Anyone could tell he didn’t belong once he opened his mouth to sing the first line of the song “Kumbaya.” Apart from the unconscious cracks and the battle of staying on the key of C major, Joni was shaking with each breath exhaled. His legs wobbled, his hands waggled, and his eyes spoke the language of fear mixed with doubt. How shocking! He was introduced to the choir as a tenor singer from a sister church called Oasis. Unfortunately, this oasis had its lungs and throat all dried up. Joni stopped singing from the looks on every face. By a corner, he saw the man playing the drums lift his eyebrows - not in wonder but a mechanism most people adopt to hold back laughter. The woman playing the bass guitar was looking down at nothing. As Joni’s eyes roved around the church, he saw an invisible congregation, all rising from their seats, eyes tight with laughter! The white walls were bloody-looking. Ah! Even the brown wooden cross on the altar resembled a negation. Joni felt the wo...
How I couldn’t land a part-time job, what I
learnt after and how it may help you secure a job
For anyone seeking
employment, it is essential to know how to impress an employer. It could be
through preparation; knowledge of the employer’s pain points and showing that
you are suited to take on the job and much more.
You could consider the
humble lessons I learnt about securing a job through my loss.
It was my HND One first
semester. I had zero expectations of funds from anywhere but I needed to fend
for myself and my sisters. This was one of the most difficult periods of
my life. And I wanted to rescue myself with my skills and passion by getting a
part-time job.
With my average writing
and designing skills, I was production manager and designer of YABATECH Mass
Communication students’ newspaper and magazine. I had experience in designing,
using designing computer applications. So I naturally gravitated towards
securing creative jobs.
Soon after, I
reconnected with a benefactor and friend, Smith who introduced me to his former
boss; Mr. Bayo Ayinde, who needed a graphic designer that could perform as well
as Smith did.
Develop yourself now
that you can
Unfortunately for me, my
portfolio was shallow at that time. School work, laziness and lack of focus got
in the way of consciously developing my skill set so that days before my meeting
with Mr. Ayinde, I was jittery, lacked self-confidence and doubted if I could
get this job.
One, I felt I couldn’t
design as well as Smith who had consistently improved overtime. Two, I felt I
lacked the experience since, unlike Smith, I hadn’t taken serious creative projects
since I started schooling some three years ago. And yet, I was determined to go
ahead because I needed to survive.
Looking back, I would
never have employed myself too if I needed someone who could handle design
projects on his own.
Should I get a chance to revisit my past, I would take
out time to improve myself first, before going out to seek employment.
Know what your employer
needs and how you can deliver
I remember that Mr.
Ayinde was interested in how much time I had to put into his work. He was soon
going to study abroad for a while and wanted someone who could function as the
lead designer and take the time to attend to his job while he was away.
To be honest, I wasn’t
the best person for the job with this profile. HND is one of the busy moments
of polytechnic education. I wouldn’t have been able to pull off working long
hours and schooling full time all at once. But I could have tried with serious
efforts.
Nonetheless, instead of
looking out for ways to help meet the company’s demands, I asked when they
closed for the day. I was too worried about my timing during the day and how I
could return back home at night.
Do not communicate your
problems or appear desperate
When he responded with a
chuckle, a positive remark for my communication skills and a revelation of how
much he does to meet client’s demands, I knew I was selling myself short.
But instead of stopping,
I compounded my problems when I started talking about my money problems and how
it motivated me to get the job.
Conclusion
As you would have
guessed, I didn’t get the job. I had hitches, my portfolio was weak and I was
already busy with school work. Had I not landed a freelance writing gig soon
after, I would have dropped out of school and denied my loved ones the little I
did for them at the time.
For the privacy and my
utmost respect for the persons I encountered at the period of my life that I
narrated in this piece, their names have been changed.
A
Shared experience!
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