I can vividly recall how worried I was towards the end of my service year; I was concerned about what the future holds for me in terms of finding a suitable job and being on a good career path. I remember asking myself several questions regarding the path I wanted to toll. I remember reaching out to a couple of people who I believed may be of help to me in terms of finding a good job, I was desperately willing to try out any sector, I didn’t mind if it was different from my field of study- I studied Mass communication, I’ve always loved the broadcast media, but with the constant complaints from most Nigerians about how difficult it is to get a decent job in Nigeria, especially finding one in line with your field of study, it fueled my desperation to make do with any job that comes my way.

Reaching out to these people who I believed would help make the job hunting easier, it made me realise that in life, you must understand that you’ve got YOU. I realized that some people were not willing to help, some others, especially some male folks made some unpleasant offers to me that I had to blatantly turn down. Surprisingly, all these acted as a push. Rather than being deterred, I was pushed to believing that I can do it on my own without any external help.

As soon as I received my NYSC certificate, I started putting out my CV out there and applying for different job opportunities that I could find online that had requirements that matched my skills and qualifications- Secretary, Customer care representative, Front desk executive, Internship in different organisations and so on. I honestly didn’t want to languish at home doing nothing.

On the 23rd of December 2021, while I was on my way back to Lagos from Abia state where I served, a friend of mine sent me the Heirs Holdings Graduate Trainee programme flyer and asked me to apply for it. At first I was skeptical about it because I felt the recruitment process would not be credible and it may not be based on merit, I also most probably had an iota of doubt in myself. Thinking about it now, I am really very glad I took the bold step to apply.

On the 25th of December, being Christmas day, while others were enjoying the festive season, I was busy applying for the Heirs Holdings Graduate Trainee Programme, it was quite a lengthy application process. The application ended on the 29th of December and about a week later, I wrote my first aptitude test for the graduate trainee programme. The test was in four parts: logical reasoning, quantitative aptitude, English proficiency, and analytical thinking. Luckily, I scaled through and I was more than happy when I got the congratulatory mail from the team informing me that I have progressed to the next stage scheduled for January 12, 2022 to January 22, 2022. The second stage comprised of a Competency Based interview (CBI), Case study analysis and presentation, and a Group Exercise. A PowerPoint slide for the case study analysis was to be prepared and forwarded to the recruitment team before the scheduled date for the presentation. Unfortunately for me, when the case study for analysis was sent to me via email, it dropped in my spam folder and I wasn’t able to see it in time until after the deadline. I felt really sad, I remember locking myself up in my room and crying myself to sleep. I couldn’t come to the terms with the fact that I had to drop out of the process because of that. I sent series of mails to the HR team explaining what happened. The HR team was nice enough to do a rescheduling for me. I was more than happy. I later did my second stage assessment on the 21st of January, 2022. It was more like a miracle for me.

After the assessments came the endless waiting, the fear of not knowing if you passed the second stage or not. I got a couple of job offers in the process of waiting, but I turned them down because they weren’t what I wanted.

A few weeks after the second stage assessment, I got a mail from the recruitment team to click on a link and upload some of my documents on the site. For me, that was a silver lining, it was a glimmer of hope and my heart was instantly filled with immeasurable joy. Three weeks after that, I was sent a congratulatory mail by the team that I’ve been selected as one of the those who would participate in the Graduate Trainee Programme. That day, my joy was unfathomable, I literally called my friends and family to share the good news with them.

Following that, we had to undergo series of medical examinations, including the COVID19 test to be able to get on the programme.

The programme officially kicked off on the 9th of March, 2022. So far, we have had a number of CEOs, the Group CEO, Directors and so on from the group and its subsidiaries come deliver insightful, informative and educative lectures/presentations to us the graduate trainees and it has been nothing short of an amazing experience. It has been all I imagined and more and I’m privileged to be here.

It is the first week of the five months job rotations and I’m happy to have my first rotation with the philanthropic arm of the group, the Tony Elumelu Foundation. I’m certain it would be a wonderful experience and I look forward to doing my best, growing and ensuring that the growth is evident.

~ Author: Chinenye Akandu

The post Heirs Holdings Graduate Trainee: A Dream Come True! appeared first on The Tony Elumelu Foundation.

Nigeria’s unemployment rate has been on the increase for over a decade now so it’s definitely not a secret amongst young individuals. Even before the end of my university education, I was already thinking of organisations I could work in, what my career path would be like and praying for a miracle job, lol. The fear of unemployment is the beginning of wisdom.

I discovered that Graduate Trainee Programmes were my best bet in getting into a good company and building my career since I had little or no experience. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic delayed my NYSC and career by a whole year, I eventually served my country, and it was a great experience. A month before the end of my NYSC, I drafted my CV and was able to highlight the little work experiences I had gotten. For example, I had actively worked with an NGO in my secondary school and successfully executed two projects.

I knew about Tony Elumelu Foundation but not Heirs Holdings, so when I saw the advert for the graduate trainee programme, I applied because I heard it was a good company. Fortunately, I was invited for an online aptitude test, which I did and passed. Shortly after, I underwent an assessment which required me to create a power point presentation and trust me, I was quite nervous. I had not done a PowerPoint presentation alone. With the size of my class in the University (over 200 students), all projects involving PowerPoint presentations were done in groups, so it made sense to just assign the creation of the PowerPoint to those who had learned it professionally or were just good at it, leaving the data gathering and actual presentation to me. Well, that wasn’t an excuse, so I went to YouTube and quickly learnt how to do a PowerPoint presentation.

The Assessment consisted of 3 stages; the PowerPoint presentation, group exercise and competency-based interview, all of which were done virtually. I had really prepared for the assessment and at the end of my PowerPoint presentation, I was commended by my interviewers. During my competency-based interview, I could also tell that my answers were well received so overall, it was an exciting experience.

The first mail sent by Heirs Holdings stated that the entire recruitment process would last for 4 to 5 weeks. When I got the mail for the Assessment, barely 2 weeks after writing the test and with the positive feedback I got, I was looking forward to a favorable reply.

Unfortunately, it took longer than that to get any sort of information after the Assessment. I sent a mail to find out what was going on with the recruitment process but I didn’t get a reply. Although I had been quite confident, the delay in getting a response affected this confidence, then I found out that a friend who also did the assessment had been sent a mail to upload some documents. I felt bad, which is normal but I was in the final stages of the recruitment process of several other companies so that was some form of consolation. Almost two weeks later, I got a mail from Heirs Holdings to upload some of my documents and I was ecstatic but after this it was radio silence again. Again, I found out that this same friend had been sent a congratulatory mail and an offer letter to resume the next Monday, another disappointment. I mean, if I hadn’t passed the Assessment I wouldn’t have been told to upload my documents. What could have been the problem? Where did I fall short? So many questions running through my head with no one to answer them but as an optimistic person, I just concluded that maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

I was wrong, it was meant to be. I got a call from Heirs Holdings congratulating me on successfully getting into the Heirs Holdings graduate trainee programme. I was asked to go for my medicals that same day or the next day and then resume the next week. Imagine my reaction, dazed would be the right word to use. I was so surprised that I replied saying “Congratulations to you too” after I was congratulated, lol. From this point onwards, everything was fast-paced and the rest as they say was history.

Just kidding, there’s no way I’m skipping the juicy parts. The inaugural ceremony was attended by very knowledgeable and successful people. Guess what, Tony Elumelu himself addressed us and said that he was looking forward to producing CEOs from the graduate trainee programme with 5-10 years. Yes, in 5-10 years I’m definitely becoming a CEO. The event ended with cocktail party; it was truly memorable.

For the classroom training, different subsidiaries of Heirs Holdings came to enlighten us about their companies, what they do, their growth and challenges, their vision and people and many more vital information. This session opened my eyes to the possibilities in the group, we had a panel interview with young professionals in the group and it was so encouraging. I was and am still motivated by their various stories and successes.

The core values of Heirs Holdings: Enterprise, Execution and Excellence were and are still being imbibed in us. Every facilitator had infused the core values into their presentation. It’s amazing how in tune everyone is with the vision of improving lives and transforming Africa, you could tell that they truly believe in the philosophy of Africapitalism..

Now, I’m currently with the Partnerships and Policy department of the Tony Elumelu Foundation. It’s a journey that started a few days ago but I’m pumped to work with the team. Everyone has been so helpful, and the work has just begun.

One great thing about this training and Heirs Holdings is the food. I mean, who doesn’t like to eat? The quality of meals is amazing, breakfast is also great. Did I mention that there were also spontaneous gifts given out by the facilitators, either generally or to winners of some exercises? A good example would be when Somachi ordered crispy creme doughnuts when a good number of the class admitted to not have heard about the brand. Chilling right?

At Heirs Holdings we work hard and play harder. As you can guess, I’m definitely looking forward to the playing harder.

~ Author: Opeyemi Ayodeji

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