Create a Job Search Toolkit for First-Generation Graduates in Northern Nigeria

In states like Kano, Kaduna, and Sokoto, a growing number of young people are the first in their families to hold a university degree. This is a genuine achievement, but it comes with a gap that credentials alone cannot close: most of these graduates have no professional network, no family member who has ever written a CV or sat in a formal interview, and limited exposure to the unwritten rules of white-collar employment. The job search content available online is either in English too formal for someone whose first language is Hausa, or built around Lagos and Abuja norms that do not apply to someone applying for a role at a Kano state ministry or a manufacturing firm in Kaduna. There is very little that speaks directly to their situation: low bandwidth, no LinkedIn network, and employers who expect cultural competencies that no one has explained to them. Your deliverable is a job search toolkit designed specifically for this audience. It should include: a CV template and guide adapted for common employer types in northern Nigeria (state government, NGOs, manufacturing, telecoms), a one-page interview preparation guide that accounts for formal and semi-formal interview settings, a section on how to find and approach people for informational conversations without a pre-existing network, and guidance on negotiating a first offer. The toolkit should be usable without internet access and written in plain, accessible English with the option to include Hausa equivalents for key terms. Good work will show that you have thought about who is actually using this toolkit: their educational background, the types of roles available to them locally, and the specific barriers they face. A toolkit that would work equally well in Victoria Island is not a good submission. Test your assumptions, show your reasoning, and make something that a real 23-year-old in Zaria could pick up and use tomorrow.