My First Full Time Job Experience

I remembered the first time I got a full time job. I just finished a degree course in the University and quickly travelled to Lagos to explore and see how I could achieve my dreams of being a great writer and TV personality. It was not as easy as it was portrayed in the movies. I felt working in a company where I could get close to those TV stars and producers will speed up the process but I was wrong. Yes I was lucky to be employed in a good media company with no work experience except my past volunteering experiences with organisations like American corner under the US Embassy. I was also lucky that my boss was sometimes like a sister to me.

 I was really excited when I started my first job but then the joy started fading away because my self esteem was always tampered on and the work environment made me hate my life. I could remember crying almost every day like a baby when I get snapped at a lot (well I was a little naive). I was scared of carrying out tasks because I was referred to as “not smart”. When I looked back at my days in school and as a volunteer, I started wondering if people were lying to me that I was a very smart and talented young lady and I also wondered if the award I got back in the University as the most enterprising student was a scam.

Whenever it’s dawn, I get scared of going to work because I do not know what will be next. I was very teachable and I still am but I kept feeling like I was not good enough and it affected how I handled every other thing. One day, I spoke to a father figure and he said if a work environment kills my self esteem every day, I should leave because it will affect me psychologically. I will admit I made lots of mistakes when I was working and I was ready to learn but then, I was not as strong as the world wanted me to be so I left and went back home to learn more skills online and offline to build myself and become better at what I do.

When I started serving as an NYSC corp member, I became scared of working again because of the first work experience I had. Fortunately for me, my boss was a nice person. He kept on praising me for carrying out tasks so well and I will always leave board meetings smiling because he kept telling the other staff of how smart I was. My self esteem came alive and yes I still made mistakes but I learnt immediately because no one is 100% perfect. When I talk in front of young people in small gatherings, I am always happy I could impact into lives and help them be a better version of themselves.

In a nut shell, all I am trying to say is that the work environment either shapes you or breaks you to pieces. The horrible work experience I had shaped me to become better but if a work place is killing your self esteem and makes you feel you are not good enough, please do not remain there because it will affect how you do everything else. Also, always learn to improve yourself and take advantage of every learning opportunity.  I am still a work in progress and I still make mistakes but just as my mentor, Ized will say; “always own up, fix it and be better”. I am proud of the woman I am now.