What are your greatest strengths?

The job market in Kenya is really competitive. One has to put the best foot forward in order to get the coveted job.
For any one position, there are going to be thousands of applications. So, how then does someone make sure that they are selected for the job? The interview process is one of the most rigorous process in staff selection. One of the most common questions that is asked by employers and recruiters is “What is your greatest strength?”

TRAPS: This question seems like a softball lob, but be prepared. You don't want to come across as egotistical or arrogant. Neither is this a time to be humble.

BEST ANSWER: You know that your key strategy is to first uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs before you answer questions. And from Question 1, you know how to do this.

Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements.

You should, have this list of your greatest strengths and corresponding examples from your achievements so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM.

Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up.

As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:

1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.

2. Intelligence...management "savvy".

3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being.

4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team player who meshes well with interviewer's team.

5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor.

6. Good communication skills.

7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.

8. Definiteness of purpose...clear goals.

9. Enthusiasm...high level of motivation.

10. Confident...healthy...a leader.

The above rules are of course not the rule in themselves but they provide a general guideline. It would be suicidal to cram word for word answers below and then regurgitate them to the employer.

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.

Graduation gown

 This is a career ebook that is dedicated to all Kenyans. In particular, prospective applicants to Universities and colleges, high school students, Parents and career coaches, and HR Professionals will find the ebook useful. The ebook has three chapters, chapter one is answers to frequently asked questions, questions that many readers of my two blogs, Kenyans Campus Blog and www.kenya.47.com asked. The answers are elaborate and are particularly geared to the Kenyan education and job market environment.

Chapter two of the ebook explains about forty courses in detail, and at the end, the reader will have a deep knowledge of many careers, and in turn, he/she will make an informed choice of their career. It is worth noting that many students do not know which careers to select, and instead rely on peer pressure, pressure from parents or societal pressure. Rarely do students ever consider their unique strengths and weaknesses, their personalities, their abilities and talents. In reading through the ebook, I hope the reader will have a firm knowledge of the many careers available in the Kenyan job market.

Chapter three deals with application to US and UK Universities. As many students are enrolling in the US and UK Universities, they will need information on how to get scholarships to US and UK Universities.

Finally, the last chapter is on how one can get scholarships to several Universities, both in Kenya and abroad.  A number of scholarships are listed.

And finally, I wish to thank God, my family members, my friends, the readers of my two blogs, www.kenya47.com and www.kenyancampos.blogspot.com (Kenyan Campus blog) for their continued support. Without you, this ebook wouldn’t have been possible. 

Ahsante Sana

C.O.O Mabinda

Author of the Kenyan career ebook and Editor

Kenyan Campus Blog and www.kenya47.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON CAREER                                           3

                                                                                               

CHAPTER TWO

COURSES EXPLANATION AND WHERE ONE CAN WORK              43

CHAPTR THREE

APPLYING TO UNIVERSITIES ABROAD                                                           74

CHAPTER FOUR

SCHOLARSHIPS                                                                                                79. 

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.       

For enquiries call 0725026264

At just kshs.150, get your 82 page ebook.    

Payment by MPESA to 0725026264                                                     

When 'innocents' tempt the teacher

This is a part of an article that appeared on the Standard of Monday 24th October.
JOSEPH MUCHIRI lifts the lid on cheeky schoolgirls who employ every trick in the book to ensnare young male teachers into illicit love affairs.
News that the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) has launched a database to keep child pests away from schools will rightfully frighten male teachers who can’t zip it up.
But what is not often said is that in some cases, girls, especially in secondary schools, are never innocent victims but scheming operatives who do anything to entrap the young, male teachers of their dreams.
"Teaching at a girls’ school is highly tempting. It is only through a lot of discipline that I desist from engaging in illicit affairs with these girls," reveals Mwangi*, a teacher in Murang’a town.
Mwangi says that smartly dressed and handsome youthful teachers with flashy mobile phones or a laptops have to counter desperate attention seeking teenage students out to befriend them.
"In fact, some teachers caught up in embarrassing relationships with students are not necessarily the ones who initiated them.
"They are just unfortunate victims of circumstances, which they failed to tame early," explains Mwangi. The principal of a private girls’ secondary school in Karatina town always gives this stern warning to young male teachers on the day they first report for duty:
"In your stay here, and in your interaction with the students, you are guilty before the eyes of the society unless you prove yourself innocent through your conduct."
Read more »

Do interviews really bring out the best in a candidate?

Many job seekers dread interviews since it usually brings out the worst in them, save for the brave hearted.

In fact, sometimes, interviews tend to favor those who act the best. With a little internet research, one can get the answers of the most common questions asked during interviews. This mans that any person can readily go to the internet, grab cram the right answers and pour it out to the interviewers. Research shows that just about half of successful interviews do not live up to the expectations that the job demands. This requires very insightful interviewers to rally unearth the best candidates for the job.

Already, some top Kenyan recruiters have moved away from the traditional interview, and now engage the interviewee in more of a conversation, than an interview. In fact, some employers, such as the big auditing companies of PWC, Deloitte, Ernst&Young and KPMG engage the interviewee over a cup of coffee. To the uninitiated, they might actually not know that the interview is ongoing as they engage in a cup of coffee. Hopefully, other Kenyan employers will follow the same trend.

Why do bright students shun the Arts courses?

Many more bright students choose to do the science courses than the arts courses.

One of the reasons for such choices amongst the students is the societal expectation. Many an A student are told to pursue the hard courses such as medicine and engineering. It doesn’t matter that the student’s talents could be in an art discipline. True, the bills must be paid, but it does help if one pursues a career in which they have genuine passion and interest in.

At the moment, one will find engineers that wish they would have been lawyers, lawyers who wish they would have been teachers and so. One of the reasons why such a situation occurs is that many students are not simply aware of the course that they are going to study and find out too late that they are not a good fit for the particular course.

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Do supervisors really play their role?

Every workplace has some kind of hierarchy, which a clear separation of roles and responsibilities.

In any company, the new employees or interns are expected to be shown round the organization by a more experienced person. However, does this really occur in a normal office set up? Is this really what happens?

In too many workplaces, the supervisors will leave the juniors to carry out all the activities on their own. This can be quite confusing especially in the first days. Organizations that have supervisors who act as mentors really do reap a lot in improved work performance etc.    

SMS the word CAREER to 5242 to receive Joint Admissions Board (JAB)news, career advice, information on courses and Universities, start pay of courses etc.

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Is teaching really a rewarding career?

All professionals, politicians and leaders have passed through the hands of teachers.

But how comes that few teachers ever encourage their star students to choose the teaching profession as a career. Many brilliant students would be happy to choose careers such as medicine, law and engineering, as they are deemed as prestigious and tough. This is largely in line with the society’s expectations.

Whereas teaching attracted many stellar students in the 60s to 80s, the trend seemed to change into the 90s up to now. First among the grievances of many teachers was the low pay of the profession. However, their salaries have somewhat increased over the years, and in fact, Bachelor of Education is one of the most popular courses that self sponsored students would like to enroll in, may be also because they are sure that they are guaranteed of work some time in the future.

The other issue is the lack of a clear professional growth pattern. As most teachers are civil servants, the promotion is based on a combination of experience and talent, whereas in the private sector the promotion is based on talent and performance only.

SMS the word CAREER to 5242 to receive Joint Admissions Board (JAB)news, career advice, information on courses and Universities, start pay of courses etc.