Catch them young.

It was my birthday recently and I spent the day traveling to a factory in Germany for some meetings.

I met a few people in the factory and interestingly most have worked for the company between 18 and 25 years, and they are all young. Average age between them I’ll say is 38.

The common thread running here was that they joined the company as apprentices, and gained work experience while they finished up their studies. Now they have both academic qualifications and many years of work experience under their belt, with many more years to go before retirement.

I do not know if the data exists but if the information obtained from google search is to be believed, most entry level job positions are advised for graduates no more than 23years to 25years. It is not common place in the Nigerian labour market to find companies who employ apprentices while giving them the opportunity to complete their studies alongside having full time paid employment.

It is common knowledge that money cannot buy experience. Nigerian labour employers are losing good money by not offering apprentice positions to the labour force and ‘catching them young’, in a manner of speaking.

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Interviews - Lessons Learned.

I was once involved in interviewing for a role. During the session, one of the candidates kept saying 'I know that I don't have the relevant work experience for this role but just give me a chance and I will prove myself'. This was a guy that was interviewing for a customer service role in an FMCG company who couldn't make the connection despite working for the past two years in customer service for a fast food restaurant. After the interview, I called him aside and gave him some tidbits which I personally have found useful.

1) There is no such thing as irrelevant work experience. The same principles of customer service apply in a fast food restaurant as for a multinational company.  The same principles of marketing apply in a one man business as for a conglomerate. The only difference is scale. Always dig underneath to draw out the similarities and focus on selling those to your interviewer 

2) Stop trying to say what you think the interviewer wants to hear. Focus more on what image you want to leave imprinted on the minds of your interviewers. 

3) Reach into your arsenal of life experiences to communicate your abilities, it must not be tied only to skills picked up while working in paid jobs. Volunteer work, charity work, time off to take care of relatives, it all adds up. An interviewer likes to know there is depth as well as breadth.

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