Useless courses in Kenya: All you need to know

What are the most useless courses to study in Kenya today? And, are there courses that are guaranteed to land me a job upon graduation?

These are some common questions that students and parents alike might ask themselves when choosing a course.

To that end, this post will help you (as a parent or as a prospective student) clear the air around this topic.

So, are there useless courses in Kenya?

The short answer is NO.

There is not a single useless course in Kenya.

In this case, why do people claim that a certain course is useless?

To be honest, most people classify some courses as useless once they fail to land a job. Or, if they know someone who did that course and has been tarmacking for long.

But that does not make the course useless.

You see, no institution will teach you a course if they know the course won’t help you get work upon graduation.

Instead, what is happening is that most people are not keeping up with the changing dynamics in the workplace.

That said, below, I will help you understand why some people don’t get work despite graduating top of their class.

In addition, I will tell you what you can do to increase your chances of getting into employment no matter your course.

This will make sure you don’t end up in that group that curses the course they studied at the university/college.

To understand why this group exists, you need to understand that today is not like the past…

In the past, all you needed to do to secure a job is graduate with a degree or diploma.

But today, you need to be strategic to secure employment.

This is because more and more people are graduating today compared to some years back.

And, this has led to employers looking beyond the course that you have studied.

To that end, here’s how you can leverage yourself to get into employment no matter your course:

1. Get skills

Here’s the thing: If you just went to college/university to go through the motions: go to class, do assignments, do CATs, and pass exams, without investing in your skills, it might not be easy for you to land a job.

And that is because, today, papers, are so much flooded that they have become like an added advantage especially in technical areas like IT, engineering, data analytics, and so on.

Nowadays, what employers want are skills…

In other words, what can you do for them? That’s the BIG question.

For instance, you might have a first-class honors degree in computer science but if you cannot create a simple app (such as a calculator), then why would a company looking for a software engineer hire you?

With that in mind, if you have already graduated, do something that will help you gain marketable skills depending on your course.

For instance, you can try getting apprenticeships or internships to grow your skills.

On the other hand, if you are still in school, you should create time to invest in a short course that will give you the necessary skills needed in the marketplace. This is more so if the curriculum in your school is very academic – it doesn’t go hands-on.

In addition, you can also invest in some marketable short courses to supplement your degree/diploma.

2. You need to stand out

Unlike in the past, today jobs won’t find you just because you have graduated.

To land these opportunities, you will need to go the extra mile and stand out from your fellow graduates.

And the best way you can achieve this is by making yourself noticeable.

The good news is that today, it’s quite easy for anybody to make himself/herself noticeable to prospective employers thanks to social media… It has leveled the playing field.

You can create a social media account where you provide valuable information to your followers.

You see, most employers don’t even know how your course can help their businesses.

But, if you leverage social media to educate them on this, they will be looking for you to offer you opportunities.

In addition to social media, you should also engage in activities and projects that will attract attention/publicity.

This publicity might then result in you attracting people who can give you jobs or contracts.

Siku izi bila connections kazi kupata ni ngori

While this is a common phrase amongst Kenyan jobseekers, to an extent the phrase is true.

And this brings me to my next point – you’ll need to network a lot… Connections is simply networking.

And by networking, I mean meaningfully interacting with prospective employers and people in your career.

For instance, if you did engineering, find out where people who hire engineers hang out and go for meetings and conferences.

In addition, check if they have social media groups such as on Facebook and find out how you can join these groups.

From there, start interacting with them and when the time is right, show them how you can provide value for them.

The other thing is of course making sure that when you apply for jobs, even your applications stand out… Both your CV and the cover letter should stand out from the rest.

And the best way to do this is to make sure these documents are well written… There are guys who do that – pay them to craft great CVs and cover letters for you.

3. Change your mentality – not all courses are meant for employment

Sometimes, the courses we study are not meant to get us employed… Instead, they are meant to make us job creators.

For instance, if you have studied technical courses such as fashion and design or computer science, you do not need to go hunting for jobs.

For instance, with a computer science degree, you can easily position yourself as a web designer, cybersecurity expert, or software engineer and start taking contracts from companies that outsource their projects.

This goes for other technical courses such as electrical engineering, interior design, graphics design, among others.

In short, it’s a question of why you are tarmacking/saying a course is useless while your mentality is wrong.

So, if you cannot get work, thinking your course is useless, try to change your mentality…

See whether it’s possible for you to try and create an opportunity for yourself, work hard at it, and maybe in the process, create it for others.

Parting words on useless courses in Kenya

As we conclude, I have mentioned that one good way you can get jobs/contracts is to use social media to position yourself as an expert in your field.

Fortunately, if you are new to online marketing, here, at Kenya Online College, we can help you.

We offer a variety of short courses that will help you stand out online. In addition, our courses can also help you transition into self-employment and freelancing – you can even get international clients right from the comfort of your house!

Some of these courses include:

• Digital/online marketing
• Social media management training
• Graphics design
• Cybersecurity
• Photography and videography
• Artificial intelligence (AI) courses

To book your spot in any one of these courses, you can get in touch with our admissions office by WhatsApp/call on 0797 532 345.

P.S: To maintain quality, we offer limited slots. So, the earlier you book your slot, the better.

MORE FROM OUR BLOG

Is digital marketing marketable in Kenya?

Technical skills in Kenya that can take you places

Photography and videography courses in Kenya

Where to study digital marketing in Kenya