Let's face it, not all graduates are employable. Some leave a very, very bad taste in the mouth of those from whom they seek employment in the course of the tests and interview that they are put through in trying to land a job. For some, its the impression that 'man must know man' that leads them directly to failure in the course of seeking for employment.

Landing a job in Nigeria is no mean feat, even for those who are overly qualified for the job. But for some, the impression that you must know someone in an office -be it private or government, is costing them that job. The truth is in most government offices, and even private organizations, having an insider puts you one foot in the door. But the truth also is, it doesn't necessarily guarantee that you two feet will eventually find their way into the office you seek.

It is often said that 'when opportunity meets preparation, the end and guaranteed result is success.' However, I have come to realize that some, if not most graduates are usually unprepared when that opportunity comes. For some, the readily available excuse for that failure to prepare is 'I won't bother myself to apply, I don't know anybody in that office.' Who says you must know somebody?

Recently, there was an opening in my place of work. About 500 applications were submitted for positions that were not even up to 10. As someone who was part of the process from the beginning, the credentials of more than half of the applicants was very, very intimidating: 2 1st class graduates, about 10 candidates that studied in universities abroad, hundreds of masters holders and even 2 PhD in view applicants. Not to talk of the hundreds of those whose class of degree was 2:1. But as an organization that doesn't discriminate against class of degree, and since the minimum requirement was BSc or B.A, almost every applicant was invited for the test.

The exercise was a huge success. We were able to prune down the number of those who applied to just 30 candidates. However, James (not real name) who couldn't scale through went and complained to my neighbor, who happens to be his elder sister, that the whole exercise was a smoke screen as we already knew who we wanted to employ. As someone who toiled and made sure he was even invited for the test (this is because he submitted his application after test invites had been sent out), I got very upset and decided to look for his test script myself.

After spending hours searching for it, I finally found it amongst the heap of those who were the 'rejects'. His score? 10/100. He scored just 10 out of 100. I photocopied it and brought it home and showed it to my neighbor, his sister. To my utter dismay, the examiner who marked his script was a tad bit generous. Because I am certain he would have scored less then that if I was the one that marked it.

This attitude, I'm afraid, has cost a lot of people opportunities in life. As I asked earlier, who says you must know someone? Getting jobs isn't only about knowing someone. There are countless number of people who did without knowing anyone. And sometimes, the minute you say that, or the impression creeps into your mind, you have already set yourself up nicely to fail.

And for someone who has gone for job openings and led some or been part of some, I must end by saying this: those of you who read courses that are pure sciences, and feel proper knowledge of how to write essays is only for students of Arts, please endeavor to learn how it's done. You can never tell when it'll come in handy. It's a priceless knowledge!

Op, is your coy KPMG?

OgidiOlu3:
Op, is your coy KPMG?

zicoraads:

Gotcha. I have your test on Monday o. Oya, epp me

OgidiOlu3:

Gotcha. I have your test on Monday o. Oya, epp me

Lol, very funny. Sorry, I don't work with them.