Always add value to yourself

The power of continuous education and reading wide...

Prelude

I wrote this story in October of last year. At the time, I just shared it with my close friends but never got the guts to publish it. I feared that people might think I was bragging. This was not the angle I wanted the story to take. In the past few weeks, I have taken to publishing my thoughts and experiences. I have received great feedback from people who see my stories to be beneficial to them. I am now motivated to publish this — finally!

I hope my story motivates you!

I was scrolling through my WhatsApp messages one day when I came across a job Ad from a private company in search of an Accounting / Finance National Service Personnel. This was for a placement to fill the role of a Financial Analyst in their firm. Initially, I was hesitant to apply because the company wasn’t familiar to me. I decided to find out a bit more about them — just to satisfy my curiosity. I came across their website where I got to read a lot about them and their management team. I dug deeper into the backgrounds of the individual team members.

At this point, I was interested and decided to apply. A few weeks later, the National Service Secretariat (NSS) postings were out. I got posted by the Secretariat to the Ghana Audit Service (GAS). I had not heard from the company I applied to, so I went on to start the registration process for my posting to GAS. The very next day, I received a call from the private company to come in for an interview. I was thrilled.

I spent the next couple of days preparing for the interview by reading more about the company, what they did and also on some workers of the company on LinkedIn and Facebook. Then later spent some time jotting down some questions I was going to ask in the interview.

On the day of the interview, I made sure to get to the reception 30 minutes before my interview time. I was asked to sit and wait for my turn since another applicant was being interviewed at that time. As I sat there waiting I shared a word of prayer in my head and went over my questions and thoughts. A familiar face came out of the interview room. It was a face I easily recognized as he got closer. He was a colleague from the University I had just completed. We were coursemates at the time. He had just been interviewed for the same position i was vying for. We had a quick chat and he left.

As he took his leave, my mind went wandering to my days on campus. Every flashback I got seemed to affirm how much this guy was better than me. Academically, he was stronger — hands down. He had also furthered in ICA which placed him at a greater advantage. He also had some work experience since he worked on the SRC audit committee. At this point, there were so many thoughts all jumbled up in that head of mine.

The Interview

I was finally called into the interview room. I went in, greeted the panel, and was offered a seat. As I took my seat, the head of the panel exclaimed; ‘’Interesting, you are the first person to put on a tie’’. I replied with ‘’Is that so, I did a little bit of research about the company and I saw that you don’t dress formal (wear tie or suit), so I decided to look different’’. He then proceeded to inquire about what I had learned about the company from my research.

From that point, we had a lengthy conversation about the company, my past work experiences, my leadership experience, blockchain, cryptocurrency, the business I started on campus, among others.

Getting to the end of the interview I realized how little I had spoken about my Degree certificate or programme and the field of work I applied for. So I quickly summarized why I pursued Accounting and how I apply that knowledge in all the topics we discussed and in my life.

When I was asked if I have any questions, I pulled out a long sheet with my questions which everyone got shocked by. I proceeded to ask my questions and they gladly responded to those which were not confidential.

When I walked out of the interview room I saw another coursemate sitting at the reception waiting for her turn. I greeted her and found my way out. Again, I panicked because this person is one I believe and know to be a “shark” (a very good student). She used to teach some colleagues during revision week when we were in school. I once attended a group learning session where she led us to solve some Management Accounting (my most disliked course) questions.

In the end, I encouraged myself with having GAS to go to even if I am not selected.

Interesting Turnout of Events

On Friday afternoon of that week, I was at the British Council with a colleague to support him, as he was there to pitch at SFAN Student Entrepreneurship Week Event. That event took a twisted turn which made me end up doing the pitch on his behalf, a story to be told another time. Let’s get back…

I received a call from the company I had interviewed a day earlier. They made known to me that I have been selected to work there. I was filled with so much joy and also surprised. I quickly prayed and rendered my thanks to God. Then called my Mum (Yeah I’m a mummy’s boy 😊)to inform her and convince her that I’m choosing the private firm no one has heard of before over GAS.

Long story short, I later learnt that my other female colleague who was interviewed for the same position was the Valedictorian of my year group. This revelation made me ask myself why they chose me (a 3.14 GPA, Second Class Upper student) over a 3.8 GPA top of her year group First Class student.

Some few weeks after I started my service, I mustered some courage to ask a colleague who sat in my interview why they chose me over a First class student. She responded that after the interview process they narrowed down the candidates to the First class lady and me. Then they had a long deliberation on who to pick and finally settled on me because I was more exposed than my area of study and could relate to the company more. She continued that, although the other candidate was good and all, her confidence level at the interview was not good enough as compared to what they experienced with me.

Lessons Learnt

Looking back most of the skills I exhibited at the interview, I learnt them outside the lecture room by attending seminars and workshops.

I always told myself I will leave an impact wherever I find myself which I believe I did on that day.

I am always reading and learning outside my domain to fit anywhere I find myself, especially in the business domain.

This experience validated one of the expressions I used to tell my friends on campus,

“Certificates are just the ticket to the interview room, what happens thereon is about you and your ability to deliver outside your book knowledge”

Focus on improving yourself always and trust me it will definitely pay off later if not sooner.

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