Recruitment Pressure (PT TWO)

The early stages of employment in Nigeria of today will always get you excited like an early morning rose with young and pretty petals springing out one after each other. Always giving us hope of an independent, responsible life with the joy of giving your parents less stress over you.

After a successful submission of your application, months and month goes before you get a ring of invitation to come and sit for the interview examination. This happens after you have even lost all hope and given up that the interview will not be holding again. Excitement was all over you that you jump up while singing songs of thanksgiving unexpectedly.

Yes, you sat for this interview examination, your pride and ego gets higher when you heard that you aced the exam. Before this, your feet were full of chatters before you were called in to sit for the examination. You were indifference of what to expect. “Wow! With this result, I am sure that I will perform this same way in the forth coming oral interview”, these thoughts were running across your mind.

First month gone, second month till you start counting years. In fact, another close up happens on the several new applications that you have submitted.

Some have even opted for a salary far below your responsibilities, so long that you own a mouth to feed. Then, the debts collectors as begin to ring your sell taped handset day in day out while several knocks you constantly receive on your cracked doors with holes patched with parts of your bed to hinder entrance of mosquito’s to have access and sulk your remaining blood that as fell below far below your right PCV. Now where is the money to cater for Malaria?

Finally, while lying on your tattered bed, a message enters when you are thinking of how to tackle all debts that is hanging around your neck. “Ohhhhh! It might be someone I owe”, you say. Sluggishly, you pick up the phone, read the latest message and you had another jumping higher than the one you did before with a job that is not yet yours. Well, it’s good and advisable to be thankful to God to foster Our Lord in making the huge job yours.

Wow! Look at you looking so dashing like a groom on the interview date. You put on your newest office attire. Your shirt and trouser is starched to the extent that it can pierce one’s fresh fleshly body part if touched. You pick out your black shoes that as being covered with dust that is enough to mix with cement when building a whole house. You dusted if off that it made you sneeze for the longest time then polished it to the darkest it can be and you saved foam from your tattered bed for this special occasion to make the shoe shine like it’s in a competition with the sun. Why will I leave your silky most expensive tie out, dashing sky blue with patches of white?

As you stepped out, the neigbhours were gossiping that look at this debtor looking most expensive as if he is on his way to pay a bride price. You heard them mocking you but the interview were all that you had in mind and not pay any attention to them.

At the oral interview office, you kept your head high, straight and focused. But behind all this, you are sweating within down to your soul. Your feet chatter more that the secretary asked if you are ok. The feet chattering stopped for a while with the caution but resumes back to duty again. “I pray these panels will ask what I have studied”, that is what is going through your mind. You were called in when it gets to your turn. With the entire past Oral interview, all salutations were no problem for you at all. 

Unfortunately, the questions they asked aren’t part of what you prepared but with your past experiences in interviews, you managed to scale through successfully. And you couldn’t read their countenance when you were told that they will get back to you.

Once you stepped out of the location, the coldest breeze fell on you till you received another SMS that says the job is yours. Tears streamed down your cheek unknowingly. Your soul breathes dawn breezes to your body from within out to your last layer of skin.

Before I stopped, all this long term interviews mostly happen with Nigerian Federal and State Government Job Openings. I haven’t experienced this with Private Organisations I think? But with the experience I’ve had with private organisations, it has never been this long. So I want to plead with Our Country which I am so patriotic about to please and please, make such interviews to have a lesser duration of time.

And I leave with this final statement that says “such interviews leaves us with a kind of itchy feeling that later turn the whole body holes to be filled with Spores”.

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY: ADEBAYO, Busayo.