Musings of a 1st Class Graduate

And here I was, thinking that all I need to do is to graduate with a 1st class, and the world would be at my feet! You can imagine my shock (and disgust) when I finally finished with the first class and nobody was calling. OK, just a few called, but with the silly emphasis we place on a first class degree, you'll think that Multiple MDs would come knocking at my door.

Now, don't get me wrong. Interviewers are always wowed at first class graduates. These guys seem to have an edge when presented amongst their peers. But the truth is, does that edge guarantee a job? Or what's the use of the interviewers drooling all over you and licking your feet, saying you've got the best grade/qualification for the job, and yet you don't get the job? Call it the paradox of the Nigerian job seeker. So, I'm thinking: there has to be something else...an extra quality that stands one out.

At the end of the day, I finally got 2 appointment letters in my hands. Just two!! Imagine! I know there would be some people who would call me greedy and say that there're are million of people out there who would give their right leg for just one letter. Well, those millions of people didn't make a first class degree. I'm not proud; I'm just frustrated. And annoyed.

And then, there would be the other group of people who would say, "Ah ahn...Jide, thank God for the two you have nah!! Some have food but cannot eat..." To those ones, I'll say that I didn't work my a$$ off in school literally only to get two letters. Once again, don't misconstrue: I'm grateful to God. Eternally! Who helped me with the first class in the first place sef? It's Him. I'm just venting my frustration. And, well, annoyance.

Funny how life turns out.

Twas when I had the two letters in my hands that it hit me: none of these people employed me because of my class of degree. Sure, they knew I made a 1st class, but they hired me because of particular set of skills I possess and a particular set of attitude to my job. In fact, I never even wrote tests. I was cut off from the hiring process and went straight to the interview phases and bam!

I then realized that employers would prefer first class people to first class degree holders. In other words, it's your person that counts, not your kpali!

So if you didn't make a first class and you're beating yourself up, pls stop. Develop yourself personally and morph into that first class person employers would live to have. And don't mind starting small. Make the best of small, and watch your small grow.

And to you my first class mates, your cardboard paper can only take you this far. This where the rubber meets the road. We're forever doomed to proving our worth in the midst of others. But nothing do you. You have what it takes. Show your colour!