The Manual

Friday again.

As alluded to on the Richie Online Facebook page (which some of you have chosen to have the boldness not to like up to date), this Friday we will do less of the jokes and more of business. Very important considering the fact I talked about the previous post (on redifining success) that we all need money.

The most conventional way in which people earn a living in Malawi is through labour; skilled and unskilled alike; and the fact that you are reading this means that you are probably going the way of the former (skilled labour, that is). Issue is that, however, employment is hard to come by these days if we are to look at things in realistic terms. I am told that the figures from the National Statistics Office entail an unemployment rate of 50% among the Malawian youth and some go on to suggest that the figures are cooked to obsecure the true picture on the ground. Whether the latter is true or not is of little significance because half of the country being unemployed is already too toxic and paralytic to the economy of the country.

Here is the thing. People who are employed are more likely to be financially stable and and with financial stability at individual level chances are that the country will also be financially stable and this unemployment rate surely has a crippling effect on the economy in those lines. We shouldn't be, therefore, surprised with the general outcry and the increase in the number of fingers to the government.

To add to the already existing problem, the government which is busy training people seems not to be in the mood of hiring. There was once a time when teachers used to be employed straight from the TTCs and when doctors would have a job barely 3 weeks after accessing their finals results? Now? You know, of course.

All complaints raised, we need to realise that their are some people who are on two or three high paying jobs. And yes, in the midst of these some are prospering in jobs and businesses alike. There are people who are getting jobs whilst in college while some stay for years at home without proper jobs. Realizing what accounts for this difference in fortunes will help us realize and probably cover up the gap that is there between many of us and financial prosperity.

To the point solutions.

The first of these of course is about hard and smart work in everything we do. Most of the people who spend time reading my posts are intellectuals or newly graduated. Interesting group of people which can be careless and myopic. Sometimes many of us disregard our performance in work places and institution forgetting that they may have a strong bearing on our future. Probably high time we realised that the impressions we give with our grades and work performance have an ability to make us or break us.

There was a whole statement that was made in support of marginal passes in college. At some point people even made the "Ku College Bola 50" Facebook group. It is this spirit and that of thinking we don't have to work hard in workplaces that is killing most of us young people, leading to unemployment on the personal level.

Another solution that most of young people could use is the realignment of priorities because most of us got them twisted. One Pastor Ken Mlomba once posted on Facebook as to how sorry he feels when people have all the smart gadgets while claiming they have neither business capital nor school fees. That is how we see things nowadays. We give so much attention to things that do not matter leaving out the ones that do. Talking of resources that are misplaced, it is not just monetory but time too. The time most of us would spend social networking could be invested in self development but most of us do not take up the task.

I have known how some people transformed their lives when they began seeing every resource they had as an opportunity to have something greater; every single minute they had as an opportunity to self develop. High time everyone followed suit.

And then comes another important one. One thing some of us need to do is to understand the concept of baby steps and learn to know that progress is progressive, meaning that it is a process and not a one time event. Most of us nowadays would want to get there without going there. Practical? Not at all. We want to get to the best positions in our companies without rising through the ranks. The reality in this world is that there are little chances that it will happen that way. That goes to my friends in entrepreneurship too. You don't expect to start a business today and be like Thom Mpinganjira the next day. Doesn't work that way. We need to learn to walk in baby steps before starting to run. It is the little things that are available; jobs, school and business opportunities, that will lead to greater things later.

There is another popular excuse that goes among young people. Most would point the big people in higher positions, be it in the public or private sector for their problems, citing that the people higher up arebnot giving young people opportunities. One Dr Matthews Mtumbuka once said that people who want to get things done do not wait for an opportunity to be handed to them, but rather they go and take it from where it is. Frowning at the statement? Well. I agree with him.

Most of us sit and expect opportunities to come our way, but there is a slight chance that someone would leave the comfort of his position to hunt for his competition. That is why us as young people need to be proactive enough if we are to get what we need for progress in our lives. Sometimes it makes sense to shake up people who matter till they act on our requests. I have every reason to think that no one would resist to grant an opportunity to someone who goes to them and gives them a reason to give the opportunity. The problem is that most of us demand stuff beyond us. We need to see what's worth and work on ourselves; building in that CV and knowledge profile before going to whoever and asking for a job or whatever opportunity.

Trust me, people are looking for people they can hand opportunities to and if they haven't found you, it is just that you are not doing something right to make you the right person. Sounds harsh, but it is true.

Meaningful connections. For some reasons these work and are infallible. Make friends that add value to life and are relevant to your career and aspirations. Very important. I mean, if you are in a field and you have contacts with people who are higher up; and of course you talk to them on the right things, chances are that when there is an opportunity it will come to your Whatsapp inbox before it gets to some newspaper. That is not corruption of course. I mean, between someone who I know and someone I don't, all factors constant I would go for someone I know. Simple logic, but most of us are failing to apply and are surrounding ourselves with friends that drain us instead of adding value to our lives. Something to think of.

I could continue to type and to say a lot, but the point is to really just break free from the sort of thinking we have regarded as conventional for long. Job applications shouldn't be restricted to big positions and to vacancies. We need to seize every opportunity as it passes by and to stand in opportunities' way by getting in touch with relevant people. We need to be proactive and to ask for what is rightly ours other than let others give us a measure of what they think we deserve. Priorities need to be set right and lived by. Self development needs to be at the heart of everyone and we all need to build a name and a CV worth showing out.

If we could sort these things out, it could as well just be enough to survive and maybe enjoy the so called harsh economy. I must say that these things are best tailored to aspirations and do not work crude. I hope you got the principle.

Consider that the second epistle.