourself. As fresh graduates out of school are the likely favoured job candidates, your goal should be to present yourself as a candidate who is “in touch” or “in tune” with the industry trends, company news and information, etc. So read company reports and other useful information that would give you an edge above other candidates at the job interviews.