HOW I GOT MY FIRST JOB
David Adeoye, CFA
David is the Team Lead, Transaction Advisory
Services, MBC Capital Limited

A few days ago, my Group MD and I sat at
lunch somewhere in Asokoro area of the
FCT. While we waited to be served, we talked
about a few matters related to young people
and I shared with him how I got my first job.
When I finished, he asked me to share the
experience with younger people just leaving
school. I told him I would. This post (a more
detailed account) is in fulfillment of that
promise.

I completed my final first degree (B. Sc,
Economics) exams in February, 2002 (after
an extra semester) at Obafemi Awolowo
University. Having done my project work
almost a year earlier, I almost couldn’t wait
to get done with the final semester course
work. My interest in real business issues like
strategy, operations management, finance
etc was so intense that course work had
become boring though I still managed to
make 3 A’s and one B that last semester, an
improvement over the last session’s results.
The fact that many of my classmates had
commenced their mandatory national service
(i.e. NYSC) ahead of me provided an
important insight: banks were ready to hire
you provided you’re good even if you had no
insider connection. My friend and former
classmate in Ife, Toye Adeola provided
useful field intelligence. So as I prepared for
youth service, anticipating I would serve in
Abuja, I undertook a ‘market exploration’ trip
to the FCT in July, 2002 on the privilege of
my elder brother Mr. Remi Adeoye​.

During that trip, I physically visited over 44
different commercial banks (I mean banks,
not just branches of a few banks) out of the
89 in the country then. My enquiry was
simple: Do you take ‘youth corpers’? How
and from where do you recruit (Abuja, Lagos
or branch)? Do you administer aptitude
tests? And of course, how much do you
pay? I visited GTBANK, Zenith, Oceanic Bank,
First Bank, Diamond, Fidelity, Magnum Trust,
Universal Trust, Intercontinental, NNB, ACB,
Wema, Omega, Continental Trust, Equatorial
Trust, Prudent , EIB, and Capital Bank,
Afribank, Allstates Trust Bank and many
others that are no more plus a few others
that are still around.

From the ‘survey’, I developed a short list of
about eleven banks where I found I could
compete for a place on merit and where I
would like to work: Guaranty Trust, Oceanic,
Intercontinental, Magnum Trust, FSB and
five others I can’t remember. Then came
September and it was call-up time. However,
instead of Abuja I was expecting, my letter
read Edo State. Did I try to re-deploy? No.
Over the next few days, I prepared my CV
with some hand-written cover letters.
With a clear mission in mind: ‘to pursue a
career in finance and managerial
economics’, I left Ile-Ife for Edo State on
Monday, September 16, 2002. I was armed
with a few items: my KJV Bible, photocopies
of a magazine titled eFinancial Careers, and
Petersons’ GMAT 2002. On getting to Benin,
I alighted from the bus and went to see
which banks were in that city. Fortunately,
Oceanic, Intercontinental, NNB, Platinum,
Standard Trust and a few others already had
branches there. That was good news. After
about two hours in Benin, I set out for NYSC
camp in Abudu.

During our first week in camp, I sighted an
Oceanic Bank vehicle. I quickly walked up to
the guys . I asked if they would employ
‘corpers’ and gave them my CV and cover
letter. They told me when it’s time, they
would notify the NYSC staff. Along the line,
we were paid some allowance in camp and I
quickly purchased a copy of Petersons’ GRE
to complement the GMAT I had brought to
camp.

Then as we returned from ‘Endurance Trek’
during the final week of orientation, I sighted
the same Oceanic Bank vehicle driving
slowly away from the camp. Though it was
raining, I ran towards it and got the
attention of one of the occupants, Benson
Akhigbe, who recognized me from our earlier
chat. He asked: Do you have another copy of
your CV? I answered yes. I had left Ife with
about 10 copies.

So I applied and continued working on my
GMAT/GRE. About 2 weeks after camp,
Oceanic Bank invited us for a test in Asaba,
where the regional office was. On the day, it
rained heavily in Benin and because the
main road (called Lagos Road) was in bad
shape, I had to walk in muddy, flood water
that got to my knee. Yet I must write that
test. I joined a few friends (including
Olalekan Adisa, now with an engineering
arm of NNPC) and we got to Asaba about
12/1pm. Fortunately, the test was
rescheduled to about 4pm. I took the test
and was confident I would pass. Scripts
were returned to Lagos for grading. I even
had a dream I passed.

In the meantime, I got a place as a
secondary school teacher where I took
English Language in a village after Irrua, off
Benin-Auchi road. A fellow ‘corper’ got a
place as vice principal in a private secondary
school. One Tuesday morning as we went
for CD and stayed for NCCF fellowship
meeting, someone said to me: Are you David
Adeoye? I said yes. Then he said: ‘they are
looking for you in Benin’. I knew what it was
about. To say I was happy would be an
understatement.

The bank branch in Benin made a formal
request to the state NYSC and four of us
(Ibiyemi Mofolasayo, now with Ecobank,
Louisa Okeleke and Ngozi) were posted to
do our service with the bank. My time at the
bank was quite challenging and time
consuming but I gained valuable experience
especially in using a computer. Access to
the Internet allowed me make my first
contact with CFA Institute who sent me the
program brochure at a time it would take
about four months of my allowance (bank
+NYSC) to register for the program. I
enrolled with NIIT to deepen my computer
skills, attended two classes and just as I was
getting set to pay the balance, some fellow
picked the N3,500 from my pocket at Ring
Road, Benin. It was really painful.

A few days after completing youth service, a
very good friend whom I had met in Ife
during my extra semester (Gbolade Shoyemi​
) was going for his own NYSC. And the
company where he worked as an intern
needed a young analyst on the strategy
team. I interviewed for the role and though
Oceanic Bank offered all of us NYSC
members jobs after the service year, I opted
to leave commercial banking and resumed at
Phillips Consulting on Friday, October 31,
2003. On that day I got my first GSM line
(from the company). The next day, someone
offered me a hand set and agreed to be paid
when I got my first pay on the new job.
To younger graduates who are seeking to
get jobs, this is my counsel: Do not be
passive with your job search. Don’t depend
on others (especially parents) to find work
for you. You get the job and bring the news
and dividends to them. They’ve made the
investment already. Also be clear about
what you want to do. Don’t speculate or
guess. Decide and prepare. Associate and
stay in contact with persons of like mind and
finally, invest your time wisely.

Remember that hoping is neither a method
nor a strategy. But faith, a firm belief in God
and in the possibility of progress can take
you to places.

I do not in any way consider I’ve achieved
success in my career, I’m still striving. With
loads of time-bound deliverables, many
work-related documents to study, another
professional certification exam around the
corner (just a few months away), a team to
manage and so on. Yet I want to become
fluent in spoken/written French Language
and also get an MBA. The goals ahead far
outstrip any semblance of achievements
from the past. More so, I’ve never been, and
I’m still not perfect. Yet, I do believe God
that real progress is achievable if we are
clear and pour our hearts into what we
believe is our secular calling and keep at it.
Happy new month.

David Adeoye, CFA
David is the Team Lead, Transaction Advisory
Services, MBC Capital Limited

Source:www.jarushub.com/how-i-got-my-first-job/
cc: uboma, david470

Nice one OP,you just inspired me. I am a serving CORPER and hoping to get a good job without anyone's help and spread the good news.

Nice one


















I haven't read the article though

Thanks for your motivational words.

.

But bro, how was it easy combining work and studying for the CFA exam? I heard people travel down to Ghana to write CFA exam, how true is this?

If you are finding it difficult to
submit your application for the
NDDC oil spill management training read this thread

have a happy day

What an inspiring story of an ambitious, relentless, vision-driven man.

T h a t i s t h e s p i r i t.

Thanks you sharing, Jarushub!

A nice one @op, however 2015-2002=13years, my dear a lot of things have changed in Nigeria within this time. Corporate organizations are not finding it funny anymore, contract staffing is the order of the day, profit is at downward trend. From 2002 -2015, many companies had gone moribund. A 2015 write up on the same topic would have been more realistic based on the current economic realities.

Jarus, thanks for the inspiring piece. The key is knowing what interests you and then relentlessly going for it.

Great!!!

Rexology:
A nice one @op, however 2015-2002=13years, my dear a lot of things have changed in Nigeria within this time. Corporate organizations are not finding it funny anymore, contract staffing is the order of the day, profit is at downward trend. From 2002 -2015, many companies had gone moribund. A 2015 write up on the same topic would have been more realistic based on the current economic realities.

So true.