By Selipha Kihagi

You have successfully been selected to fill the job position you applied and interviewed for. You have already started at the new job and are now another employee of the company. The challenge you will now have is to prove to your employer that he/she was right in hiring you.

Employees constantly worry about being fired or their positions being cut, it is a common job security concern among many but one that can be avoided if you give your employer a reason to keep you in the company.

So, how do you become a valuable employee?

1. Become Visible To Your Employer
This does not mean that you keep walking by your employer every chance you get or lurking by their office, it means you should strive to become a good team player and share new ideas openly either during a meeting or requesting a few minutes with your boss at the office.
This way, your employer will identify with you directly and if your ideas are good and your work exceptional, then there will be no reason to get you to the firing list.

2. Learn a new Skill and perfect it
The skills you currently have are the ones that got you the job, with time there will be the need for someone with more skills to join the company at a higher level or replace an employee who has left the company. Become that person.

Cy Wakeman, an executive coach and author on workplace matters advices that one must keep up-to-date and stay relevant to guarantee that you can perform far into the future.
Take the initiative to add on your education by pursuing a post graduate diploma or second degree in a related course.

3. Be willing to do more than your job description
This does not mean that you offer to perform a particular task when your desk is full of unfinished work. It means that whenever you have time to spare, you can work on a certain task that the company requires done but no one else can do it. Do the task well and get your co-workers or boss talking about it.

In all these three, as an employee you must know that it is not the effort or dedication that counts but the results you bring that matter.

Source: Forbes

While in the job, you encounter various types of characters in the workplace. It could be hostile co-workers, difficult clients or at the worst a bad boss. Bad bosses are of different natures and only you knows what category they fall in.

Whatever kind of bad boss you are working under, here are 4 ways to endure.

How To Deal With A Bad Boss

1. Know their ‘Why’: Identify prime motivations.
The better you understand what your boss does, and more importantly, why, the better positioned you are to deliver results, manage expectations, and avoid lose – lose situations. Try to put yourself in their shoes and see the world, and your workplace, as they might.

Try finding out what they care about or what they would want on a daily basis and how they measure success or their though on failure.

When you know what drives your boss you can frame your opinions and use language in ways that line up with his core values, concerns and priorities.

2. Support their success: Work around their weaknesses.
While it may sound counter intuitive to support a bad boss in becoming more successful, there is absolutely nothing to be gained by making him look bad, going to war or facilitating his/her) failure. If he is as bad as you think, he will likely do a pretty good job of that all by himself.

You can support your boss by to helping them focus on their natural strengths, work around his weaknesses.

If you have a boss who’s disorganized, help him/her to be on top of things rather than complaining about his lack of organizational skills.

If your boss is slow to respond, continue to work on a project while you wait to hear back from him/her.

3. Know their preferences: Adapt to them.

Observe your boss’s behavioral style and preferences. How does he like to communicate – via e-mail, in person, or lengthy memos?

The more you can match your style to your boss’s style when communicating, the more he will really hear what you’re saying.

Working with his preferences is an obvious way of managing your boss without his ever knowing it, and it’s a key leadership skill to develop regardless of the kind of boss you are working for.

By Selipha Kihagi,

After that job interview, it is only normal that you are waiting for a response from the employer or recruiting firm. One week passes by, then two and you start wondering how you faired.

According to you, the interview went very well and you were promised a response in two weeks. Two weeks have elapsed, but you are still waiting for that call or email.

Here are 4 reasons you are still waiting to be contacted

1. You did not leave your contacts or the email address is wrong
Justus Ng’etich, an Account Recruitment Manager at Corporate Staffing Services says he has experienced two cases where good candidates missed the opportunity because they didn’t leave their contacts.

“A person drops their CV at our offices, they are asked to report for an interview on a certain day and time. They do well in the interview, but when you want to write to them or call to inform them they got the position, we realize they did not leave their contacts,” says Justus.

As a job seeker, you should always include ways in which you can be reached. Either a working phone number and email address or both. You must also ensure the contacts provided are correct.

2. You have not checked your spam box
The Spams box in your email account picks out incoming mails depending on the settings. This means even important emails could be sitting in your account, but since you do not constantly check the spam box, you end up missing out on the job opportunity especially if you can’t be reached by phone.

3. You brought your child to the interview
Ladies, please stop bringing your kids to the interview. You are already communicating that you can’t handle your personal problems and even if you do well in the interview, the recruiting officer or the employer may find it hard to hire you.
You will not be bringing your child to work so when you are faced with a situation where you cannot find a nanny or cannot afford day care, find a solution.

4. You have a bad phone connection or your phone was stolen
The recruiting officer or employer may have tried to reach you, but with your phone having been stolen, they found you unreachable or your phone was out of service. After leaving the interview, ensure your phone is with you at all times and that it has a good operator connection.

So, if you feel you have waited too long before getting a response and you don’t know your fate, make a call to them and ask to know what the situation is. But again, don’t become a bother with too many calls.

By Perminus Wainaina

The MBA (Master of Business Administration) is one of the popular advanced degree courses in Nigeria.

Each evening, we have hundreds of Nigerian professionals trooping back to class for this coveted qualification. They range from fresh graduates to experienced professionals. We have students who have taken loans and others go to an extent of using their savings.

The universities have taken note of the demand and virtually all of them have a town campus offering an MBA program. Some are offering on distance learning to take care of students who can’t commute. To attract students, some go by the title of executive MBA and universities like Strathmore and USIU have an exchange program with overseas universities where students visit to interact and share ideas.

As a recruiter, I met many Nigerians job searching and disappointed with the fact that they have an MBA and employers are not quick to hire them. Some have seen their careers stagnate despite being MBA graduates.

The reality is, pursuing an MBA is neither good nor bad by itself. It is the reason behind your decision that will determine whether an MBA will add value to your career and life in general. I’ll share some of the reasons why Nigerians pursue an MBA and why this tends to backfire.

The number one reason not to pursue an MBA is because it cannot guarantee you a job. I often see this with fresh graduates where after one or two years of job hunting without success, the individual decides to go back to class to ‘kill time’ and be ‘competitive’. For entry level position you don’t need an MBA. Over 99% of all recruitments we do at Corporate Staffing require only a degree and a professional certification. Very few employers are looking for MBA holders. And if they are, you’ll always see this ‘MBA is an added advantage’.

Another reason not to pursue an MBA is if you are looking for a salary raise. What you need to know is that you are as valuable as the contribution you bring to the company. Having an MBA does not necessary mean that you will contribute more. Employers look at your output. Qualifications will get you in but ultimately it’s what you do between 8 and 5pm that will determine your take home. The exception is if you work for the government, I understand they’ll pay you more for an MBA certificate.

. Employers look at the skills you posses. The third reason not to pursue an MBA is the assumption that the MBA will make you competitive and that your CV will look goodf you know your worth and only have a diploma, employers will want to talk to you. As I have said before, employers will always consider candidates with more skills and less papers than one with advanced qualification and less skills. Instead of getting a loan and spending an evening in a class just to make your CV “competitive”, I’d advice that you become very good at what you do. Master your docket or profession and become the go to person and I can assure that you will always be in demand.

For your information, Bob CollyMore is a diploma holder and see where he is. Successful leaders and managers seldom have an MBA.
Taking an MBA should be a well thought out decision. Don’t go back to class because 90% of your age mates are. The decision to go for an MBA is not a simple one, and many factors should be carefully weighed to make sure it’s the right decision.

Perminus has over ten years experience in human resource management working with employers from different sectors. His major goal is to build relationships with employers in order to gain a better understanding of their recruitment needs and meet the requirements in a cost effective and timely manner.

By Selipha Kihagi

You are one of the job seekers shortlisted for an interview, but you cannot go buying a new suit or to the salon in order to look presentable. The interview you have landed is a phone interview. How do you convince the recruiting officer that you are qualified for the job?

According to Sheila Cheptoo, a recruiting officer at Corporate Staffing Services, you must be well prepared to convince the recruiting personnel that you are conversant with the role you are interviewing for.

So, how do you prepare for a phone interview?

1. Take Time To Do Your Research
Like the face to face interview, understanding the position you applied for and familiarizing yourself with the company is very important. Just because it is a phone interview does not mean you will be treated differently, in any case it will be a harder task trying to prove that you know what you are talking about. There are no facial expressions to support your answers.

2. Have A Great Phone Connection
As a jobseeker, having a good network connection is very important if you are determined to succeed. Your phone must also be well charged and in perfect condition to ensure there is effective communication. If the interviewer cannot hear what you are saying or you can’t hear the questions, then the interview becomes a waste of time.

3. Be In A Quiet Area
Yes, it is a phone interview but you cannot have it anywhere. You have to set up an area in your house or office where you will receive the call. You cannot be in a noisy place or in a distractive environment.

Lock yourself in the room, if you must, so there are no impromptu visitors. Also in that room, have your CV and Cover Letter with you.

4. Take A Shower And Dress Up For The Phone Interview
As a job seeker, your job is to find a job. That is especially if it is your first job or you are not currently in any position. You may decide to stay in and wait for the call.

Make sure you get ready like you would a face to face interview.

Taking a shower keeps you fresh and alert. Dressing up gives you confidence and the feel of a professional, this will translate to you sounding confident.

By Selipha Kihagi

Scoring an interview comes with excitement, which is later followed by the need to prepare.

While preparing for the interview, you are keen on learning the background of the organization and rehearsing probable answers to various interview questions you will be faced with.

As a job seeker, one of these interview questions you will come across is, “What Are You Bringing To The Company?”

This question is vital to your consideration for the job vacancy, and how you go about it will communicate if you have what it takes to work with the hiring organization or not.

Best Interview Answer To “What are you bringing to the company?”

According to Muthoni Ndegwa, a Client Service Manager at Corporate Staffing Services, your answer to this question sets you apart from other job seekers who will be interviewing for the same position. It shows your unique quality.

In addition to your educational qualifications and meeting the requirements depending on your experience, the question seeks to find out what value you will be adding to the organization if you get the job

So, What Is The Best Answer To This Question?

There is no best answer to this question. This is because every job seeker has a unique skill or aspect within themselves and how best they tell this during the interview will determine if they will land the job or not.

While there may be several answers to this question, such as you work well under pressure, or you have a great passion for the job or your great attention to detail, as a job seeker it is important to stand out from the rest by outlining your unique skills. Avoid being a cliché or too general, instead be specific.

it is always best to understand yourself as an individual. What skill do you possess that is unique to you? What are you good at?

You may be good at various things but select the one thing that you are confident about and is required for the job you are interviewing for.

Understanding yourself is the key to answering this question. That way you are able to communicate your best value.