Learning & Development Specialist
Human Resources & Recruitment
Learning & Development Specialists identify skill gaps and create training programmes to address them. Modern professionals in this field increasingly use learning-management systems, online courses, AI tools, skills assessments and digital learning platforms.
Salary (Nigeria)
₦2.4M–₦8M
Exam requirements
Career pathway
WAEC/NECO credits including English and Mathematics
3 years (SS1-SS3)
Five credits at O'level including English Language and Mathematics. Economics, Government, Literature and Commerce are useful because the work is heavy on writing, analysis and dealing with people.
B.Sc/B.A degree (or HND) in a relevant field
4 years
Common choices are Human Resource Management, Industrial/Organisational Psychology, Education, Mass Communication or Business Administration. Almost any degree is accepted by Nigerian employers if you can show you can design and deliver training; the degree matters less than demonstrated skill.
NYSC
1 year
Compulsory for Nigerian graduates under 30. Many people get their first training or HR experience during service — ask to be posted to an HR unit and volunteer to run staff or corper induction sessions.
Entry HR or training role
1-3 years
Most L&D specialists start as HR officers, training assistants, academy coordinators or classroom instructors and then specialise. Banks, telcos, FMCG companies, consulting firms and large NGOs in Lagos and Abuja have the most dedicated L&D teams.
Professional certification (CIPM, or international bodies such as CIPD/SHRM/ATD)
The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) is the recognised Nigerian HR body and its qualification is widely asked for in job adverts, though it is not a legal licence to practise. Duration depends on how many exam stages you are exempted from, so confirm the current structure with CIPM directly.
Common challenges
Few jobs are advertised as 'L&D' at entry level
DifficultNigerian companies rarely hire a fresh graduate straight into learning and development. The role usually sits inside an HR department, and only large organisations have a dedicated one, so the visible openings are for HR generalists, not L&D specialists.
How to handle: Apply for general HR officer, admin or training-assistant roles and take on the training tasks nobody else wants — writing the induction deck, organising the staff workshop, tracking who attended. Keep a simple file of every session you designed or facilitated; that record is what moves you into a specialist role later.
You must prove you can stand in front of a room
ModerateDesign work is half the job; the other half is facilitating — holding the attention of adults, some of them senior to you, and handling the person who thinks the training is a waste of time.
How to handle: Start building this before you graduate, for free. Join a debating society, teach a class at your place of worship, tutor JAMB candidates, or take a facilitator role in your department's tutorial group. Record yourself on your phone once a term and watch it back for filler words and eye contact.
Training tools and platforms are learned on your own
ModerateEmployers increasingly expect you to build courses on a learning-management system and use slide, video and assessment tools. Most Nigerian degree programmes will not teach you any of this.
How to handle: Use free tiers: Google Classroom or Moodle for course structure, Canva for materials, Google Forms for assessments. Build one real 45-minute course on something you already know, put it online, and let people take it. A link a hiring manager can click beats a certificate you paid for.
Proving that training actually worked
ModerateManagers who paid for a workshop want to know what changed afterwards. If you cannot show improvement, L&D is the first budget cut when money is tight — and in Nigeria budgets get tight often.
How to handle: Learn to measure from your very first session: a short before-and-after test, and one business number the training was meant to move (errors, sales calls, turnaround time). Get comfortable with Excel — pivot tables and charts — because that is how you will present it.
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Key skills
Minimum qualification
B.Sc/B.A in any discipline (Human Resource Management, Psychology, Education or Business Administration most common), plus in-house or professional L&D training