DD’S NOTE – The Journey to my dream job
DEE-DEE
I knew what I wanted to do in my 3rd year. I studied Engineering. I was lucky to have people around me who knew what they were doing and they inspired me. These guys were changing jobs when many people were crying that there were no jobs, this helped me to have a mindset that there are jobs.
I went into my service year knowing that there were jobs out there for me. I took advantage of the NYSC seminars about writing CV’s and job hunting. I look at some CV’s today and wonder if NYSC still runs those seminars. I served during the banking “boom” but I never applied to any bank because I knew what I wanted. I started applying for jobs in the Telecoms sector before the end of my service year with no success.
After my service year, I was “forced” by my dad to apply to a bank (First bank)which I did on the closing date. I got the job but refused to go for the training/induction. My mum pleaded with me saying that there were no jobs and many people were out there looking for jobs. I agreed to take the offer but deep down within me I had no peace. Eventually I declined and two months later I got my “dream” job.
This was with a telecoms company I had been applying to during my service year. They never invited me for a test or interview but someone I knew asked me to forward my CV to his friend in the company and I was invited for the test and within days was interviewed and offered a place – NETWORKING. Few months later I got an offer with NNPC. Again people will say you can’t get a job with such organizations except you know someone – false. That is a defeatist attitude. If you think you can’t get it then you can’t. I wanted to decline the offer because all I wanted to do was telecoms. I was eventually convinced to take the offer and was lucky to be posted to the IT department. But I was not satisfied.
I applied for a PTDF scholarship. I had made up my mind after my undergraduate that I was not going to further my studies in Nigeria and that I will not pay for it with my money. I got the scholarship again without knowing a single soul in PTDF. My organisation refused to grant me study leave so I lost the oppurtunity. I applied again and got it the second time. I know some other people as well who got the scholarship more than once and they never lobbied for it. During my masters I discovered the power of networking. It is said that in the UK about 70% of jobs are not advertised, it is based on networking. Anyways after my masters, I got another job offer with an international oil company.
To emphasize the power of networking, my company pays staff who are able to recommend people for employment and successfully go through recruitment process. I am currently seeking another role in another company as I am not satisfied with where I am now. The only company I desire to work with that I haven’t is Ericsson, and I know if I work at it I will get there.
I wish all job seekers the best.
Editor’s Note: If you have interesting and verifiable note to share with us on how you planned for and got your dream job, kindly send us an email: info@jarushub.com
