Here’s Why I Lost The Job Of MY DREAMS
Avoidable mistakes causing fresh grads career setbacks.
I BET YOU’RE GUILTY TOO.
“Excuse me Miss Williams, the Head Mistress sent me to call you ma.”
Those were the words of Pascal, one of the pupils in my class as they jolted me out from my deep rumination. A quick glance at my wrist watch showed me that the time was still 11:45am. I still had 15 minutes left from the 30-minute long break. “This woman will not allow one even a moment’s rest I muttered under my breathe as I slipped on my shoes and trudged after the always-excited Pascal – I wonder where kids get so much energy; I almost began to feel jealous. As I walked down the corridor towards the Head Mistress’ office, I convinced myself for the umpteenth time that I wasn’t meant to be there. Suddenly a sense of deep regret and self-pity washed all over me as I remembered again how I had lost a golden opportunity; an opportunity to work in one of my few dream firms.
I graduated five years ago from one of the most prestigious Federal Universities here in Nigeria and just like every other new university graduate; I was really excited to have finally left the confines of school. I studied Economics and for reasons stated hereafter, I felt that getting a job after school will be no big deal – I can be confident like that. More so, we had been made to believe that no organization wishing to grow on all fronts could turn down the prospect of employing an economics graduate from my school. The popular cliché back then was “Even if there is no immediate vacancy, one would be created because I am an alumnus of “XYZ” University.” Permit me to boast a little; my school is famed to be the foremost amongst equals in the field of economics education in Nigeria. Our faculties are simply outstanding. I believe you now have a faint idea about where my confidence stemmed from.
The job hunt began in earnest immediately after the mandatory one year National Youth Service program. I browsed every job site I came across and visited every firm I could imagine that might need the services of a fresh economics graduate – both online and offline. Even the big schools in my locality weren’t left out. Alas! No job was forth coming – not even a call for an interview. Slowly, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. I was disappointed, to say the least. I didn’t believe that with my good grades I couldn’t get a job. My only source of encouragement was from my parents who kept calming down my frayed nerves. Despite their support, I knew something was wrong somewhere, so I decided to re-strategize.
I decided to stop browsing the hotspots. At this time, I just needed to get a place to work for a start. Two weeks after this decision, I saw an opportunity online to work with one of my dream organizations. I thoroughly read the job description and the requirements. My eyes popped out in excitement. I couldn’t wrap my head round the fact that what I had combed the entire internet for in the past 10months was finally sitting right before my very eyes – literally. I had all the requirements and it was as thou the job description was tailor-made for me.
I applied and got an invitation from them few days later to come for an interview – the first interview invite of my young life. To simply say I was excited would be to grossly understate the state of euphoria I was in. Even the little gloom that hung around our home occasioned by the discouraging report about my maternal granny’s health vanished like a puff of smoke blown away by strong winds. Suddenly, talk about Alero’s approaching job interview seemed to have taken up 70% of all discuss around the house. I can categorically say that I did prepare for that interview to the best of my capacity; so much so that on the eve of the interview day, the confidence around me had almost become a tangible object – laughs.
My special day eventually arrived. It was just like every other day after-all. I woke up, said my prayers, showered and dressed up in the new corporate skirt suit my mom got for me a couple of days back. With matching dress accessories and a nice perfume, I stepped out on a date to meet with destiny. The new clothes seemed to add an extra layer of confidence. I already started feeling like I was actually going to resume rather than going for an interview session – what good clothes do to ladies is simply indescribable.
I arrived 30mins early, introduced myself to both the security personnel and the receptionist and was ushered into the waiting area just outside the mini conference room that was to serve as the venue for the interview. A few other ladies I correctly judged to be co-candidates were already seated. Two others would eventually join us before the business of the day commenced. It was done on a “first-come; first-served” basis. This gave me even a better buffer time to calm my racing heart, steel my nerves and rehearse my lines.
“Good morning. Are you Miss Alero Williams?” The lead interviewer asked. “Yep,” I responded in the affirmative. He rolled his eyes at me and I didn’t know why. “In your application, you wrote that you graduated with first-class honours in Economics. Is that right?” he continued. “Yeah” I replied again. He stared at me with disbelief. I was still wondering why his facial expressions were like that. At this time, I had started to really feel uncomfortable. He stood up from his chair, placing both hands on the table and looking at me intently; he spoke the next few words that would bring me crashing down from my cloud 9. “This interview is over Miss Williams, I can’t believe that a first-class graduate does not understand simple communication etiquette especially in an important situation such as this. You answered every question I asked with ‘Yep and yeah’. What was that? We have high-profile clients coming into this organization every day. We can’t have you chase them away with your ill manners.” I looked at him in utter disbelief and before I could think of the proper words to express my apology, I was dismissed from the room. I glanced round the room to see if I could at least find one of the members of the panel who would plead on my behalf but they were all staring at me like I was some forbidden specie that just fell off the sky. I walked out dejectedly. It would take me close to a month to fully come to the realization that I had lost a golden opportunity due to carelessness.
It later struck me that there are hundreds of thousands of people who are also in similar situations and I thought it wise to share my experience so as to educate as many as I can and hopefully, help someone avoid the same pitfalls. Especially here in Nigeria considering the not-so-encouraging employment statistics, everyone should be prepared to seize every opportunity with both hands and not allow such careless errors deprive them of jobs they are qualified for.
Dear Social Media users – myself inclusive, we have been cautioned time and time again to stop using abbreviations and shorthand in our daily e-conversations. The culture of typing “U” instead of you, “Tnks” instead of thanks, “Pls” instead of please, “4” instead of for, “Cos” instead of because is gradually killing our communication etiquette. We argue that we only use them during informal chat sessions but I can say with every sense of gravity that this trend is gradually becoming habitual.
We MUST Watch out! We must stem this tide deliberately and consciously. The little careless things we do can put us in big troubles someday. I take out time to type out my words in full because I don’t want to get used to these shorthand methods. It’s as serious as that. Imagine for a moment that someone lost a job because she replied her prospective employer with “Yep” instead of the proper “Yes Sir”. Imagine that you have to chat with a manager on WhatsApp and you’re sending him “cos, 4, gudnite, tmrrw, buh, tnks.” You won’t even realize that you’re doing this because you’re used to it.
Stop it now!
I just want to remind you that learning to type your words in full will not cost you anything. Learn it. Master it.
There is an acceptable way to communicate in a formal setting – the only acceptable way. The corporate world does not compromise on its lofty standards. Every game has a set of rules to play by, once you run afoul of any of these rules, the penalty is only inevitable. There are words you MUST NOT use while communicating in a corporate setting, more so when you are communicating with a client, a superior, or some other higher-up. Work on your communication etiquette. In this part of the world, showing courtesy is a big deal. Half a word they say is enough for a wise child.
I wish you all the best.
Blessing Uchenna is a young African from Nigeria. She is an upcoming global influencer with an unparalleled zest to make positive impact.
Blessing is propelled by the vision of becoming an agent of change and transformation in her world.
She is a writer who uses her amazing storytelling prowess to make impact and inspire multitude of people.
She is passionate about restoring hope to the masses and becoming a perfect example of modesty, elegance, purpose, and excellence to her fellow ladies.
Currently, she volunteers at the Val Okafor Company where she contributes her quota to raising purposeful youths in the country.
Blessing is a child of God serving as a music minister in the Watchman Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement.
Email: uchebless020@gmail.com
Facebook: Blessing Uchenna
