"On These Corporate Streets: Vox Pop Edition" seeks to hear the voices of young career professionals who share their individual experiences on subjects many can relate to. In today's edition, young Nigerian workers tell us about hating a job they once looked forward to.
Even for work, there’s the “what I ordered Vs what I got” factor. The job hunt process can sometimes be overwhelming and many applicants do not mind the intricacies of the job as long as they can get in.
What happens when you pray, strive, and eagerly look towards a job, only for you to get in and wish you never had?
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For this #Vox Pop edition of On These Corporate Streets, I spoke with five young Nigerian employees who told their stories on this subject.
"I eventually left when I found myself getting tired of work as early as 9:00 am" -Ibukunoluwa
“Immediately I walked into that office in Lekki for an interview, I told God, “I want this.” I didn’t know that it would be a very horrible period. The CEO was in the UK and left her brother in charge. This guy was very mean, bad, inconsiderate, and proud. This guy once sprayed air freshener on me and my friend because we were eating boiled eggs in the lunch room during break. We never took breaks except it’s Christmas and trust that your salary will not be complete.
I eventually left when I found myself getting tired of work as early as 9:00 am. The restroom was my safe haven”.
"A number of people tried to convince me to apply for other jobs, some said they would put in a word or two for me at places they knew, but I kept saying no" -Blessing
“So I finally got this job in March 2020 after starting the journey in November 2019. I was to resume in April and then COVID struck so I was asked to hold on. I was almost losing it at some point but I was so convinced this was the job God wanted for me... now that I look back, he was definitely teaching me so much.
A number of people tried to convince me to apply for other jobs, some said they would put in a word or two for me at places they knew, but I kept saying no. I decided to focus on my business while waiting. Finally, I got called in August to resume in September with the role I had dreaded my whole life (sales) but I was desperate and needed something to do, so I took it without fighting for what I really wanted.
The first three months were something else. I was scared, worried, talked in my sleep, dreamt about work, cried steadily, and wasn't meeting targets. Everyone was doing well but me. I thought of resigning but in my head, it would mean I'm weak. My boss wanted something to have an affair with me and I kept refusing until he started making life hard for me.
Thankfully, after a year, he got transferred and then the nightmare became worse, I started wishing he was still my boss. My new boss had her good sides but she made it even harder for me. I cried at almost every meeting, got called names, and got bullied at some point.
My mum suggested I resigned if I couldn't take it but my thoughts were what would people say? I had friends getting paid double and even triple of what I earned and they didn’t even go through half of what I went through.
Meanwhile, I had been applying for other jobs but nothing yet. I told myself I wouldn't spend more than 2 years on the job. It is something I have always said since I got the job. If nothing came by September 2022, I would leave and probably disappear for a while but I really didn't know if I could survive till then.
In May, my best friend got a fully funded scholarship to go study abroad, two of my other friends got jobs abroad, two others were relocating abroad, and four others got better jobs.
I was genuinely happy for them but then it got me thinking out loud at some point "God, am I your stepchild?”
One morning in June while sitting through a meeting and receiving the insults, as usual, I had been called the weakest link and it did hurt. I went to the bathroom to cry, came back to my seat, picked up my phone whilst the meeting was still on, and decided to go through my emails.
The next thing I saw was a mail from a company I had applied to in November 2021 asking if I would be ready to resume training on the 4th of July. I almost screamed before I realized I was in a meeting. I smiled and responded immediately. I just needed to get out of there.
I had already applied for leave as I didn't want to be at work on my birthday; I needed the sanity.
So, I went on my leave, got the training letter on my birthday, and resigned a day before my leave ended”.
"I was turned into a receptionist in addition to my social media management job" -Kemi*
“So my boss' sister works with her as a receptionist. I was employed as a social media manager and content creator. Her receptionist sister started turning me into a receptionist with my heavy work of managing 3 accounts; posting 3 times daily on each account and shooting content daily. At first, I was cool with it. But the receptionist's sister and one other girl started gossiping about me. The sister is in her 30s and married by the way. I started focusing on my job and staying at my office.
She got angry and reported to my boss that I do nothing but press my phone all day. But that is literally my job ma'am! Two days later, the boss calls me up and told me I must do receptionist duties and she does not care what I have to say. No salary increment. I didn’t argue and simply waited for that month’s salary before I walked off. I’m human and not a slave. Even a fresh social media manager earns ten times what I got”
"I finally got a job after searching for long, only to find out it was commission-based" -Michelle
“I have been looking for a job since ASUU strike so I finally got one in a remote travel agency, only for me to start to find out it was a commission-based job. I have to make three clients pay, and they do probation for up to two months. It’s not so easy making people pay for a visa, especially with the current state of the economy. Some people just come to make inquiries. That means I can work up to three months without pay or data allowance. It is really crazy and annoying I must say”
"I got the job I prayed for, but I resigned the following month" -Akin
“Before I got this job, I remember how I prayed for it; it was like I was begging God not to let me die. After I finished the first stage of the interview, it took a long time before I got the invite for a second stage. During that time, I was always refreshing my mail a hundred times daily. I would even check all the social media pages of the company to see the latest updates and I knew I might just fall into depression if I didn’t get the job.
I got the job sha, only for me to resign the following month. What I was running from at my previous job was what I met there; the workload was more than the job description advertised, and they expected that I catch up from the very first week at work. The work started to haunt me; whenever I was going to sleep or having fun with my friends, I’d just think about the job and feel sad. Omo, I couldn’t take it anymore. My friends and cousins thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care”.
Experiences like these can be demoralizing and have lasting effects on your willingness to take up new challenges. An advise? own the recruitment process! Make research and ask questions to know all about the new role and what to expect.
A better advise? Attend #WorkItOut With CareerBuddy where you can network and get new job opportunities on the spot! Here's all you need to know about the event
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