What You Wear Speaks Louder Than Your CV so Beware

The issue of dressing is an interesting one and one that keeps the pages of many magazines filled month after month.

Many job seekers, coming straight from college or university, are still reeling from the after effects of teenage (crisis) and have their head in the clouds believing you get a job for your CV and brain not for your appearance.

Well, shock on you – that does not work. How you dress speaks louder than any CV you will ever present anywhere.

Let me keep it short with one question:

When you see a Benz parked and two men walking towards it, how do you tell who is the owner and who is most likely the driver? It is simple – by the cut of their clothes.

Recently, a young man came to my office and he was looking for a job. I have these young people who come to me all the time, so I asked as usual that he comes in. I took his CV read it, looked at him, and my head started spinning. I am sure he must have thought I would give him a job the next day because I started asking him all sorts of questions. Within a few minutes, I had established where he comes from, his possible family background all the way to what he ate for breakfast that morning.

No! It was not because I was interested in giving him a job. I wanted to tell if a conman or a common criminal had just dared to walk into my office. For all purposes in my view, his CV and his appearance were two different people. So there was only one possibility – a criminal who had had his CV written on River Road had just walked into my office. And so I kept the questions flowing.

His answers were encouraging, but from the initial doubts, I am still thinking seriously about the authenticity of that CV.

The truth is, even if I had a job for him, or I knew someone who could employ him, especially with a CV that beautiful, I would have been scared because his appearance did not match his CV.

Yes! Out here, you are judged by your appearance.

Whatever you do, dress to be taken seriously. If you are on the job hunt – think like an employer. Would you take a person dressed shabbily? Probably not!

Jobs In Kenya – What Jobs Information Is On This Blog?

The history of this blog is long, and I will not tire you with it. The good news is you are here and you are a beneficiary of the years that have brought it where it is now. I first started actively working with the unemployed, new graduates, and people searching for jobs in Kenya two years ago. In that time, I have learned a lot. The most important thing that I have learned is that there are numerous sites offering you links to companies that offer jobs, but not one site that gives you tangible, concrete, counsel on how to go about finding a job in Kenya. 

There are three things I know in my over 15 years of working in Kenya;

First, no matter how hard you work on CV writing and sending them out, you keep getting displeasing results – unless – you change your inner job finding strategy.

Second, no matter how many job opportunities you see, you cannot get past the 'send in your CV stage' if you do not know what employers are looking for.

Third, no matter how many CVs you fill and how many interviews you sit, you will keep going round and round in circles, waste a year or more struggling to find a job in Kenya, only to finally take a job you dislike and that pays peanuts – unless – you know how to get the job search results you desire. 

This site gives you a list of resources to ensure your success:

1.    If you are a fresh graduate and you wish to find a job pretty fast, pick up the job strategy ebook for fresh graduates with a complete and illustrated CV writing manual, Where and How to Find a job Fast at: Job Search and CV Manual

2.    If you graduated sometime back, are still looking for a job in Kenya or you hate your current job, pick up a copy of Mind Mastery for Gainful Employment at: Find Gainful and Enjoyable Employment

3.    If you wish to find career and long term information on how to find a job you desire that matches your skills and passion, and wish to know how to keep your job for the long term, pick a copy of Operation Find a Job Fast at: Career and Long Term Work Counsel

4.    If you are looking for answers to specific challenges that you meet in your search for jobs in Kenya, join me on Facebook to get updates whenever a new article is posted on this site at: Paula Thayrow on Facebook

5.    If you have a question that you would like answered specifically, send me private message, and I may write a complete blog to answer your question, at: Contact Paula

Jobs Kenya - Overcome Scaring Government Data

The unemployment rate in Kenya among the youth, those between the ages of 21 to 35 years, is given at a staggering over 70%. It is also reported that there are 10 million jobless youth in the country.

These are government statistics. They are certainly intimidating for you, especially if you are a new graduate entering the jobs in Kenya market or you are in the mentioned scaring age-group and are looking for a job in Kenya.

As a result of interacting with those statistics, and you could be one of them among those looking for jobs in Kenya come into the jobs market with a mindset that sets them up for a long job-search. They come to look for jobs in Kenya already believing there are no jobs in Kenya.

The question is, should government statistics govern your life results and dictate to you how you will search for jobs in Kenya? Probably yes, to an extent – but I quickly add – to a very small extent.

To help you understand, I will ask you to consider something else that is critical to you personally. What exactly do those statistics mean in terms of numbers?

Let us take a close look at it. If there are 10 million jobless youth, then it means the government and policy makers face the daunting assignment to figure how to govern in a way that will create 10 million job opportunities as a concern in relation to the economic stability of the nation. And considering that they do not have an accurate picture of exactly what every one of those 10 million people can do, they need to create an enabling environment for many more jobs than those. I certainly don’t envy them; it is one of the reasons our country man in the United States has grey hair only a year after sitting in that hot seat.

But this thing is about your personal life. Therefore, if you turn that camera to face you rather than the politicians as we usually do, then we can say that YOU need ONE JOB and not 10 million jobs. It is a slight change in focus, but a very significant one nonetheless.

The second statistic says the rate of unemployment is at 70%. Troubling, yes, but let’s again talk about what that means to YOU. It means that there are either taken or available opportunities within the 30%. Assuming that the 30% refers to the entire population of about 35million, then we can loosely say we have about 10 million possibilities.

We can even greatly reduce that possibility and say 98% of those jobs are taken. That then would leave us with only 2 million possibilities for a job.

Now if am looking for one job, as I hope you are, is it possible that I can find just on job in Kenya within that 2 million possibilities? Can you see it? If there are 2 million possibilities, and you only need one out of those, isn’t it possible that there is one job for you out of the 2 million jobs?

This is the reality; you are not a policy maker so quit trying to carry the burdens of one; you are you, and you are in the business of finding one job in Kenya. if you keep your attention on that one job – you will get it. Forget government statistics and face your life.