In the first part of my three-part article series to introduce new would-be graduates to the real world out there, I outlined four very crucial factors that could determine your success after school.
The challenge with our educational system, the world over, is that we are given enough information during our first few days in school on how to excel in our academics and other school-related endeavours.
But just few, if any, go the extra mile to equip would-be graduates with appropriate information on how the world out there looks and feels like.
Over again I have stressed the point that the world always looks different the very moment you come out of school. While in school, you may be blessed to have your parents cater for your needs. However, right after school, your parents begin to minimize their support. They expect you to start fending for yourself. How can you transit from being dependent on your parents and/or guardians on to yourself? In this second-part of the article, let’s talk about the job market.
1. No job is big or small. You decide!
It is no news that many students graduate from school with just one thought in mind – to land a mouth-watering job with a BIG company. After school, they are only hit with the hard truth that the so-called big companies, are in fact, desirous of laying off workers. The truth is, today’s global and economic circumstances have adversely affected many businesses. As such, a good number of companies deem it fit to lay off workers in order to keep their books balanced. While there’s so much debate on that approach, let’s just face the fact that it is what it is as we speak.
Therefore, the traditional mindset to land a job with a big company is a non-starter. You begin on a wrong footing when you’re so bent on getting a job with a big company. The days of landing such jobs are fast fading. I heard the story of a man who told me of how companies used to come around during their graduation with very juicy job contracts with cars and houses to lure them to working for them. Sadly, those days are no more. So what do we do? We can’t afford to be home, too.
The good news is, there are still jobs out there. I know you might doubt this but that’s the truth. The challenge with many graduates is that, after school, they expect to work a white collar job, with suits and ties and neatly polished shoes with some designer bags. How ready are you to apply for the so-called “small” or menial jobs? It could require of you to start off as a messenger just to break through to the top. It is important to note that no job is small, once you have your eye on the finish line. You can start wherever, but can end up where you actually wish. Yes, it may take time. But guess what? It will surely come.
2. Make yourself indispensable
When I was a little boy growing up in a compound house somewhere in Ashaiman Zongo Laka, we were neighbours to a man and his family. This man works with the Bank of Ghana. He started off as a messenger and has gradually risen through the ranks to become the personal assistant of one of the top managers of the central bank. As a corporate worker, he was entitled to going on leave once in a year. Yet, anytime he was on leave, which was to last for about a month, he was called upon to come back to work for extra pay.
One day he decided to open up to us as to why it happened that way. And he said that his manager to whom he’s an assistant didn’t appreciate anyone else’s job as his. And so his manager found it really challenging to work with anyone if he, our neighbor, was on leave. That is indispensability! He’s worked so well that his manager would not want to work with someone in his stead. As you gravitate your way through your job, you have to work with diligence and honesty.
You don’t have to assume the laxity and dishonest attitude of many workers who will say, “It’s not my father’s job. So I won’t do it well.” Well, if it’s not your father’s job, it is the job that feeds you. Isn’t it what you should work so hard on? You can’t be indispensable going to work late, reading the newspaper when you’re meant to work, and be the first person to leave the office when it’s time to close. You have to pour yourself in your job. Let your commitment to your job be seen. That is the only way you can work your way up. Anything else is tantamount to demotion or sacking!
3. Manage your success
These days, there are numerous messages on the internet on how to be successful. So I need not teach you how. But what I believe is lacking in our contemporary times is how to manage what we have achieved. The news is unending of how people get to stardom and descend so quickly. You can’t blame them for whatever reason we are made to believe caused their downfall. They have little or nothing to know about how to manage what they have. In my last episode on this subject, I will give you some ideas on how to manage your success. Let’s call it SUCCESS MANAGEMENT!
This article was culled from my yet-to-be-published book titled, “The Realities of Life After School.” It is written solely with the would-be graduate in mind by a gentleman who’s had a good taste of the good and challenging side of life. It will be available in your nearest bookshop soon.
