I Didn’t Lose My Job, They Lost Me

Last year I transitioned from working from home to staying at home.

It’s been close to six months of job searching. Hats-off to those who’ve been seeking employment for years. Today, I tell my story with authenticity and vulnerability.

For starters, I track my bids from job applications to offerings. It’s like opinion polling for #KenyaDecides. Bringing out trends that inform your decision, to apply or not to apply for certain jobs.

I seek no sympathy, but to inspire those like me, whose jobs, careers and lives were disrupted by loss. Urging those in employment or enterprise, to shikilia and shukuru.

Now I am certain. God uses personal and professional relationships to unlock opportunities. These are opportunities that one’s academic and professional credentials can’t unlock.

You can bank on this to dodge a missile in Russia or Ukraine!

Job hunting is a cascading filter like Sportpesa.
Higher stakes equal Higher chances of win/loss.

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I was on the same spot in 2015 (read Plight of the Jobless)! Being thrown back to the labor market, feels like a tomato at the groceries kibanda. Potential buyers look at, pick, turn and return it at will.

Job vacancies can be exciting at first sight. But drilling down past the job title and organization, you realize job descriptions, qualifications, requirements and interviews are daunting. The devil is in the details.

I applied for 270 jobs. Not receiving feedback from 71 (26%) of these, is telling. Even with seamless end-to-end technology supported recruitment, not all employers send responses to candidates. It is courteous and respectful to do so.

Negative or positive. Either way, people thrive on feedback.

Without feedback, it’s like the potential secondhand clothe buyer who rummages through merchandise, not uttering a word. Then leaves quietly without saying/buying anything.

Job applicants can face numerous requests. They may be asked for cover letters, updated CVs, referees, and supporting documents. Multi-layered interviews are also common.

After which, the potential employer goes mute!

Receiving 52 (19%) regrets was a bundle, not like Tunukiwa Dabo Dabo na Safaricom. Ask a politician who lost in party primaries.

Good news is that recruitment personnel and systems have evolved. Unlike previously where newspaper cuttings with job adverts were sent via stamped envelopes or cyclists. Also, job regrets were one-liner responses, “Sorry we can’t hire you“.

Nowadays, thanks to social media, jobs are broadcasted with a swipe of the finger. On job regrets, one gets swathes of empathetical paragraphs.

Starting with, “We have received a large number of applications…“. We have decided to proceed with other candidates. These candidates’ profiles closely match our specific needs for this position.

Politely, they include this statement. They will retain your resume in their files. You should keep monitoring their career site for future opportunities.

Processing these regrets can be overwhelming. They gush out like furious water from a burst pipe. This can hole you up in a corner.

When some regrets popped in, I was sure I was being overly ambitious, betting for positions requiring PhD or 20 years’ of experience.

Bloated egos are products of overrated motivational speakers and hypnotherapists!

To other regrets, I ground my teeth in defiance. Severally I questioned if my academic and vocational skills and experience were legit. Was I an impostor? Or a diseased tomato that every potential buyer wasn’t giving a second look?

Transitions insult your identity

Losing your job can feel like ManU, a loser. In one therapy session, I was asked, “What would you like us to talk about today?”

I said, “I lost my job.” I then ranted and raved for about 10 minutes on the unfairness of life.

Does someone lose a job? Or is it the employer who loses you? Unwittingly, my Therapist and Pastor tag-teamed in flipping my negative perspective.

With my skills, experiences and connections intact, I didn’t lose my job. It was my employer who lost me. Not just in semantics, but in perception.

What narratives fill your mind when you receive a redundancy letter?

From being honored by a US Ambassador, speaking at town halls, shaking political hands, to travelling internationally. My vanity shifted to a thriving kitchen garden.

Stripped of the position, perks and prestige, utaambia watu nini? Were you laid off? Did you move on? What you tell your spouse is different from what you tell your mother, friend, neighbor, or the interviewing panel. But all these don’t matter.

What matters most is what you tell yourself, when alone and in your sleep.

Being interviewed was affirming and validating. Of the 19 (7%) shortlisted positions, I was sure to ace a couple of them. I am flesh and blood. I was visibly excited when those emails and phone calls came through.

It is like the warmth of a fresh, succulent and fully ripe tomato being picked by a potential buyer. Warming itself in their hands, as they consider buying it.

With COVID still sticking out its head, I underwent both online and in-person interviews. Preparations, experience and expectations of these two interview formats are worlds’ apart.

One day, I will write of a virtual interview on a hot afternoon that I was shirtless. I didn’t realize it until I was asked by the interviewing panel to turn on my video.

No one prepared us for this work-from-home bizarre!

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Then there was an in-person interview. Driving into the compound the security guard asked me, ‘umekuja ku-pick ama ku-drop?‘ Either I was dressed like a driver or driving an Uber sized car. A deflated ego wasn’t good for that interview.

Applying and interviewing for jobs is hard(work). In the past, I showed up and winged-it on the go. With time, I realized there is an art to passing interviews.

I immersed myself in job searching techniques, spruced up my CV and learnt how to market myself.

Unlike a lifeless tomato waiting to be picked. I stepped forward to pick my ‘buyers’.

Books and online resources (Indeed, LinkedIn and Devex), taught me how to prepare and ace interviews. I came up with my customized interview template. How to introduce myself. Ten frequently asked interview questions. Questions for the panel. And finally how to round off the interview by appreciating the discussion, “which (has) solidified my interest for the position“.

Hopefully, I exhibited interest and intelligence in the job interviews.

Long recruitment processes are definitely a construct of the fading 8-4-4 system. Not CBC. Sequenced oral interviews. Layered with written tasks.

Sometimes splashed with mock presentations, separated wheat from tares, among job candidates. It’s a flooded and highly competetive labor market. HR seeks plug-and-play staff.

Tomatoes don’t pick their buyers. The power play is uneven.

From the 270 jobs, it boiled down to 3 job offers. Therein I saw a pattern. First, this was 1% of the jobs I applied for.

Secondly, the offers came from jobs flagged by my networks. I refer to them as, ‘people who know me’ or ‘people who know people”.

They shared these opportunities with me. I competed like everyone else and was shortlisted. This could be termed anything from nepotism, cronyism, tribalism to every schism, out there.

Whatever you call it, TRUST is the new workplace currency.

Psychology today

If house-helps and gardeners are hired through networks (trust), is it any different for white collar jobs? Don’t we all leverage social capital when seeking staff, jobs or pursuing business?

This is not from the Lord, but from me. If you have no mentor or sponsor, you are of all people most to be pitied. A voice at the table of decision is essential.

Yes, miraculously one can secure a good job or Form 1 place in a prestigious school. But, most times you need a godfather or God the Father.

Beyond one’s qualifications and appearance like a big-sized tomato, social ties are key.

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Switching status assaults your support base.

In Jesus’ moment of vulnerability, his support system had ride or die friends. They included Mary, his mother, and Mary Magdalene, the ex-Demon possessed. Further, he had perfect strangers, the likes of Joseph of Arimathea and Simon of Cyrene.

On that first Easter, these two groups of morale boosters dignified Jesus’ shameful death, broken body and un-kingly burial.

Generously they gave him emotional support, spices and a fresh tomb. On the contrary, his wannabes and hangers-on died for themselves (Judas) and rejected him (Peter). Consequently, I have learnt to choose my friends wisely.

This Easter, consolidate and celebrate your support base. They clothe you with dignity. They are good for sanity and hold you accountable on overcoming addictions, managing weight, personal growth or celebrating milestones. Join or create one.

The Russian-Ukraine war notwithstanding, support groups expensively fuel our lives.

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One doesn’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of. In this storm, you have been my safety-net and merchants of hope. You DO GOOD.

Soon, we will share my favorite dish. It is deep-fried sweet potatoes served with mixed vegetables in tomato paste at Tripple O’s Restaurant.

Because of you, I am transitioning my stay at home back to working from home. #MunguNiMwema.

Disclaimer: No disclaimers today. This wasn’t an anonymous account. The fine print in my support system has been my wife and God.