Monday, October 31, 2011

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.


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

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                                                     

Monday, October 24, 2011

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 »

Sunday, October 23, 2011

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.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

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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Sunday, October 16, 2011

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.    

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Friday, October 14, 2011

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.


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Monday, October 10, 2011

Do KCSE candidates really know which career is best for them?

This is the time of the year when students are nervous.
The KNEC national exams, KCSE and KCPE are just a few weeks away and the students are doing their last preparations before they can tackle the all important exams. The exams will open and shut doors for many, depending on how the students will perform. A few students that excel in KCSE will get their dream course, while a lucky few will get scholarships to study outside the country. The rest of the students will either join the parallel degree programs, or join the middle level colleges.

It is true that many of the KCSE candidates will choose courses that are deemed prestigious. Few students, if any, ever choose courses due to their personality traits and talents. The societal pressure is such that the brightest of the students will choose such courses as Law, medicine, engineering and business courses. However, it need not be so. Some of the students are definitely talented more in the Arts than in the Sciences, and it would seem appropriate for them to select the courses. It is also true that many of the KCSE candidates have no idea about the course they are selecting. In effect, some universities elsewhere in the world allow the students to select a variety of units in their First Year in campus so that the students discover where their talents are. This way, the students will have a much wider knowledge of the courses they are about to select.  Alternatively, the universities would have allowed the students to major in dual degree so that they may then practice whichever course they deem necessary.

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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Networking-Why it helps in securing jobs.

Those that have attended career and job fairs have often heard of the importance of networking.
Career and HR specialist often remark that far more jobs are gotten through networking than searching through online and newspaper job adverts. In the UK for example, some MPs lamented that students from privileged backgrounds got better internships simply because of their superior networks.

In Kenya, most of the times, you will hear of a person who got a job through a friend of a friend who knew about the job vacancy. Rarely will one hear of a person who got a job through formal advertisement in the newspapers. In fact, some companies advertise jobs merely for formality sake, as the jobs already have a name to them. What then is the best way to network so that one is in a better position to get a lucrative job? The important thing is that you identify alumni from your University, friends even family members in the profession you are in. Even the church, bars and other social places are good places to network. I know using family members or a relative to network has already a negative connotation to it, as one will be accused of nepotism. But frankly, if you are qualified and a relative tells you of an opening in a place, wouldn’t you be glad to apply for the job?

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Friday, October 7, 2011

Do postgraduate degrees in Kenya take unnecessarily long time?

These days, many people are pursuing postgraduate degrees in order to enhance there professional and career growth.
With many jobs these days requiring at least a bachelor’s degree, those with masters degree seem to be naturally advantaged. Even as the number of postgraduate degrees continues to increase, it appears that some courses take longer than the estimated time to complete the course. Save for business courses, where there are many self sponsored courses, many other courses take a longer time. Courses hard hit are in the science and engineering domain.

Some students cite the frustration from lecturers as the sole reason why they take a long time. A course that was supposed to take two years to complete ends up taking about four or five years. While it is true that some courses do take much longer time due to unavailability of lecturers, some lecturers are simply out to frustrate the students. Equally, the lecturers also accuse the students of not paying enough attention to their studies, especially as some of the students pursue their studies even as they are full time workers.
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Can one balance side jobs with a regular job?

If you are an average Kenyan employee, you will have your regular job and then a side job to help increase one’s income.
Many people open such side jobs as a kiosk, MPESA shop, vegetable and grocery shops amongst other side businesses. But is it really possible to balance between a side job and a regular job?

Any average job is already difficult as it is, one arrives home when he is tired, and the brain is usually switched off. Now, expecting that person to switch the gears and oversee the side business for a few more hours is actually a very heinous task. So, in the end, both the business and the regular job suffer, as one doesn’t give each of them enough attention. Even if one seeks additional help, such as a spouse, still no one would have run the side job as effectively as you would have. Such side businesses as hotels and restaurants especially need constant supervision, or else they will collapse too fast. 
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Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Do Kenyan business schools really equip one with the necessary workplace skills?

These days, almost every middle level professional is signing up for an advanced degree.
Whereas there are many Kenyans that are enrolling in Arts and science programs, the most popular programs are in business school. To cash on this demand, almost every Kenyan University has started offering a masters program in business. Some have even carved a niche in the executive Masters Business program.

The most widespread masters business program is the Masters in Business Administration (MBA). Part of the attraction of such a program is that any professional can enroll in the program, and one can set their own timetable depending on how busy they are or how much money they have. However, even though the MBA program is very widespread, one really has to ask whether the program inculcates in one skills that are really essential in success in the corporate field. Does it really replace other skills such as flare, strategic judgment and gut instincts which are essential traits needed for one to succeed in business. Can business schools really teach such skills? Alternatively, are the graduates simply enrolling for the courses so that there credentials are in deed improved?
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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Do attachments and internships really open career doors?

In many undergraduate courses, one is required to go for attachment and internship during their third or fourth year.
Many Human Resource and career coaching professionals have advised university and college students to take the internships seriously as they could open important career doors. Tellingly, many students do get their first jobs in companies and firms where they had done their internship.

So, what exactly can one do to stand out during their internship? Number one, one should ask for projects where they can at least be in charge or be able to input their skills adequately. This might sound ridiculous, but most students do only the routine jobs during internships. They do such jobs as buying newspapers and airtime for the boss. In our country, few companies would really give you an opportunity to do a demanding project.

You should network with our bosses, your colleagues and supervisors, as they are the ones who will inform you of openings in the company or other companies within the industry.
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