After a year or two, you may decide to throw in the towel. You will have done all that you possibly could have done. You applied almost all the vacancies you could come across. You sought out a professional to edit your curriculum vitae. You implemented every single advice that you got from job interview related articles and books. You have also been so prayerful, and when you couldn’t pray about the same thing anymore, you stopped.
Two weary years of voluntary jobs in search for experience. Nothing good to show for it. Your friends are already living their dream lives. You can tell this from all their social media posts.
You miss going out, you miss your friends and you miss all the beautiful adventurous life that your friends are enjoying. You always feel out of place when people discuss their work experiences. Due to this you stopped attending parties, you stopped going to baby showers, you stopped meeting friends, and your social life came to a standstill. You have become recluse.
You seem to be the unlucky one when everyone else around you seems to have everything in place. Your age mates seem to be 5 years ahead while you are stuck in a murky world not knowing when God will finally look your way.
You feel so powerless and you seem so useless. You feel unproductive but there isn’t much you can do to change the situation.
Then one afternoon you receive a call. You are supposed to report to a certain company on a given date. God has finally answered your prayer. It’s hard to believe because once you are used to receiving disappointments, when good news come you tend to think it’s blackmail. It takes you a while to process the information. You don’t want to tell anyone lest it’s a dream.
Now that you have a job, you have to look the part. You do not have clothes that are good enough for office work but since you do not have money to purchase new ones, you will have to work with what you have for the time being.
When you report to work, you might have someone to take you around. Some companies will not orient you. You will have to find your way around from your colleagues. Since you are new, you will need to sit next to someone before you become fully confident with your job.
Some of the colleagues will be willing to show you how but you will not fail to get that one person who will always give you a hard time. This one will show you attitude. Some will see you as a threat, they will never show you what to do when stuck. When you don’t do what is required they will be the first ones to point fingers. You have to develop thick skin and know how to deal with such characters.
If you are lucky to get a people oriented leader as your superior, someone who listens to you and who is ready to guide you through, thank God for it. They are rare to come by.
On the other hand if you find a narcissist for a boss. You will need to prepare your ears for the long speeches and the continuous discontentment even when you do a perfect job. They will go through your work and correct everything till you look foolish when you have actually done a great job. They will expect you to think the way they do, something that is impossible. What they want and what they say are all that matter. Your concerns and your wants will become mere whispers. When you hold a discussion, their opinions will be right, yours will be of minimal importance.
After some time, you will know the ropes and work like a pro. You will then start complaining about your boss. You will complain how they pay you peanuts. You will start noticing the cracks that were not evident when you so desperately needed this job. You will join one of the cliques at work and backbite the secretary who is always in clothes that are two sizes smaller.
Your punctuality will dwindle and 10 minutes late will not bother you. The extra effort that you used to put in will reduce. The more you stay the more you will want to leave to find greener pastures. You will start thinking of finding yourself a new job. You will start excusing yourself from work time to time just to attend an interview.
The search for another job may not be as hard as your first job now that you have gained some experience. All you need to know at this point is that the grass is not always greener on the other side.
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