WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY FATHER; How to get a job that would not harm you (Part 1)

Bright Otoo

 When I was young I loved my father a lot. When he hugged you, you could feel the warmth. The memory I have of him is a very humble and quiet person. At the time when I was about 6 years he worked at the Accra Brewery. I understand he used to be popular with people there because he was the party person that am not; he knew how to dance and sing. The Difference between us is that I am an antisocial person (am changing) who loves privacy; he was more sanguine than me.

Later in life he became a cook and could cook better than my mum. He got a chance to work for some white men in Ghana who later on transferred him to Nigeria. He named me after the son of the white man, Circle. Then he did his job over there till his employers took him to Rome, Italy.  At that time it was a great opportunity. We were happy when he went there because he sent us money and clothes among others until he lost his job; by that time he was an old man and he couldn’t switch jobs. His life never improved till I heard from him no more. Before he left the job, he used to complain a lot about how they wanted to harm him and son; he quit by himself and couldn’t return to Ghana (he felt his time had passed). But my point is that, he was exploited by his employers.

You might say, ‘what was he doing with all the money he was earning'? In Rome, the expenses were high for him and almost all you made were taken from you through rent, utility bills and he had to cater for his family too.

When my father graduated from Polytechnic, he could have been a musician or started his own little restaurant till it became something worthwhile but he chose the other option, thus to work with somebody. Am also at that same junction in my life and I see young graduates today, who are eager to work for other companies rather than start their own business. Either way is good, but if you are not careful you could be victimized like my father was. That is why I wrote this article to point some things out to my ambitious young friends.

Like most people, ever since I graduated from school, I have been torn between running my own business and going to work for other companies; its either I chart my own cause or I work under somebody. But in our job market today, I see people give their lives to companies in their youth and when they’ve given up their youthfulness to the work, they are then kicked out and left with nothing. If they are given anything at all, it’s nothing to write home about. The other day I read from the newspapers that a mining company was sacking 4000 people because the economy is not favoring them; if the person is an old man now, where is he going to get a job from? These things are too common that people are been given jobs on contract bases, 2years agreement like a footballer! And the selling of companies has even made it worse.

I want us to consider our choices properly, whether we want to work for ourselves or for others. To work for others is the easiest but it has to fall into certain paradigms before it can be of benefit to you. Seriously, if you decide to work for a company, what it means is that you have handed a sizable part your future into their hands. When you work for a bank. You’d have no time to do anything for yourself because you even have to go to work on weekends. You might think by the time you are old you’d have enough to survive for the rest of your life but not everybody would have it that way; majority of employees are been paid ‘hand to mouth salaries’. Some bosses' 4 months salary for an employee are used to purchase android phones for their children! I ask this question, ‘do these employers know what they are doing when employing people? Do they know that their employees are putting all their future in their hands?

Conditions that can favor you in a job

When you start working you are like a young lady who has just got married and gives her youthfulness to her husband. Someday, her time will pass and the beauty would be gone. The lady's prayer is that the man does not disappoint her but that her life would improve and she’d have some properties and live well. Jobs exploit the youthfulness out of you; it’s an exchange.

The following are what you should look out for;

Good salary; some firms pay ‘hand to mouth salaries’ because they know there are no jobs and there are many job seekers who would gladly do your work for less. Hand to mouth salaries get finish within a few days like my lady friend would say ‘I don’t live by the company’s salary and I wish I could tell the boss that!’. Now, if you give all your life to a job like that and you grow old what would be your fate? Let’s not let our hardship today push us into certain bondage. Good salaries can help you set up yourself for any unfortunate situations.

Self development; while you are working you should be doing more courses or other things that upgrade you. If you have other talents, you should have the support to build them. The company should support you with sponsorship packages or give you breathing space to do other things.

Promotions; there should be an avenue to climb higher because the higher you climb the more your salary and other benefits increases.

Good history with workers; if you get a job, find of how they treated former employees and the present too. Do they pay their social security and keep employees for long? Do they set employees up for new business when the employees working time is up?

There are more things that you can to look out for. However, if you are in a job and any of these things are lacking, be careful not to end up like my father. Don’t give up your youth to a company for them only to dispose you off like a waste product in your old age. Some employers cheat too much!  I have been victimized before so I know what am talking about; the strategy to use here is that while you work for them, you would be looking for job or upgrading yourself to qualify for a better one. Some people might think that writing such articles would not help me get a higher job (because employment agencies pry into our lives through the internet before even calling us for interview) but I don’t care as long as I say the truth. Good employers shouldn’t be offended by this article.

There are goblins in the job marketing that are swallowing lives, if you are not smart you’d be eaten up and left with no soul. I see lots of people begging on the road side, good people without good places to lay their heads and even feed their families. Some are in this predicament because of some employers’ crude attitudes toward them.

Watch out for part two of this article within 48hrs; how to chart your own course – how to be self employed.