Journey to a successful The Phone call career: A series

The National Bureau of Statistics revealed recently that Nigeria’s population is about 198 million out of which youths (15 – 35 years) constitute about 95 million. About 56 million of these youths are either unemployed or underemployed. This is serious, dangerous and worrisome.

Indeed, about 500,000 graduates are churned out of the Nigerian tertiary education system (universities, polytechnics and colleges of education) yearly. Further, the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Director – General, in 2017 Brigadier General Suleiman Kazaure revealed that no fewer than 300,000 graduates are mobilized annually by the NYSC.

Several of these graduates need help with what their next steps will be, in this next phase of life. This article, designed in series, seeks to guide those critical next steps.

Imagine this scenario… an individual just graduated from a tertiary institution in Nigeria, proceeds on the compulsory one year National Youth Services Corps (NYSC), and is expected to start “serving” after completion of the onemonth Orientation Camp segment, of the service year. Suddenly, one becomes a job seeker in the labour market where abound several millions of unemployed and underemployed youths from previous NYSC streams, as well as the current stream. Also, there are other categories of job seekers seeking for jobs in small domestic organizations, large domestic organizations, international organizations, public sector ministries and parastatals, with limited vacancies.

Consequently, in seeking employment, how does this individual distinguish himself or herself from the 36 million other job seekers in this oversaturated market? How does he or she find the right job that aligns with his or her strengths? Why will the proposed employer choose him/her over several thousands of other applicants? Even when the individual can secure the job, does he/she have the right skills set to retain the job, grow and excel at it? These and much more will be addressed in these series, titled 12 Point Guides to A Successful Career.

The series would be weekly and would aim to cover the following areas; viz:1) Life after university graduation…The Job Search

This will cover discussions on career choices and skills required to fit into a job, individual goals/objectives, mission and vision, plans for the future as well as principles/core values.

2) How to create a Résumé or Curriculum Vitae (AKA CV)

This sub series will cover information required for careers in different industries, such as Finance, Telco, ICT, Oil & Gas, Services, etc. From experience, each vacancy would require a tailor made résumé for effective marketing of the candidate.

3) Creating the right cover letter to accompany a CV/ Résumé

This will deal with how to effectively package the individual, to be easily identified in one’s preferred industry.

4) Planning for Aptitude/Psychometric Test

Arising from a deluge of candidates, most organizations now conduct aptitude psychometric and IQ tests to further reduce the size and number of candidates for consideration. Mechanics of these tests would be discussed. 5) Preparation for Interview A critical look at preparation for an interview; such as appropriate dressing, research the subject, organisation, job, anticipated questions and answers from panel members and interviewee, salary negotiation, etc.

6) Commencement of Career: Starting Work

A preview of first day and week at work and a look at a typical induction process, staff indoctrination, organizational culture and policies, job description, key performance indicator, setting targets, performance reviews, etc. 7) Development of Career Path As you settle down in an organisation adopting and adapting to its culture and norms, you would begin to visualize your future vis-ávis your career goals and objectives and thus you would require job rotation, identifying your strengths and matching them to your career path, etc. 8) Achieving Work/Life Balance A preview of life/career: when an individual gets married, starts a family and finding the right balance between family and work. A discussion on mid-life crisis; its effects and how to best manage it would also be covered.

9) Career Progression/Knowledge Acquisition and Self Improvement

This series looks at what next after one has identified his career path, skills and competencies required to push one up on the corporate ladder, relevant professional exams and certifications, performance appraisal, promotion and challenges, plans, etc. 10) Leadership Aspects of trainings that prepare one for leadership, how to distinguish yourself, stepping out of your comfort zone, the quest to deepen knowledge and sharpen skills, how to deliver consistently and exceptionally. Plans in more details. 11) Corporate/Organizational Politics What is organizational politics, characteristics, impact and how it is managed with great result, the do’s, don’ts, plans revisited, etc? 12) Retirement Every start has an end! Although there is a current debate which posits that it is time to retire retirement, at some time one would have to leave a job for good.

We look at the expectation, the reality and finding a middle ground for execution.

Due to the nature of this series, the target audience would be undergraduates, fresh graduates, Human Resource practitioners personnel management lecturers, human resource practitioners, Researchers, business owners, job seekers (young and old) and current employees in any organization wishing to retain and progress in their employment.

“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, or the ears of the wise seek it out” (Proverbs 18:15)

“Are those who have knowledge and those who have no knowledge alike? Only the men of understanding are mindful (Quran, 39:9)

“Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands” (Psalm 119:66)

“My Lord! Increase me in knowledge…” (Quran 20:114)

Procrastination is a terrible thing All my deadlines had ganged up on me and I had started feeling the pressure. I was already feeling the beginning of a nasty headache sneaking up on me when I heard my name being called.

‘What?’ I looked up from my computer. It was just after 3 pm and I was done with clinical. Hungry, tired and exhausted. It was a new doctor in the department, she needed help reviewing a patient. I groaned. The senior doctor on call was on his way and I was conveniently in the next office. I reluctantly got up and followed her into the consulting room.

The patient was Larai* a middleaged woman in her early forties. She was weeping silently and appeared dishevelled. I winced internally. I did not have time to waste on weepy females, I had work to do. The junior doctor gave me a summary- the patient was having difficulty breathing. Her speech was incoherent. She was not sleeping and could not concentrate. She was neglecting her 6-month-old baby. Her brother, who accompanied her stood silently staring at us. I sensed there was more to the story. I glanced at my watch and sighed. My presentation would just have to wait.

I was able to persuade the brother to paint the whole picture. He started by asking us if we had heard about the man who was thrown out of the window by his wife 3 days ago. I replied in the affirmative. Freedom radio had aired it on their popular program “Inda ranka”. I remember being shocked and wondered to myself what the world was coming to.

The story was about a Lecturer who had two wives and lived together. Larai was his first wife and she lived with her 6 children on the ground floor. Her co-wife, Zara,* lived on the first floor with her three kids. On a fateful day, the husband had been in his bedroom on the first floor, whispering sweet nothings into his phone. The second wife overheard him talking to his girlfriend and went downstairs to report to her co-wife. Larai pacified her and asked her to ignore him.

‘He is just doing it to make you jealous. Relax, nothing is going to happen.’

‘But Larai, this is disrespect! How can he be talking to a girl in our room? I will show him pepper! I will let him know that I will not be disrespected in my matrimonial home! I will…..’

With that, the second wife bolted upstairs to her apartment. Larai, my patient, had at this time, composed herself enough to join in narrating the story.

She recounted how, after the second wife left, she had gone to her room to pray Isha, the night prayer. She marvelled at her co-wife’s foolishness. How did she think she felt when her husband was courting her, Zara? Or did she think that she, Larai, was without a heart? As she sat after praying, reciting her invocations, she heard a loud thud and children screaming. She rushed outside to see what the commotion was about.

Her co-wife rushed down screaming also. She saw the children gathered around her husband who had fallen from the balcony and lay crumpled in a heap with his head turned at an unusual angle. What happened next, was like a blur, she recalled. Her neighbours had taken their husband to the hospital. Her co-wife recounted that she had entered her room and snatched her husband’s phone from him while he was talking. He had become enraged and a quarrel had ensued. He had chased her to the balcony while trying to collect the phone, cornered and punched her. She had become livid and had shoved him with all her strength. The next thing she knew, he had toppled over the railing and was lying on the ground. Larai, described her co-wife, Zara, as a tall, obese woman. I listened silently. She had been called to the hospital. Her husband was pronounced dead on arrival. Life, as she knew it had changed forever.

Since then, she had not slept and the stress of talking to the police and media had taken its toll on her. Her co-wife was in police custody.

Larai, suffered from an acute stress reaction. I prescribed some sedatives and plenty of rest. I glanced at the clock; it was a few minutes to 5 pm. So much for my deadlines.

As I drove to pick up the kids from Islamiyya, my mind kept returning to the story. I had seen many cases of domestic violence, and in most cases, there was almost always a pattern. In this case, the patient had truthfully (even when she had the opportunity to malign her co-wife) said that Zara had never been violent and they had never engaged in any physical assault of any kind. Her husband had also never hit her.

I remembered my grandmother’s prayer every time we went visiting: ‘Allah ya rabamu da mugun gani, da mugun ji, da mugun nufi da mugun tsautsayi’.

This was most certainly ‘Mugun tsautsayi’

Zara’s case is still in court. Larai has recovered fully. She assured me that they are still friends.

*Names changed to protect identity.