How did you get your first job

Hi talkers.I wanted to know what you guys did/what experience you had that led to you getting your first job and how long did it take?.Searching for jobs in Kenya is a nightmare and close to impossible (tell me what you did not an ideal situation).Got a business undergrad degree 3 years ago and have an internship experience. Have been applying and constantly getting no responses or declined even after changing/modifying my CV and resume. They say that the worst time in a man’s life is when he is broke,this is certainly my worst time of my life, i can’t do anything,i feel a dip pit in my stomach when i see people driving around/eating in fancy restaurants etc i find myself questioning my sanity and the world,i have had to cut my social life and even reject females because i have nothing to offer them.

Go to your target company and tafuta free internship . Work your ass out till you are indispensable .

Connections through an uncle who was a senior manager in a certain parastatal.

Who said you have to be employed… Use your degree to come up with a creative business idea. You have a business degree!!! Watu kama wewe hunikasirisha sana.

Accept any employment that comes your way hata kama pay ni peanuts. Hata kama ni kufunza go for it, that way utapata pocket money ya kununua suit ya interview etc

ION such opportunities offer invaluable experience you can’t gain anywhere else

Plus potential employers question gaps in your CV

Pole man.

VOLUNTEER in a company. work your way like an intelligence Guy. Soon enuff you will/or will not be in a job

Amewauliza what you guys did to get where you are!

What about capital.? Clearly you have never been broke properly. You seem like the kind of person who had a preveledged background!

I worked as a volunteer for three months,eventually they employed me.

Anyway @JKANUA i have been where you are and can relate. Its terrible. I remember after getting frustrated so much, i went to a cyber and googled all the big companies i knew. Nikachora map kwa karatasi and marked where all of them were located in Nairobi. Narrowed down my search to 32 companies.

I wrote 32 cover letters and printed 32 copies of my cv and packaged them in 32 envelops…bill ilikuja over 800bob for that but the cyber girl was a good friend so akanipatia discount on that nikalipa around 600bob.

Following day at 7am i was in town with a paper bag full of my 32 letters…started at koinenge street all the way through town to upperhill to mombasa road. Ata lunch sikukula juu ya kusota hio siku.

Everywhere i asked to see the HR person ndio nimpatie CV personally. I dropped my last CV at 3pm pale sameer park and walked back to town nikapanda mat nikarudi kejani.

Surprisingly it was that last cv that panned out a job for me. So my friend dont loose hope and be flexible. Right now experience is more important than a salary! So aim to get the proper experience even if you will not get paid. Kama umekuwa jobless for 3 yrs unaweza vumilia internship for 6months!

All the best!

Mimi One morning Nilipigiwa simu nikiwa hopelessly jobless after college. sikuringa but Nikanunua slasher na nikaenda kufyeka nyasi all day for several days. Many different unrelated jobs followed after that

I never got the jobs i looked for and the ones i’ve had mimi hua nimeitwa after networking with poeple in unrealated feilds not initially interested in. I how ever always seem to be prepared in events of an opportunity or maybe sometimes i’m just lucky. All in all i still have a long way to go

You are wrong… I started by selling samosas and I used to make bone jewellery then saved the money to venture into my dream biz. The thing is you can start with little or no capital and work your way through life.

If I were you I would start by joining LinkedIn and send friend requests to people who matter e.g. finance managers, CFOs. People rarely reject friend requests on LinkedIn. Since you have a business degree, you must be aware that right now the topic on all CFOs and FMs lips is about IFRS 9 and IFRS 15 which come into effect in January 2018. What I would do then is to differentiate myself as the sharpest tool in the box by writing well thought out and researched articles about these two topics and share on LinkedIn. Sign off these articles by saying you are a student. Don’t say you are unemployed. The articles will definitely generate interest and trust me, people with knowledge of these two topics will be hot cakes in the job market next year. Finally, do not despair. Siku yako itafika someday.

what was your dream biz @somesay

Iza man i get you joh… mimi i was in your shoes though not for that long just an year i made sure nmeivisha my skills, did my research on the company and saw one of my lectures in the pics za iyo website. Nkafake my cv then went to the company nkiwa na suti head held high na nkawaambia some guy who was a lec in my former school had sent me there nitafute job. The lady i met who was the hr manager started asking me story za how he is(my lec) mimi nkaanza kumpatia story za giants about my lec. Nikaambiwa wewe fanya ivi kuja ufanye interview kesho juu ni formality and we have a spot for you. Fake it till you make it, ata ukiulizwa unaeza fanya hii sema yes yes yes,utajua ukifika hapo.

halafu atoe Capital wapi?

Kwani atatafuta capital ya millions… hata capital ya thao inaweza anza biashara. Kuanzisha biz Kenya ni hard my fren but there are ideas that do not use thousands as capital and if you think creatively you will smile all the way to the bank.

My dream biz is I work from my man cave, have a flexible schedule and it makes me spend a lot of time with Some Say Jnr. I am living my dream. I decided before I marry I would be self employed and I did not have any capital but God blessed me with a nose for sniffing opportunities which I utilise.

Cast your net further…I know guy with your qualifications…doing fabulous huko turkana working in a new hotel. good luck!!