Apologies for the confusion. Upon reviewing the text again, I noticed some additional grammar corrections. Here’s the updated version:
“This week’s article will be on a lighter note. I am also sure that most of Kenya’s youth will relate, specifically those who have been on a job hunt in the City under the Sun without connections.”
Now, my family is not in the habit of laughing at each other’s misfortunes, unless they are in the following areas: my mom’s Swahili, one grammatical mistake I made in reference to my childhood, and of course, the big one: my sister’s job search journey. The other two siblings, the Js, are sensitive and are treated with the utmost respect.
This ongoing joke began sometime back when Beaty was finishing Uni. She used to secretly attend these job mixers that were springing up around Nairobi’s C.B.D. She would leave home to be amidst other employees of this reputable multinational. All of them had the same story – they started with a two-shilling capital and were now millionaires who wore flowers on their suit’s breast pockets. One script, different players.
Suffice to say, she did not have the initial 16K investment needed to join the pyramid scheme that involved hawking toothpaste worth KSh. 2500, proudly made in Manila by mad scientists. To date, I do not understand the ins and outs of that lucrative industry, only that if you mention its name in a Kenyan household, there won’t be a shortage of tales that make you wonder.
It gets better. There is this A-list law firm where she dropped her CV. Everything was perfect – the location, cultural fit, and pay. That is until her name became a point of contention during the interview process. Not her first two names that are a headache to pronounce (after all, lawyers peg their careers to difficult Latin terminology) but her last name, which didn’t bode well with some partners.
In all honesty, I blame my ancestors for this one. They had no business being a symbol of success at the expense of our neighbors. They should have been less quarrelsome, at the very least. Who would have thought highly educated professionals in the business of fighting for human rights could not see past tribal narratives? Tip: Find a Western surname as soon as you can. Better yet, have a collection of different names and use them as the bigotry you find yourself in dictates.
A culmination: She recently (the said sister) successfully applied to a multinational e-commerce company. She had training dates, benefits packages, and a signed contract. The whole affair was set for her next big decade. However, she was ‘fired’ at 6 p.m. on the Sunday before she was supposed to start on Monday, over email. Of course, as fate would have it, she found out at 1 a.m. on Monday while we were preparing her hair for a serious job. I can confirm that this part of her experience has become a party favorite.
A Side Note: I once attended an ‘interview’ that had the first part as a presentation from the company. The person introducing the main speaker listed their accolades as follows: ‘He is a world leader in this industry. She has mentored many, and he sits on 6 high-impact boards. She is a force to be reckoned with in the marketing industry…’ I had never been so confused about the gender of a person as I was that day. I could tell you how the rest of the presentation went if I had stayed through it. The speaker was a lady.
I am not amused, though, at the post-school systems we have in place in this country. I can only hope this changes for those behind us. A person’s employment journey shouldn’t be a rhetorical hyperbole.
Black by Beazi 