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Questions you need to ask yourself before quitting your job.

 

Changing a job is a decision that must not be taken lightly, a job in hand is worth 200 in the Nigerian job market. However, if you still desire to change your job, there’s a couple of questions you need to ask yourself apart from the location and obviously the pay. Here, I would discuss important questions you would wish you asked yourself before embarking on the job or career change.

 

Why do I need to quit my Job?

For most employees, in Nigeria at least, a job change goes hand in hand with the degree of a pay rise. There’s are more reasons why you could leave you would want to leave your job, boredom, lack of a challenge, subpar benefits, lack of appreciation, or a rift with one of your superiors at work. Once you have identified the reason, the next thing to do is to figure out if said problems could be resolved as soon as possible. If yes, then you might realize that you might not need to leave your current job. In any case remember to try to find the serenity to accept the things you cannot change and try to find the courage to change the things that you can.

 

What kind of Job do I want?

Before quitting your present job, you should have your next job waiting in line. So before even considering quitting your current job, you have to know what you want from your next job, better pay? better hours? A job description that suits your skillset and talents? A different job with a different boss and different challenges, or just a job that makes use of your passion. Whatever it may be, it’s best that you be as realistic with yourself as possible.  When you figure this out, then you can go about in search for the next job, apply for as many jobs as a possible but as a professional, it is best to create a schedule and remain strategic with your job search, let your desires for your next job guide your  search.

 

Do I need to better my skillset for the new Job?

Upgrading your skillset should be a goal you embark on yearly, your skillset is your greatest asset and you have to invest your time into upgrading it at regular intervals. Now that you’ve decided what job you want, you could theorize what the typical job description for that job could be. You could then conduct an honest self-audit and evaluate your present skillset vs. those on the job description. The results will show what you need to improve and the skills you need to acquire for the new job.

 

BY OLAMIDE AKINNAGBE-GBENGA

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Keys to job Satisfaction

 

A common misconception in today’s job market is the equation of job satisfaction to remuneration and anyone that has worked with the stereotypical boss from hell will tell you that is so not true, in fact, most of those employees will tell you they’d gladly take less to work at a job where they are respected and at a role that they love.

So, what exactly is Job Satisfaction and how can you thrive to get it. It is simply put as contentment with and in your job.  Several studies have been conducted in delving into job satisfaction especially amongst government employees in Nigeria and it’ll come as no surprise that an alarming number of these employees report that they are not satisfied with the jobs that they have mainly because they are not provided with the amenities and tools to be able to adequately execute their roles, but that is a discussion for another day.

Lots of factors key into job satisfaction most of which are within your control, with effort you can either find a job that gives you the satisfaction you desire or learn to derive satisfaction from the one you currently have, some of this factors are discussed below.

 

Engagement

Engagement requires hard work, dedication and focus to whatever activity you are conducting, and it comes as no surprise that jobs that utilize your complete skillset are usually the most engaging and take up 100% of your focus and attention.  A reason you might not be fully engaged at your work is that you do not feel like you are utilizing your full skillset. People are more engaged in jobs that require use of their talents and skills and the truth is, your talents can be utilized in any job you find yourself doing. Yes, you might be better suited for some jobs than others, but fully engaging in your work and finding ways to add your talents to your job description will positively impact your perception of the job and improve your contentment with the job. It also impacts your colleagues.

 

Respect and Appreciation

Regardless of the job, every human love to feel appreciated, and a survey in 2015 conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) reported that over half the employees surveyed placed supervisor’s respect as very important to job satisfaction.  Supervisors or manager vocally express their discontent when they are not happy with their subordinates or employees work, it is only right that they express appreciatiation when the reverse is the case. In short, working at a job where you feel underappreciated, undervalued or disrespected will most likely lead to feeling dissatisfied at work.

 

Motivation

Motivation is what gets you up in the morning, and the moment you start dragging your feet trying to get to work in the morning is when you need to conduct a self-audit of  what your drive is at you place of work. If your motivation is just getting to pay day, then do not expect to be much energized at work. I suggest that you find a goal other than the obvious monetary ones that inspire you to want to be better at your job and gives you the motivation to work harder. Set short term and long term goals that are within reach, this gives you something to work for and look forwards to. If you can’t do that, then I suggest that you begin to search for other jobs.

By Olamide .T. Akinnagbe-Gbenga

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Negotiating a remuneration package with your boss ?

This write-up will focus on new-hires into a company or organization negotiating a pay package with their prospective bosses. Before you even begin salary negotiations with a prospective employer, you need to find out how much the job is worth – and how much your skills and experience are worth to the employer.  Take the time to  research salaries long before you even begin discussing pay.  That way you will be prepared to make your case and land a job offer that’s realistic and reasonable.  Sometime during your interview, your prospective employers will ask what your salary expectations are, employers tend to use this to wean off interviewees that have too high a salary expectation and to find employees that fit their budget for this vacancy.  It is therefore important that you don’t price yourself out of contention for the position, try to find as much as possible about this organization so you can be able to make a well-educated guess, your main goal during this first interview should be getting a call back.

After the string of interviews, you eventually get the call offering you the job. Typically in Nigeria, benefits a company provides are a given and is standard for all employees, so there’s no negotiating there. The salary package however, is up for a bit of negotiation, here are some tips to help that negotiating process.

Let the other side make the first offer

Your goal is to allow the employer to suggest a salary, from this figure you can begin decide if the job is worth you negotiating, it will also give you a sense of how much wiggle room your prospective employers have.

Counter the offer with a researched response.

Your counter-offer should be based on what you know about yourself, the market, and the company. Therefore, it is vital to do some research before the interview so that you know a reasonable salary range for your position.

Be persistent

In many cases, the employer will reject your first request for a higher offer. Don’t let this deter you. Push back gently, justifying your proposed salary. Explain how the company will benefit from the investment.

Be flexible

If the company won’t budge on salary, negotiate other compensation. Ask for things like an extra week of vacation, a private office, or a flexible schedule. (Maybe you can work four ten-hour days instead of driving to the office five days a week!)

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Stand Out in that Interview!

To be irreplaceable, one must always be different; the sentiment of this quote is one that you have to embody at your next job interview.  Interviewers typically invite hordes of people to interviews for any position, it is therefore imperative that you make sure that you stand out in some way (preferably for good reasons) and if your resume isn’t so remarkable, here are some tips that will help your interview be memorable to your interviewers.

 

Know more about the company than anyone else

The first question you need to ask yourself when you’ve been invited for an interview, is what you know about the company. At some point in the interview, you will be asked what you know about the business —if you can’t answer that question, it makes you look like someone that doesn’t care too much about the opportunity.  Go into the interview knowing their mission statement, understanding the company’s target market, and knowing more about the history of the business than anyone else. Research can be easily conducted via the company’s website, trade publications, and by asking current employees (if you know any).  Being prepared and being someone that can show you are prepared provides the interviewer with the impression you are interested in the potential job, took the time to plan ahead, and care about the outcome.

 

Turn the interview into a conversation

We tend to think of interviews like a press conference or a question and answer session. Stop thinking of an interview as a series of questions you have to answer correctly to “pass”, this gives the feeling that the interview is a test. Think of the interview as more of a conversation with your boss. To aid this, come to the interview armed with a good question, for example if they ask

“why did you apply here” you can say,

“I’m interested in virtual reality, and marketing is what I do best, so when I saw a virtual reality company like yours needed a Marketer, it was a no-brainer for me to apply.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity. One thing I noticed when reading about your company is that you seem to take a different approach to marketing than most of your competitors, can you share why that is?”.

You can also find other ways to work in your questions asides from the typical “Do you have any questions” question that the interviewer asks, you can ask about current projects the company working, the challenges they are facing, work in an appropriate joke or a personal experience into the conversation and before you know it, the interview starts to feels like a regular chat between colleagues.

 

Deflect trick questions

Interviewers like to ask questions that back interviewees into a corner, when the interviewer invariably asks “You had a boss from hell didn’t you”, what do you do?  You can’t exactly answer yes and saying no might not exactly be the honest response, its best to be diplomatic and deflect those kinds of questions.  You could respond with not everyone is meant to have great bosses, but that you’ve learned techniques to work well with all kinds of challenging personalities.

Interviewers also like to ask you what your negative traits are? Some advisers recommend you use your hyperactivity or your impatience to your advantage, saying it helps get things done. Although it sounds like solid advice, it still sounds forced. Why not move the conversation forward, saying “I really can’t think of anything offhand.  Can I get back to you on it?” Maybe what they’re really looking for is to see if you’ll falter. If you come up with a quick answer and a sincere smile, then maybe you gave them the answer.

 

Focus on personal branding.

One of my favorite quotes by American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”  Several people tend to project personalities that they feel the company would like to hire.  They often find themselves not being themselves during interviews and put up an interview persona and end up faltering during the interviews.  It is always best to be you during interviews because that’s what you’re most comfortable with and you can’t put a premium on being comfortable during interviews.  I am not saying you let go of professional norms, I do encourage you to bring your authentic self to the job search process. Being you also helps you highlight your passions and interest, you should also share your areas of improvement (and not just fake ones that you spice up for interviews). Your honesty will be a breath of fresh air for the interviewer.