Re: A Job, or a Business of your Own?

Thanks to everyone who responded to my question last week Monday about having “A job, or a business of your own“…your comments and remarks have indeed been enlightening contributions to the discussion of Africans being pro-job, and Asians being pro-business…

This post serves as a quick round up of all your comments, highlighting the trends I observed; the consensus on the topic, reasons given in support of readers’ opinions, and other thoughts…

Consensus;

• Most people seemed to prefer (or have an ambition) to own their own business, but agree that a job is a good starting point, for the acquisition of essential skills.
• There was a lot of reference to the African “mentality/mind-set”, which readers described as; “survival-oriented” (Teegirl), “stuck-in-the-slave-trade-years” (Niyioski), “inferior” (Ochuko). Most touching to me though, was Olukemi‘s (btw, she’s my sis) description…she refered to a “defeated mindset of a settle-for-less mentality”, and pointed out that some people are used to having “just-enough-to-survive”…oouucchh!
• Most readers also opined, that there is a lack of “co-operation and trust” among Africans, which prevents them, unlike their Asian counterparts, from pooling resources together, to start a joint venture (business) of some sort…

Reasons;

Readers expressed their opinions as to why most Africans are job-conscious, and most Asians, business-conscious, mainly referring to the environment, i.e. the African continent and the individual countries (especially Nigeria) that make her up…

• Africans are taught to, as FG put it, “go to school, graduate, get a good job, and get married” while Asians, in Teegirl‘s words, “from an early stage in life, are taught the gains of running and owning businesses”…in other words, unlike our Asian counterparts, not many Africans receive even the most basic entrepreneural training, either from home or school, while growing.
• Ochuko however, attributes Africans’ lack of entrepreneurship to “fear” – of the unknown, and of failing.
• Rethots seems to think it’s because Africans are more “professional/career-oriented” while Asians are more “profit/business” oriented.

Other thoughts;

• Original Mgbeke pointed out that not everyone can handle the rigours of owning a business
• Justdoyin has been opportuned to have both a job, and a business (albeit on a small scale) and can authoritatively say that there are pros and cons of each option…but that is a topic for an entirely new discuss.
• My personal preference would be to start with a job, learn all the essential skills including; communication and interpersonal skills (which would enable good working relationships and networking with people across different levels and cultures), team-working, and professionalism…and eventually, own and run my own business…I certainly aspire to be a big-time employer of labour some day soon.
• On the African/Asian debate, I’d say from my observations, it does seem that most Africans prefer the “safety/security” of a job, while most Asians seem to prefer having their own business. However, nothing stops us from having both a job and a business, as long as we can manage both, and not allow one to disturb the other.

In conclusion (can we really conclude?), this is a very wide topic and no matter how long we stay at it, it will continue to evolve and expand…I can only hope and pray for a healing in our land (Africa) so that the issues of  “lack of trust and cooperation” and a “slave-mentality”, would become “of-the-past”… then, and only then, can we even begin to think of…

Couldn’t comment on the first post, or have something else to add to your initial comment? Please go ahead and share your thoughts…

Welcome to a new week…

Suggested Further Reading;

• Income Opportunity
• A job or a Business of your Own?
  

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A Job, or a Business of your own?

Which would you prefer?

A job? or a business of your own? what reasons inform your choice?

Hubby once read in a book (and I paraphrase) that;

Most Africans, on arrival in a foreign country, seek a job…where-as most Asians, on arrival in a foreign country, seek business opportunities…

What is your opinion on the above statement? Do you concur? Do you not?

The above question and statement have been on my mind for a while now, and I would like to know your thoughts on them…comments please!

Have a lovely week…
Also Read;

A Job, or a Business of your Own (II)

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I’m sick, and tired!

…of job hunting

…of job agents

…of interviews

…of interviewer comments and feedback!

I wouldn’t be writing this post but for the fact that an agent called me this afternoon saying that she had seen my online CV…and after what seemed like an hour of drilling over the phone, she had the nerve to tell me that “actually MP (the agency) don’t usually recruit at your level…we sort of recruit more @ the manager level”…I was like, whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

1. Did you not say you just had a read of my CV?

2. Why call me when you know that I am not yet at manager level and you do not recruit at my level?

Meen, I gats to gain this so called “experience” so that I can reach manager level and not have to face this kind of irritating situation again.

I’m tired of interviews because the interviewers always make comments like “oh, you interview very well, I feel very comfortable with you, you don’t come accross as nervous, you responded quite well to my questions and used very relevant examples”…yadle yadle yah (that’s just my expression for bla, bla, bla)…but almost in the same breath (its usually like a scene in a movie or something), they turn around and make comments like…”but, I think you are a bit over-qualified for this position, or, we think you would get bored easily and want to move on pretty quickly (well, am I to be blamed for wanting a challenging job?), or, this role is pretty much static and there would be no room for advancement (again, I have no apologies for being ambitious, and definitely wanting to progress my career)…yadle yadle yah!

Can someone please tell me what exactly over-qualified means? I mean, I have a Masters Degree and a Professional qualification in my chosen field…I think those are rather signs of someone who takes the discipline seriously and has gone to extra lengths, taking great pains, to become knowledgeable and proficient in that area, not over-qualified…

Now, if I had only heard this comment from a small size company, I would definitely have concluded that they were probably threatened due to the fact that even those at Manager level were not as qualified as myself…but when I received the over-qualified comment from a large, public organisation, fear catch me…

Hmmmmmmm…(long, heavy, sigh)…@ this stage, things can only get better…

(Update(Mar 9); I just clicked on a link from my yahoo and came across this very related article from a fellow job-seeker…

http://www.cosmicassurance.com/blog/?p=29

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Your Ideal Career…

I came accross this quiz online and decided to take it…below is the profile it drew for me. Based on my own answers I know, but I guess those who know me would be able to judge better if this truly represents me…so what do you think?

Your Career Type: Social

You are helpful, friendly, and trustworthy.Your talents lie in teaching, nursing, giving information, and solving social problems.You would make an excellent:Counselor – Dental Hygienist – LibrarianNurse – Parole Officer – Personal TrainerPhysical Therapist – Social Worker – Teacher The worst career options for your are realistic careers, like truck driver or farmer.

                                                                                      What’s Your Ideal Career?

By the way, I’m presently job hunting, so probably helpful to look in the recommended areas…definitely not the Nurse/Dental Hygienist roles though as I am so “allergic” to all things medicine…and I am no truck driver or farmer either, well spotted.

Maybe you should take the quiz too (just in case you are in the wrong field)…let me know what your ideal career is when you do find out…have fun.

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