Your CV Does Not Define You

Whaaaat?! What are you talking about? Just a few months ago you told us to make sure that we present ourselves as best as can be done on our CVs and today you tell us that CVs aren’t everything? Didn’t you say that people get to see your CV before they see you and so it needs to be the best representation of you? Isn’t it true that without a CV with impressive educational, work experience and applicable skills information, I am nothing? I mean, besides pay, the whole reason why I go to work and pursue further education is to further build my CV.

What, pray tell, are you talking about?

My, aren’t we worked up? 

How Bad Do You Want That Job? Maanisha Basi.

You know, of late I have been reflecting on the saying many of us use when things seem bleak but we’re still hanging in there – ‘Ninaishi kwa matumaini’ - ‘I live in hope’. In the context of job hunting, I have been watching applicants send in mediocre documents, followed by even poorer interviews (should they, for some reason, actually be called in for one). How on Earth would a person, without so much as a thought about the nature of the position for which they have applied nor their targeted audience, namely, the recruitment personnel in that organisation, expect to receive a positive response?

If the objective is to secure a job and we agree that the first impression is the only one that counts, why do so few people make sure that they send winning applications followed by even more impressive interviews?

Knowing there are many others applying for a position, I feel that being ill prepared is like closing ones eyes, turning around seven times then shooting an arrow into the air and hoping to hit a target set 150 metres away. 

Jamani, Let's Pay Attention to Detail!

Now here is where we separate excellence from mediocrity (there is no halfway house). You either execute with excellence every single time, with every single thing that you do or don’t even bother.

This post is going to be painful my brothers and sisters so please brace yourselves for the onslaught. 

Kitu Kidogo (Ni Kitu Kikubwa)

Wenzangu, you will have to bear with me. In all honesty, there are some practices that unless addressed, will continue hindering our progress kama wazalendo toughing it out in a global market. These issues have been giving me heartburn and should they intensify without being aired, I fear that I may soon suffer from angina or worse.

Sasa ndugu zangu, kwani inakuaje kwamba (how is it that) in performing our duties, which we actually get paid for, we still expect someone to give us kitu kidogo on the side?

Where did this all come from and how has it been so entrenched in our society that it is now demanded as a right?

"There Is a Time For Everything [...] Under Heaven"

Your success in life depends on this everlasting truth - there is a specific time to do certain things in your day, week, (weekend), month, year, etcetera. Whilst this is as much true in private pursuits as it is for business appointments, it is business conduct that we are concerned about on this post.