How I Got My First Job: 5 Things I Did Right

2013 was a remarkable year for me. It was the year I rounded off my NYSC programme in Delta State, the youngest among my contemporaries, and everything in front of me looked bright. The plan was simple and ambitious: head abroad for a Master’s degree in Communication. This was before “japa” became the national anthem. I just wanted the degree.

But the scholarship I was banking on never came. I secured admission into three good universities, each one offering mouth-watering benefits, but not a single one offered the scholarship I truly wanted. That door, the one I had planned my whole next chapter around, quietly closed.

So I did what you do when the plan falls through. I came back to Lagos, and I kept moving.

I had just returned from Enugu, where I’d gone for a NIMC aptitude test, when I checked my email and saw it: an interview invitation from Jobberman. The interview was that same week, a Friday, out at Lekki. I didn’t overthink it. I went.

Looking back now, more than a decade later, that one interview changed the direction of my life. And when I replay it in my head, I can see clearly the five things I did right.

1. I didn’t let the closed door stop me

The scholarship not coming through could have frozen me. I had built my dreams around going abroad, and when that collapsed, it would have been easy to sit at home and sulk, waiting for the “real” plan to somehow revive itself.

Instead, I stayed in motion. I came back to Lagos. I went for the NIMC test. I kept my eyes open for the next thing. The Jobberman opportunity didn’t find me on my bed. It found me because I was still active, still applying, still showing up. A closed door is only the end of the journey if you stop walking.

2. I showed up, and I showed up fast

When that email landed, the interview was just days away, in a part of Lagos I had never been to in my life. That Friday was my first time ever going to Lagos Island.

I could have hesitated. Unfamiliar place, short notice, no guarantee anything would come of it. But I replied, I prepared, and I went. So much of success is simply being the person who shows up when the opportunity is small and uncertain. You don’t need to feel ready. You need to go.

3. I paid attention to the world around me

Here is a small detail that turned out to matter. On the bus heading to Lekki for the first time, I didn’t bury my head in my phone. I was doing sightseeing, looking at everything, reading every billboard I passed. Jumia. Konga. KPMG. Big, confident brands announcing themselves to the city.

When I got to the venue, I realised I was one of several applicants that day. We were given a written test, and then asked to present on one of our answers. The task touched on brands, and I had to decide which companies to compare Jobberman with. I didn’t reach for KPMG, because KPMG is far older and a different kind of business. I chose Jumia and Konga, because like Jobberman, their business lived online. The model was similar, and the comparison made sense.

That answer came directly from paying attention on a bus ride. The world is always teaching you something. Your job is to keep your eyes open.

4. I used skills I built outside the job

The presentation is what truly made them notice me.

During my service year, I was the president of the NCCF chapter in Sapele. That meant constant public speaking, standing in front of people week after week, but never the same way twice. The topics kept changing, so I was always speaking on something new. Sometimes I spoke straight from my head with no notes at all. Other times I spoke with notes in hand. I learned when to prepare every single word and when to trust myself to speak freely, how to read a room, and how to carry people along. Without ever setting out to, I had trained myself in public speaking from every angle.

So when I stood up to present at Jobberman, it showed. They actually paused and asked me, “Do you preach in church?” I said yes, I do. “Oh,” they said, “no wonder.” They used the word impressed.

I hadn’t taken a single course on presentation skills. The skill came from something I did out of conviction, in a completely different context. Never underestimate what your church, your volunteering, or your side responsibilities are quietly teaching you. Those skills travel with you into every room.

5. I kept my cool when they tried to rattle me

Then came the interview itself, and one moment nearly undid me.

My CV said I was analytical. So they handed me a simple analytical question, the kind where something has ten apples and you work out the rest. And it threw me completely off balance. I gave my answer, and they told me I was wrong. I tried again, and I was still wrong.

I didn’t argue. I accepted it. I was wrong. I stayed calm, and I answered their other questions as best I could. Looking back, I’m fairly sure it was a stress interview, where they were deliberately trying to provoke me and see if I’d get rattled or defensive. I left that room certain I would not be called back.

But I stayed composed. I was humble enough to admit a mistake without losing my head over it. And that composure, I believe, counted for more than getting the apple question right.

The moment I knew I wanted to work there

There was one more thing from that day that stayed with me. When lunch time came, I watched employees flood towards the kitchen to pick up their food. I remember thinking, “Wow, this company serves lunch. I would love it here.” It was a small thing, but it told me something about the kind of place this was, and it made me want the job even more.

The email that changed everything

Two days later, the email came. I was to resume the following week, on a Tuesday. March 5th, 2013.

That was my first job, my first real professional corporate job. It was not the path I had planned, because the Master’s abroad never happened the way I imagined. But it was the start of everything that came after.

If I could pass one thing to anyone reading this and waiting for their own break, it is this: the plan you lose is not the life you lose. Keep moving, show up, stay observant, carry your skills with you, and keep your cool. The door that opens is often one you didn’t even know you were walking toward.