₦airaland Forum

Petitequeen:
I never ever felt getting a job would be hard for me. As a top class student in the University, I felt I'd have a myriad of jobs to choose from when I graduate. In my 2nd year in school, I had already subscribed to MyJobMag and NGCareers and with the number of vacancies they churn out everyday, I felt, why would anyone say they couldn't get jobs or that there are no jobs, when it was apparent that firms were practically competing in the search for prospective employees. It really used to amaze me until "owu" blew me...

The plan I had in mind was to do an internship in a prestigious organization before NYSC and then come back after NYSC to secure a position as a staff in that organization or in a better one entirely. And may I bring it to your notice brothers and sisters of God, I am still searching. Me, the self proclaimed top student in the University.... Anyways I haven't lost hope, but I've learn a great deal.

One of the memorable experiences I had in my job search struggle was my interview with a popular food company in Lagos. It was one of my first interviews, so one may feel that I would be a little naive, however I was very confident I would do well as I felt it wasn't a big task. I was good at communication and public speaking as I led so many presentations back in school so an interview wasn't going to be that hard, I thought.

The morning of the interview, I woke up by 4am, took my bath and got dressed before 5am, had a short prayer with my mum over the interview and then left the house around 5:30am,( I stay in Badagry, which is like another state entirely, so you have leave home very early if you want to make it to anywhere on the mainland or island before 9am) I already had the address of the organization I was going to, but I didn't know the place, I had the help of google map and Lagos bus drivers, so I was covered, or so I thought.

My ordeal started when I got to Iyana Ipaja and was supposed to take another bus to Ikeja, prior to this time I had never been to Ikeja, so when I started hearing buses calling "Ikeja along" and others calling "Ikeja inside" I was confused. I was like which one is going to Ikeja naw?? After pondering for a while, I decided to ask one woman selling jewelry on the roadside. I approached her and said, "Madam, please where can I get a bus going to Ikeja?"

she looked at me suspiciously and turned to a young girl seating close to her, who would probably have been her daughter and asked her "ki lo wi?" meaning "what did she say?"

As someone who was bred and 'buttered' in Lagos now, I quickly repeated the question again in Yoruba, only for the woman to look at me and hiss.

"so you know how to speak Yoruba since, you were now shaping your mouth and speaking oyibo English for us? Big madam! You went to school, we have seen you!" She mouthed in Yoruba.

I was surprised, it was only a question I asked, I thought. After about 2 minutes of realizing the woman wasn't going to say any other thing, her daughter decided to help me.

"Go that garage, tell them say..." she started to say, only for the woman to cut her short again..

"why are you telling her? is she blind? can't she hear conductors calling Ikeja inside everywhere?" she spoke in yoruba.

"sebi you went to school?" she turned to ask me, still in yoruba, "didn't you see all these conductors calling Ikeja inside? they are the one going inside Ikeja" she finished off with snort.

Shocked and weak, I thanked the woman and walked towards the bus calling Ikeja inside. I asked the conductor how much the fare was and he told me #300. I quickly sat in and was waiting for the bus to fill up, only for the conductor to announce that the fare was now #400. Everybody inside the bus started shouting and abusing the conductor, why was he hiking the price? was it because his bus was the only one at the garage and people were late? they were all asking and shouting all at once, the conductor kept on hammering that it was #400 and if anyone didn't want to go, the person could equally come down. Everybody started getting down from the bus in annoyance and me, the newbie, also joined them, thinking "no be me conductor go scam this morning"
When the conductor realized people were getting down, he shouted "oya enter for #300, hold your change oh, I no get change..." before the man had even finished his speech, see men and women in suit scrambling to get back into the bus, both people that got down from the bus and people that were standing at the garage waiting for another bus. In the event of the scrambling, I was shoved and pushed and still didn't get a seat.

I had to wait for over 20 minutes for another bus, which I managed to struggle and squeeze myself in. By this time, it was already past 8 and my interview was scheduled to hold around 10.
After spending about an hour in traffic, we finally go to Ikeja underbridge and I managed to get a keke going to my direction, along with my phone showing google map, I finally got to the address.

I entered the building and was told to wait in the reception, along with some other interviewees, after 30 minutes, I was called into another room where a three-man panel sat, the panel was made up of an elderly man, a white man and a woman. I waa told to sit, so I sat.

The white man smiled at me and asked me to tell them about myself, I started off by saying my name and talked for about two minutes. Then the elderly man , with a scowl on his face looked at me and said "This one you're speaking English fre fre fee, can you sell?"

I smiled and told him I could. That I had led a sales project back in school and I was capable of...

"How many main markets do you know in Lagos?, Mention the major markets in Lagos" he interrupted.

I started mentioning the little markets I knew around my area and the man laughed sarcastically, "this one looks like all those ajebo that leave the market runs for their mother" he told the woman seated beside him.

The white man sensing that I had begun to feel nervous asked if I knew their products, I turned to him and said I did and started mentioning some of them, only for the elderly man to cut me short again asking if I use all the products. To be honest, I prefer another brand entirely, but I told him I use some and he started calling out all their products and asking for the market prices and I was only able to answer some of them. He stopped and asked the woman if she had any other question, and she asked me what my strengths were, naive as I was, I said my strength was smiling, that I smile even when I'm not happy, I was trying to smile as I was saying this, but village people no gree oh, the smile didnt come, what came was a rigid teeth showing attempt that was apparently fake.
The woman looked at me with pity and said she had no more questions, I was still trying to regain my consciousness when the elderly man threw the question at me " If you were an animal, what animal would you be?"

I couldn't imagine that they were referring to me so I said "what?"but he repeated the same question, Was I a joke to these people? I asked myself. In my confusion, I replied that I would be a bird. The man asked why, and I said because I love to sing. The looks on their faces showed my reply was foolish, the question itself was foolish, I thought, so I tried to align my reply with the job and then I said "when I'm working, I love to sing as this makes the job look seamless and easier for me" which was a more silly response when I think about it.

The interview ended there, after they said they'd get back to me, which I knew wasn't going to happen. I knew I had flopped big time. I boarded a bus going home along with one of the applicants, so I asked her if she was asked the animal question, she told me she was and she told them she would love to be an eagle because she was foresighted and loved to soar high at all times.
Her reply made much sense and I began to wonder why I didn't think of that. Why didnt I even think of being a Lion? so I could be brave and courageous or a tortoise, so I could be wise?

Anyways, I vowed to be a better animal in my next interview. Being an animal will not disqualify me from any other recruitment process.

Petitequeen:
I never ever felt getting a job would be hard for me. As a top class student in the University, I felt I'd have a myriad of jobs to choose from when I graduate. In my 2nd year in school, I had already subscribed to MyJobMag and NGCareers and with the number of vacancies they churn out everyday, I felt, why would anyone say they couldn't get jobs or that there are no jobs, when it was apparent that firms were practically competing in the search for prospective employees. It really used to amaze me until "owu" blew me...

The plan I had in mind was to do an internship in a prestigious organization before NYSC and then come back after NYSC to secure a position as a staff in that organization or in a better one entirely. And may I bring it to your notice brothers and sisters of God, I am still searching. Me, the self proclaimed top student in the University.... Anyways I haven't lost hope, but I've learn a great deal.

One of the memorable experiences I had in my job search struggle was my interview with a popular food company in Lagos. It was one of my first interviews, so one may feel that I would be a little naive, however I was very confident I would do well as I felt it wasn't a big task. I was good at communication and public speaking as I led so many presentations back in school so an interview wasn't going to be that hard, I thought.

The morning of the interview, I woke up by 4am, took my bath and got dressed before 5am, had a short prayer with my mum over the interview and then left the house around 5:30am,( I stay in Badagry, which is like another state entirely, so you have leave home very early if you want to make it to anywhere on the mainland or island before 9am) I already had the address of the organization I was going to, but I didn't know the place, I had the help of google map and Lagos bus drivers, so I was covered, or so I thought.

My ordeal started when I got to Iyana Ipaja and was supposed to take another bus to Ikeja, prior to this time I had never been to Ikeja, so when I started hearing buses calling "Ikeja along" and others calling "Ikeja inside" I was confused. I was like which one is going to Ikeja naw?? After pondering for a while, I decided to ask one woman selling jewelry on the roadside. I approached her and said, "Madam, please where can I get a bus going to Ikeja?"

she looked at me suspiciously and turned to a young girl seating close to her, who would probably have been her daughter and asked her "ki lo wi?" meaning "what did she say?"

As someone who was bred and 'buttered' in Lagos now, I quickly repeated the question again in Yoruba, only for the woman to look at me and hiss.

"so you know how to speak Yoruba since, you were now shaping your mouth and speaking oyibo English for us? Big madam! You went to school, we have seen you!" She mouthed in Yoruba.

I was surprised, it was only a question I asked, I thought. After about 2 minutes of realizing the woman wasn't going to say any other thing, her daughter decided to help me.

"Go that garage, tell them say..." she started to say, only for the woman to cut her short again..

"why are you telling her? is she blind? can't she hear conductors calling Ikeja inside everywhere?" she spoke in yoruba.

"sebi you went to school?" she turned to ask me, still in yoruba, "didn't you see all these conductors calling Ikeja inside? they are the one going inside Ikeja" she finished off with snort.

Shocked and weak, I thanked the woman and walked towards the bus calling Ikeja inside. I asked the conductor how much the fare was and he told me #300. I quickly sat in and was waiting for the bus to fill up, only for the conductor to announce that the fare was now #400. Everybody inside the bus started shouting and abusing the conductor, why was he hiking the price? was it because his bus was the only one at the garage and people were late? they were all asking and shouting all at once, the conductor kept on hammering that it was #400 and if anyone didn't want to go, the person could equally come down. Everybody started getting down from the bus in annoyance and me, the newbie, also joined them, thinking "no be me conductor go scam this morning"
When the conductor realized people were getting down, he shouted "oya enter for #300, hold your change oh, I no get change..." before the man had even finished his speech, see men and women in suit scrambling to get back into the bus, both people that got down from the bus and people that were standing at the garage waiting for another bus. In the event of the scrambling, I was shoved and pushed and still didn't get a seat.

I had to wait for over 20 minutes for another bus, which I managed to struggle and squeeze myself in. By this time, it was already past 8 and my interview was scheduled to hold around 10.
After spending about an hour in traffic, we finally go to Ikeja underbridge and I managed to get a keke going to my direction, along with my phone showing google map, I finally got to the address.

I entered the building and was told to wait in the reception, along with some other interviewees, after 30 minutes, I was called into another room where a three-man panel sat, the panel was made up of an elderly man, a white man and a woman. I waa told to sit, so I sat.

The white man smiled at me and asked me to tell them about myself, I started off by saying my name and talked for about two minutes. Then the elderly man , with a scowl on his face looked at me and said "This one you're speaking English fre fre fee, can you sell?"

I smiled and told him I could. That I had led a sales project back in school and I was capable of...

"How many main markets do you know in Lagos?, Mention the major markets in Lagos" he interrupted.

I started mentioning the little markets I knew around my area and the man laughed sarcastically, "this one looks like all those ajebo that leave the market runs for their mother" he told the woman seated beside him.

The white man sensing that I had begun to feel nervous asked if I knew their products, I turned to him and said I did and started mentioning some of them, only for the elderly man to cut me short again asking if I use all the products. To be honest, I prefer another brand entirely, but I told him I use some and he started calling out all their products and asking for the market prices and I was only able to answer some of them. He stopped and asked the woman if she had any other question, and she asked me what my strengths were, naive as I was, I said my strength was smiling, that I smile even when I'm not happy, I was trying to smile as I was saying this, but village people no gree oh, the smile didnt come, what came was a rigid teeth showing attempt that was apparently fake.
The woman looked at me with pity and said she had no more questions, I was still trying to regain my consciousness when the elderly man threw the question at me " If you were an animal, what animal would you be?"

I couldn't imagine that they were referring to me so I said "what?"but he repeated the same question, Was I a joke to these people? I asked myself. In my confusion, I replied that I would be a bird. The man asked why, and I said because I love to sing. The looks on their faces showed my reply was foolish, the question itself was foolish, I thought, so I tried to align my reply with the job and then I said "when I'm working, I love to sing as this makes the job look seamless and easier for me" which was a more silly response when I think about it.

The interview ended there, after they said they'd get back to me, which I knew wasn't going to happen. I knew I had flopped big time. I boarded a bus going home along with one of the applicants, so I asked her if she was asked the animal question, she told me she was and she told them she would love to be an eagle because she was foresighted and loved to soar high at all times.
Her reply made much sense and I began to wonder why I didn't think of that. Why didnt I even think of being a Lion? so I could be brave and courageous or a tortoise, so I could be wise?

Anyways, I vowed to be a better animal in my next interview. Being an animal will not disqualify me from any other recruitment process.

ifyalways:
Some of you can really write. Nice and thumbs up

Deadline for posting your essay here remains 1st March, 12pm.

1stKing:
wow since March... Missed this

Peejayx01:
What a wonderful writeup, I love this

ifyalways:
It was indeed. One of my best piece here..

onyeka02:
Please I need help .. I am so depressed. I finished my
NYSC December, 2018. And since then I have been
searching for a job. Please I need your help..
BSc Physics Electronics. I stay in Sagamu, Ogun State .
My contact is 08162657268
I am also ready to resume immediately.

choo:
2nd of June 2015 I got a call for an Interview in Lagos as a Sales Rep. I was happy about it and I left my base in one of the Eastern towns of the country.

I got to Lagos, stayed in my Sisters apartment and practiced all night. Fantasised so much about the job and how to talk so well during the interview.

Did I tell you I bought new shoes and a suit for this. Morning came I had my bath, said my prayers and bade mum and my sisters goodbye.

I got to the address in Ikeja. I was a bit confused because it didn't look like a company but like a residential area. I got into the building and asked a guy washing a car if this is "XYZ" company and he said yes. I stood waiting for the the staff to come around which they did around 9am. My interview time said 8:30am.

When the opened the door I went in with them, they gave me a seat and told me to hold on for the "Oga". I sat while watching the rehearsing in my head for the purported interview.

Around 10am a man walked in wearing a " Coat ", not even a suit. A " coat " the size of Dangote trailer on his extremely slim body. He beckoned I joined him I'm his office, then I learnt he was even sharing this tiny spaced office with three other "companies"... chai!!.

He began his questions and I was answering, then all of a sudden he told me he was recruiting for a very big company in Lagos. He told me they can pay any amount provided I always met my sales target. He said they are contactors to Coca Cola, NBPlc, etc.

When we were done, he now called the Supposed MD of the " big company " and the man told him he's around that I should start coming. When I was leaving he joined me and begged me for money for breakfast that he forgot his Wallet at home. I just had little money on me as I never envisaged that I'd have to go to another address for another round of interview.

The rain had already started, I don't know anywhere in Lagos as I'm not based there, but I squeezed out #500 and gave to him feeling happy this would even make him recommend me more for the job.

He advised I should go under the rain, Chai Chineke, with my new shoes and suit plus my credentials. The road was also flooded but I set in.

He told me the Company is at "xyz" road by Wewe Chemist. I never hear that name before "wewe Chemist". He told me to get to Oshodi bus stop and then find a bike to the place.

I trek o till I come reach where I go enter Oshodi bus for Ikeja. I was asking everyone how to get to that address but no one knew. When we got to Oshodi I luckily met an Igbo Mechanic who had an idea of the place. He called a bike man and the bike said #400 to the place.

Odiegwu, the only money I had was #300. Do I find my way back to my sisters place or do I find a way to this" big company " as I believed Satan was doing all he can to deny me this job.

The Igbo guy saw the look on my face as the bike man said #400 for the fare. He asked me what I was going to do there, I told him I was going for an interview. By then my shoes and Suit don soak water finish.

He pitied me and paid the bike man, wished me luck and we set out. On getting to that road, the kind of Old dilapidated houses I was seeing was a turn off, but my mind kept on telling me " o boy chill the company go stand out for this area".

As we got to the address the bike man rode past as me self nor believe na the 'big company ". We got to the end of the road and there was no company at all, I told him to turn make we begin search again.

We got to that same Number again, I now saw the supposed 'big company" name written clearly on the wall of this one- room apartment. The building self don tire and the next rain would surely sweep off the building. There were little grasses on the compound.

The bike man looked at me and looked at the building. He asked "Oga dem look you finish come say make you work here"?( He heard when I was conversing with the Igbo Mechanic I was coming there for interview).

Me self look my suit, my new shoe as rain don design every every. I didn't even come down from the bike, I just told him I'm going to Bode Thomas " please take me to where I can find my way back biko'.

He took me to Oshodi-Apapa Express way and gave me details on how to get back to my place at Bode Thomas.

When I got home I couldn't talk for more than 30mins as mum and my sisters were even eager to gist them how I landed the job.

When I started and concluded my ordeal, dem laugh tire even as that first man collected #500 from me.

Till today I still have that shoe and suit with me, they always remind me of my funny movement that day in June 2015.

ifyalways:
Watch out for December edition coming soon.

Crazeworld:
Madam Ify, when is this going to be?

ifyalways:
Soon. . .

ifyalways:
Watch out for December edition coming soon.

ifyalways:
Watch out for December edition coming soon.

NosaJBourne:
we are ready

ifyalways:
I will make out time for this, this weekend or next week hopefully.

ifyalways:
I cant send too many Pm's unfortunately

Please send me a PM instead. Thanks

ifyalways:
I will make out time for this, this weekend or next week hopefully.