>> Pursuing my dream career...
What defines your success in life? As I proceed to section IV of this series, I can’t help but think about the number of times we have let our society or the people around us be the determiners of our own success in life.
As fresh graduates we
are often ushered into a journey of realizing our professional dreams; from a
life of dependence to that of independence. There is a lot of pressure and
expectations from society to be successful and give back to them… after all you
now have your degree!
The search for employment is a journey most people would not prefer talking about; for some it comes easy for others it almost takes a lifetime. I always like the enthusiasm and optimism that always comes with being a fresh graduate. It’s at this point that one is usually so focused, fresh and charged to face the professional world.
My first month after
graduation, I drafted a list of companies that would be of interest to me as
far as securing a job was concerned. I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to
be and anything less of what I wanted would be an option.
I had the mentality that; I’ve been to school for four good years, in an expensive university meaning I had spent a lot money-wise! I never wanted to settle for anything less than the standards I had set; I mean, who would want to?
In my search for a
high-rated/paying job, I got a little bit frustrated; my vision of where I
wanted to be was so clear, but what presented itself in reality was the exact
opposite. Flipping through the newspapers for vacancies, subscribing for job
alerts, e-mailing of CVs and giving much attention to your phone for that magic
call, becomes the order of the day.
We all have dreams
right? Dreams of companies we wish to work for, dream jobs, houses and even dreams
of those that we wish to spend the rest of our lives with. That said, I have
always had a dream of working with one particular airline; I had it in mind
that given a chance to secure a job at this airline would be a dream come true
for me. I lived for it and not any information about this company would pass me
by: with a few contacts from the company, I was good to go!
After so much
evaluation and pondering on what to do next; I finally decided to make my move.
I was so determined to realize this dream… My first contact was the
Corporate Communications Director; since he was out of office, he referred me
to the Marketing Director who then assured me that she will keep my C.V on
record in case an opportunity arose. That was a good sign, but I must say I
wasn’t really convinced much, so after several days of waiting, I decided
enough is enough, and well… I decided I would talk to the Managing Director!
I never had the MD’s
contacts and trying to get them was proving to be a daunting task. In what seemed
like a long search, I finally managed to reach him via mail; and with a little
bit of convincing I was done… after all I really didn’t expect it to be a hard
decision to make going by his position in the company; the worst he could say
was ‘NO.’ After a while I got a reply…
Sometimes we look for shortcuts and in the process of hunting for the high-rated things in life we end up loosing our focus, ourselves and even the path that would have led us to a greater tomorrow…
The saying “a journey
of a thousand miles begins with a single step” sinks in. It is not bad to chase
after your dreams, but even as you do so do not forget the opportunities that
present themselves on the way, you never know; the single step to your dream
might just present itself in disguise!
You might probably be wondering what happened next after my contact with the Managing Director. What was the reply? At least he didn’t shatter my dream by saying ‘No’ but he did refer me to his assistant. I let go, and took a halt in my chase for this dream; not because I never wanted it anymore but because I wanted to avoid wasting a lot of time on it while there was a lot more I could do; I wanted my track record to speak for itself and through the right channels my dream will be realized.
It requires an open
mind to make such a decision and true to my word an opportunity arose through my
passion, my talent… (For more details on this: look
out for part V)
Witten By:
Dorcas Waringa
13th December, 2012
