Some
conversations can sound banal when you overhear if you have no option because
you cannot ear muff in a public setting. However, such conversations are
usually very material. They are laced with real life situations of past events
that may have no meaning in the current dispensation. Yet we have to learn from
the past to be able to make meaningful progress. The past forms our heritage
and helps in eschewing mistakes that are repetitive.
Over
the week, I was in a matatu headed to town to ask for some referral letters my
prospective employer wanted from me. Since the matatu did not have hip music
with loud speakers and since I could not sleep, I decided to keenly listen to
two gentlemen conversing on Moi-Era policies and politics. It was barely a week
after finishing Exams when I got a call that I should avail the documents as
quickly as possible which was also a God send. Imagine finishing exams then you
are due for employment, is than not a blessing?
I
have to be very candid. The Kenyan system has prepared us to be job seekers.
Even if we wanted to be our own bosses, the lure for easy money while working
without much commitment makes us love being employed. Again, fear of the
unknown, lack of capital and skills makes us shun venturing into sole proprietorship.
So am party to the whole employment ideology. And in that regard, I am also
waiting for this employer to act swiftly and judiciously to probably see the
urgency that I need a job.
As
I intimated, I was in a mathree, two men probably in their late forties or
early fifties were conversing and there was one who was seated in front to my
right whose voice towered over the Sonitek sounding speakers. They were
specifically conversing about how retired president Moi made in a requirement
that all civil servants who were on leave were supposed to head back to their
rural homes to reduce lethargy in the city. And when they were coming back,
they were not supposed to carry cereals that exceeded a certain amount. Since
police road blocks were erected on all major towns and centres, your car would
be ransacked arbitrarily and the excess retained by the officers or you risked
being jailed. I have not yet confirmed the rationale or certainty of the gen
but am sure there were health, personal and a variety of other reasons behind
the caveat.
The
men also talked about how it was mandatory for students in colleges to get the
Chief’s approval letter when heading back to campus as a sign that they were
not wayward or engaging in acts forbidden by the law whether de jure or de
facto. I never knew there would have been a relationship between this employer
and the Kanu era policies until I sat down and synthesized my predicaments
which are now over. At least this is a consolation given the fact that I am not
alone in this struggle.
Anyway,
as a matter of fact, one has to conduct due diligence and have a reasonable
basis that you are indeed clean before they hire you. That means they have to
carry out checks that are sometimes very severe that on the surface look very
trivial. In fact, I had never known that getting a recommendation letter can be
a hustle. I had to kill some of my ambitions and pursuits to attend to another
juggernaut that got me worried so much.
Having
contacted my former employer, I thought they had mechanisms in place to issue a
recommendation letter. Woe unto me, they had no such structure, again, they
barely know formal English. As a result, it was a challenge convincing them to
write me a letter to send to my new employer. What was frustrating was the fact
that they were directing me to another person whose English was also pathetic.
I remember when he wrote some policies for the company, I felt like crying. I
wondered why the quest for money had landed me. The statements flouted all
grammatical rules and I felt like posting the printout on social media but my
senses would not allow me. As a result, I kept it somewhere but it got lost
with the course of time. Now, I know why I should at least work with
institutions with structures. Workplaces that are devoid of emotions and are
run professionally without any stigma. In the end, I contacted my former boss
who was of aid and I got served.
Then
there was Red Cross. I was required to get a letter from them also. And it goes
without doubt that this is one of the most bureaucratic process I had to go
through in order to get documentation. A problem arose since I had not been
participating in many activities in the recent past due to studies and personal
commitments. I needed someone who knew me to act as a referee to assure the
final referee that I have a clean sheet. One of the biggest problems I faced
was in contacting our youth chair who has a fulltime job and hence is rarely in
the Red Cross offices to certify that he knows those who are seeking
recommendation letters. There was a time in the process of searching for the
document where I got frustrated to the point I felt like, ‘Is this hustle
really worth it.’
The
first time I called the contact person, he never picked my phone nor replied to
my message. But being that person who is usually ignored, I took it that he was
just like the others. After another day, I did call and he did pick but I was
running out of time. The county manager who was supposed to sign my document
was not in the country and not even my life membership certificate aided in
making matters better. I envied the government even though it can be very
bureaucratic also given that they process documents not by knowing someone but
by looking at your records.
It
was while looking for this documents that I thought of an employment
opportunity that could reduce the red tape of getting a document from our local
Red Cross branch. If only they could be able to store information in a
database, say Microsoft Access or Excel where retrieval is easier, they could
reduce the frustrations people go through. Why do you need two approvals before
you are given a recommendation letter? Just by the look of the activities you
did can serve as a better representation than relying on a person who knows
you. From the activities, reports are generated at the end of the day to find
out whether there were any misdemeanors. If there were none, then you are cleared
and given you letter based on those grounds, if any adverse information is
written and you are mentioned, then your letter is delayed to allow for further
scrutiny.
But
I loved the explanation they gave as to why they could not write that letter
just yet. Given that there was a person who misused the letter after employment
by going on ahead and stealing from the organization he was employed in, there
was reluctance in issuing those letters. However, sole situations should not be
used to incriminate those that are ‘clean’. Even using another person to
certify that he knows you does not help much. What helps a lot is records.
I
realized that there are no reliable records that are used but only the use of memory
by the officer in charge to ratify your documents after asking you few
questions which you may cram if given ‘leakage’. Anyway, at the end of the day,
I was able to get the document. It has taught me an important lesson. That I
need to form a good rapport with those I work with. They can break or make you.
Initially, I had taken for granted people knowing me. I loved being mysterious.
To remain that person who is seen and when am gone from the situation, they
forget about me.
I
initially intimated that I will henceforth work with an employer who has got
structures. This is because, when I phoned my former boss where I worked as a
teacher, he was very formal and straight with regard to handling my issue. He
only had to check his files and judiciously make an informed decision when he
realized he had forgotten who I was. He did set an appointment date and when I
visited, he duly helped.
At
this point, I appreciate that formal education to a certain level is very
crucial. If you deal with someone without formal education, they may frustrate
you for no good reason. Plus, I repeat, storing information in a database is
still one of the most important things in life as it eases some time consuming
processes.
Anyway.
Away
from the frustrations and hectic process of getting letters, I met one of my
former campus mates. We met near TUK on some vibandas where I also went for a haircut
since my hair was turning out to be unproportioned. He was very bitter as to why
he wasted his time in campus. Even me (sic), I usually thought of having wasted
time going to campus but not anymore. Like if I had invested the money in a
business, I would have been having reliable income if the business picked. He
intimated about those days he spent reading in the library and having sleepless
nights while in high school and campus. Then someone decides to give him the job
of sweeping floors and packing goods awaiting them to be shipped overseas. I
wanted to tell him my bit of having sometimes washed toilets, washed clothes
for the orphans and other obscene jobs. I washed clothes that you wear gloves to wash because they are laced
with urine or faeces. And a variety of other things that you do on a voluntary
basis you wonder why you even went to campus. But they aid in reducing lolling. Better still, you have something to do when idle.
At
least, in his case, he was being paid. In my case, I was not employed and that
was a better way of making use of my time until other projects arose. Plus,
there is always mystery of not handling routine work when you volunteer in an
organisation like Red cross.
My
pal was more irked by the fact that his immediate supervisor was a holder of a
certificate and he used to tell him to issue out his CV so that in the event a
vacancy did arise, he would be considered. But in his vile thoughts which I
insularly consented with, he was of the opinion that upon receipt of the
document, the bugger would use it as material for reuse or place it in a paper
shredder or worse still, use it to light his jiko.
We
talked about a variety of other stuff that was affecting an unemployed
graduate. If only there was a way of absorbing this clueless labor force, then,
something good would be in the offing for this nation. As a job seeker who now
has hopes, I know that I am not alone. Nonetheless, there is this huge monster
that has invaded the employment industry called corruption. For example, there
are certain institutions where you have to part with a million shillings to be
employed paid upfront or in installments. The problem arises with regard in knowing right person to give the money if you have it. Additionally,
if your folks are not that liquid, you need to take up what comes your way.
Seething with rage will not help. So it all boils down that to a certain
extent, the job market has been left to the people who have means. If you are a
hohe
hahe and you don’t secure a place through graduate recruitment, chances
are you will have to wait a little longer because new graduates who are more
agile will be considered over you an old graduate. In order to reduce gaps in
your resume, you just take up whatever little you are given. They call it
starting small. And the Chinese did intimate that the journey of a thousand
miles start with a single step.
As
for my prospective employer, I have gone through a lot and I am yet to even
encounter very frustrating incidences that make me want to give up the quest.
Right now, I am uncertain as to whether I will get that job. If you don’t give
me that job which has taken me months I even wanted to write you a personal
letter asking why it was taking so long, I will appreciate the fact you bequeathed
me with some new experience. I know better how to handle myself with regard to
getting recommendation letters.
You
may deny me that opportunity or grant it if you wish. I did my able best and
when you are through with the hard part which made me even want to quit it
altogether, you feel a relief that is only innate. When you are struggling and
having sleepless nights thinking of how people have authority over your life,
you realize that at the end of the day you are no longer a liberal being.
As
I await for my two results; exam and employment, I am upbeat that things are never
static. When one door closes, another opens and you learn from previous
mistakes by taking measures that aid in obliterating that which is hampering a
move to the next stage. As I sit down writing this, I wonder why I have
informally turned into a professional student and job seeker. It is a struggle
but someday, I will have a breakthrough. Luckily, I love the fact that I can
sometimes be able to apply the various skills learnt all at once as time
progresses. That enough is motivation to continue. Who knows, someone may want
me to help him out with my knowledge when am ripe.
Hasta
La Vista Baby.
[Picture
Source: My own]
