My original certificates were razed…what are my chances of securing job?
Good Day Sir, I will like to remain anonymous. I graduated from the university of Lagos with a B.sc Degree in Business Administration (2.1). My inability to secure a decent job has caused me a lot of pain.
I always knew getting a job in my country requires a lot of efforts and as such I decided I was going to save some amount during my youth service to start a small scale business. Unfortunately, while I was about rounding up my NYSC, my home got razed by fire and so I lost all my original documents/credentials and some amount of money.
By God’s grace I’ve been able to get letters to certify the photocopies of my certificates (my school told me they can’t re-issue me another certificate). Getting all my documents from birth certificate to primary school certifate all to secondary and university cost me a lot of money which I should have been using for my business.
Please advice me on my chances of securing a job without my original documents.
And also on how I can get an internship.
Thanks you for reading through my letter.
*****
Dear Anonymous,
Sorry for your loss, first and foremost.
I don’t think the loss of your original documents to fire significantly diminishes your chance of securing job. I got my first job by telling the employers my grade by word of mouth and putting on CV (without any hard proof), because our statement of result had not been issued then (I got job four weeks after my last paper), and it was accepted in the test and interview I went through. I remember expressing same concern to my brother then, and he told me that he did not go to collect his own certificate from school until years after working.
I also once met a guy that presented his school’s published graduating students list/brochure that showed his name and class of degree as his evidence in job interview and it was accepted. Your school’s published list of graduating students for your set should also be a convincing evidence, in addition to your letters. Some rigid, old-school employers may want to prove diffcult though, but with proper explanations, it should not significantly reduce your chances.
Internship? You need to keep applying, sending your CV around, and networking.
All the best.
Jarus
NB: It is always good to scan credentials into soft form and save in multiple places, including draft/sent item box of at least two of your email addresses, so that you can retrieve anytime, anywhere. Scans are closer to original than photocopies.
REGISTRATION IS ALSO ONGOING FOR THE BIGGEST CAREER EVENT IN NIGERIA
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