₦airaland Forum

Olamsoh:
The Evil
@DiKachii

Many of you have got your visas/PR and plan to move abroad next year. Some of you are already abroad and are looking for a job. I will share some tips from my own experience and common mistakes from other young Nigerians that ask for help.

Note: I don’t work in HR

First thing: When looking for a job abroad, most companies ask for a CV and a cover letter. I must tell you guys this is a full time job on its own.

For your CV: Ensure your CV is focused. What do I mean by focused? Highlight on only the experiences, skills, and qualifications that tell that you are not new to the industry or the issues affecting the industry you are applying to. There’s no need putting the teaching experience from NYSC where you taught social studies and the time you were an office assistant at a car wash in Bariga for an

IT job in Toronto. Secondly, KEYWORDS, use the exact keywords you find in the job ads in your CV. This helps the software (they use a software to pre-read CVs dunno what it is called sha) to pre-select your CV for the recruiters

Lastly, your CV should tell a single short story about you. What do I mean? Assess yourself and ask yourself what is my selling point? It could be your brilliant grades, it could be the type of companies you worked in eg Mckinsey and the likes. It could be your achievement at work eg Bringing in $10m contracts annually. Find your unique selling point and hammer on it. Don’t bother to highlight everything. Find the strongest and amplify.

Cover letter: This one for me, i think many nigerian immigrants fall by the way here. I have helped with so many cover letters for guys on here that I can tell you the first thing is; WRITE SHORT SENTENCES AND KEEP IT SIMPLE!

In my advises, I say a page and three paragraphs.

First paragraph, introduce yourself. Second Paragraph explain how your experiences are relevant to the job requirements. This means you should have the job ad side by side while writing this and be sure to use the same words as written in the job ad.
Lastly, your CV should tell a single short story about you. What do I mean? Assess yourself and ask yourself what is my selling point? It could be your brilliant grades, it could be the type of companies you worked in eg Mckinsey and the likes..

It could be your achievement at work eg Bringing in $10m contracts annually. Find your unique selling point and hammer on it. Don’t bother to highlight everything. Find the strongest and amplify.

Cover letter: This one for me, i think many Nigerian immigrants fall by the way here. I have helped with so many cover letters for guys on here that I can tell you the first thing is; WRITE SHORT SENTENCES AND KEEP IT SIMPLE!

In my advices, I say a page and three paragraphs.

First paragraph, introduce yourself. Second Paragraph explain how your experiences are relevant to the job requirements. This means you should have the job ad side by side while writing this and be sure to use the same words as written in the job ad.

Third paragraph is for highlighting why you want to work in this company. I advice putting facts about the company that are not in the company description in the job ad. For example how you think a company who won best place to work in the city of boston is a perfect fit for you. Or putting facts about how the company’s goals align with your long term goals.

Now you have got all these in place, you need to let people know you are available. One useful tool is linkedin. Erroneously, we think LinkedIn is for sending CVs. Linkedin is best when used to form physical human connections. This is where western culture comes into full play.

Look at companies, you are interested in, look for the departments within the company you are interested in. Connect with the manager or the seniors (non-managers) in the department. Don’t bother with CEOs or Directors. They may read it but have no time to reply.

When I say connect, not just adding them but send them a message. Be direct, by saying what they do seems interesting and if they would like to explain to you over coffee or lunch. Don’t worry you will not need to pay for their lunch or coffee if they agree.

Some of the best work relationships you will have in the abroad start with a coffee/lunch. Trust me. During this coffee/lunch, the person will give you more info about the job or the job market in general. Even if you don’t have that particular job. You are now in the mental registry of that person, whenever the person hears of a job opening that fits, they will remember you. I’m briefly touching each points. This is not the medium to totally unflesh each point but I hope you get the idea.

Interviews: In business school, I was told that when called for an interview, the companies want you but are waiting for you to give them for a reason not to hire you.

Unlike Nigeria where dozens can be called for interview at the same time. Man-hours are accounted for in the abroad.

first interviews are usually impersonal and can be done at distance. However, the main interviews are more often than not a social fit test.

Therefore, I think it is very important to be natural, be yourself, be confident. Because, you will regret working in a place where you do not socially fit in.

That brings me to rejection; rejection never means you are not good enough. For one it could be that you do not socially fit in, it could be a problem of budget, it could even be a freeze on recruitment, it could be a long list of factors away from you not being good enough.

So heads up! Don’t let rejection pull you down. Keep moving, keep applying, keep meeting people. Most young nigerians are always discouraged by the amount of rejections they get but it really removes nothing from what you have to offer.

That Tunde whose CGPA is lower than yours got a job since does not mean anything in this zones. Just keep spreading your tentacles.

Yerundae:
Good morning Doc,

Trust this meets you well.

I have been married for 13months now without conceiving. I had concerns when i had not conceived by the 4th month into marriage and went to see a Doctor. But i was dismissed and told infertility concerns can only be raised when the marriage is a year old. Long story short, i went back to the hospital one year after my marriage and they signed i and my husband up for some tests. I carried out HSG while he carried out SFA + Culture.

Our results said we were okay. His sperm count was over 55% and my tubes were okay from the HSG result. Before this i had carried out a scan that showed my reproductive system was fine. My Doctor also ruled out Hormonal imbalance as my period has been very regular. Question is, why am i still yet to conceive? I have sex during my fertile days and every other day. At this point I'm willing to explore any other tests to confirm if my reproductive system is truly fine, or take whatever medications can be prescribed.

Any advice for me please?

Olujanny:
Please help check this out Dr. Thanks

Osyxcel:
Well, cheating on the part of the Head of HR is a personal issue.

If the company policy doesn't condone amorous relationship between staff members, then the laid down disciplinary action should be taken, especially considering the position of the Head of HR, who should know better.

If the company doesn't have any such policy, then it becomes an ethical issue because of the postion of the HR manager. The relationship may become a familiarity threat to his job functions which is require him to be unbiased.

In this case, the CEO should call him to order and let him know that the relationship is a threat to his job position.

This is my own point of view.

IceColdVeins:
Bro this right here is also my strict principle. They always think that I'm been weird.

OBelz:
It was my birthday so I had a few friends around.

So I used the opportunity to introduce my best friend (she was my padi to the bone marrow) to my fiancé (now ex). She was so happy to meet him and I felt good because she had always wanted to meet with him. The party ended well and we all went home.

But after few days, kept getting calls and messages from this friend asking if I really want to settle down with this man. I wondered why she was really concerned and asking. So I asked her what is it that she isn’t telling me.

She said to me “Nothing was wrong”, I said, "are you sure?" She replied yes, she wants the best for me and she was just looking out for me. I didn’t bother asking again.

One very hot afternoon, my man(now ex) were together and he decided to tell and show me everything my supposed "best friend” said/wrote to him.

Firstly I was surprised how she got his number and I was so devastated.She told him I was no good for him because my family had issues and he would want that for him self.

Well I was flabbergasted to say the least now though

The worst kind of hurt is betrayal, because it means that someone will willing to hurt you just to make themselves feel better.

Ever been betrayed? Tell us what happened and let's learn.

Ladies never introduce your friends to your man either ex, present or future.

Olamsoh:
{THREAD} Job Seekers: If you're in the midst of interviewing or negotiating offers with companies or maybe you've already accepted one & slated to start soon.

Reach out to the company. You have every right to know where you stand. Here's a list of questions you'll want to ask.

For interviewers: Will my scheduled on site interview be changed to a virtual interview? If so, which technology will we be using so I can familiarize myself with the system?

Also, will there be any major changes in the interview schedule itself as the company work approach changes?

If accepted job offer: Will my start date be changed? How will this impact training & onboarding? *good time to offer your comfortability with doing this virtual*

If start date is changed, how will this impact/affect compensation (you've got the job - you need to know).

Make sure you save/read the offer letter and the entire compensation package.

Also check the company site/social media for updates to stay informed.

If there is an HR hotline - Call them and ask what your options are to make sure you're protecting yourself.

Ok back to the questions..

For interviewers: Will this slow down the hiring process at all? If so, what is the expected timeline to fill this role?

Today, I launched a Leveled Up & LinkedIn Challenge, a 5 day FREE mini course for anyone looking to upgrade their LinkedIn. It just kicked off and not too late to join: Telegram search for WORK GROUP

biGDhAp:
. oh lawd .. are you not always tired of making long Posts .. you should learn to summarize