My position at Grittyplus Consulting Ltd opened my eyes to so many
different things; the most eye-catching for me is Recruitment.
The average Joe or Jane will stoop as low as possible to curry a
favour from you if he/she thinks you’re in a position to get him a job. Morning
sir, yes sir, thank you sir, God bless you sir etc, all these phrases are readily
at the tip of their lips but it only applies as long as they think you can
help, the moment they realise that the final decision does not lie with you,
then you see their true nature. But, how wrong can they be? Your interviewer
might not be the one to make the final decision on whether or not you get the
job, but his recommendation/rejection to the board definitely will.
Join a commercial bus with a fellow and ask him to make a little room
for you and you get a monster, but have him in an interview session and he is
almost angel-like, with measured gestures, well thought out answers (for the
really smart ones), swift manoeuvre and
an almost apologetic smile.
Question is; why do Nigerians save their best characters for a
Recruitment Session? Why can’t we just be sweet, nice and kind all of the time?
Why do we have to stoop so low to curry a favour? And why do we always feel we
can get a good job even when not deserving?
Why do you need to beg for someone to give you a job, instead of
showing how deserving you are of that job? In any job interview, communication,
countenance, dressing, personal development etc are ever crucial to your
chances of landing the job.
A Bachelor’s degree holder in International Relations from one of
Nigeria’s top States higher institution of learning that could not construct a
simple sentence in English without looking for fillers, a degree holder in Economics education who doesn’t seem to know
what she intends to do with herself, not least her education; a serious lack of
a sense of purpose. Why in God’s name would you go into an interview unprepared?
Doing that means you’ve given the interviewer a chance to just humiliate you
and send you away even without proper drilling. The problem with most graduates
in addition to not studying what they love or want is that they lack self-awareness.
Self-awareness is an understanding of your total being, your strength,
your weaknesses and most importantly how you channel them together to make
yourself a well-rounded person. Let’s not go into something else.
Nigeria will be a much better place if we all put on our interview attitude
everywhere, every time; the almost foolish-like politeness, the patience, the
countenance and oh…the humility. What a happy place Nigeria will be.
On the other hand, Nigerians still don’t seem to get the fact that
good and quality service delivery is their right, anyone ever heard of
SERVICOM?
You have an interview session by 7am, you got there by 6am, but the
interview didn’t start until 2pm. That is unacceptable, but most Nigerian
job-seekers will not see it that way, they will remain as calm as a sheep. Mind
you, delay tactics could also be part of the interview process to see those
that are patient enough to not lose it. What then should you do?
Simple, gently walk to the Front desk Officer, pay her a compliment
(optional) and politely enquire about why the interview has not commenced and
what the hold-up was. You need a job quite alright, but that does not mean you
should be treated as if your time does not matter to you. You deserve the best
of service.
I suppose at the end it all boils down to how low you are willing to
stoop to get a job. Compromise? Well that is a discussion for another day!
An interesting discussion at that!
