Stephen* is bothered about the economic situation of Nigeria and he doesn't feel financially safe if he doesn't double his pay every 18 months, so he job-hops. So far, he's worked three jobs in four years and has 1000x his pay over that period.
Which generation do you identify with in today's workforce?
It's a tricky one. I'm right in the middle of Millennials and GenZ. Let's call it MileZ. I'm a Millennial at heart, though.
What's the weirdest job hunt experience you've had?
My weirdest job hunt experience was during COVID. I quit my job on the first day of the lockdown, and I looked for a job for four months. I did everything! A job asked me to transcribe an entire YouTube video into texts, and I still didn't get the job.
I got a job and they ghosted me for three months and then came back to say everyone on the team got sick with COVID and that's why they initially wanted to hire me. And now that everyone is fine, they are no longer interested.
Also, there was a time I went for a job interview and I was the only one that showed up, none of the interviewers showed up. There was this time I showed up for another interview and I was asked to do a presentation on sales and they said I should sell a teleportation machine to them there at the interview.
And I responded that how does that concern health insurance? And I was told I wasn't serious.
Are there lessons you've picked from these experiences that have been useful in later job hunts or your work life?
Of course! Now, I typically don't go above and beyond for a job except I'm pretty sure it's genuine or they are really hiring. And I use how a company conducts their hiring process to vet them.
If a company is not serious with their hiring process, I don't think they will be a serious place to work in so I don't spend time on them. Then, I only apply to companies I want to work with, or companies I think are useful to because that's how you end up with people asking you to sell teleportation machines to them.
How many jobs did you apply to during those four months?
Over a hundred. I was applying to like five jobs in a day.
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How many did you make it to the interview stage?
Probably eight. It was during COVID, so physical interviews weren't exactly a thing. The only physical interview I went for, I got the job. And I didn't apply for that, a friend I met on X recommended me.
What's it about the Nigerian workspace/startup space you are and are not comfortable with?
I'm going to separate corporate and startup because their cultures are very different. These are what I like about startup culture: it forces you to level up very fast and there's not enough time but there's a lot of things to do.
Nobody will hold your hands all the time because everybody is figuring things out and the business needs to make money. Whatever you're doing is very tied towards making sure the business stays alive. My first job, which was my introduction to work, was a startup, and it was serious "grinding".
At a point, I didn't have anywhere to stay, I was staying in my COO's sitting room and was working from there for months. Because skill is something that compounds, the more you do something, the better you are at it. The startup forces you to do things at a level that you did not deem possible because there's no choice.
The only issue with it is that it can be very toxic because people who use that venture to push people beyond their limit. And you'll hear startup employees being burnt out or being cheated, because most of the time, those people just want to focus on the grind, the startups take advantage of that.
They like looking for hungry people, both in literal and other terms because they are easy to take advantage of. Another thing I don't like about startups is pretence. They say they are very transparent, but most times, they aren't.
That's why, sometimes, you find employees hearing that the CEO has stolen a certain amount of money.
And yes, Nigerian founders are cuddled, especially on X, people are always playing to their egos, kowtowing to their tones and supporting them even when they are doing a lot of rubbish. There's a lot of hero worship in the startup industry.
Corporate culture is funny because it's kind of the same, because, there's a lot of ass-licking. People will spend more time trying to please their boss than actually doing their jobs. People would like to backstab so it'll only seem like they are the only competent ones when everybody is supposed to be working together to make sure the company is progressing.
Also, the Nigerian corporate culture can be very closed, they don't want to try new things like remote work, for example. Many companies will fare better with remote work but they prefer to spend money on diesel because they want to see their staff every day. Which is fine.
But the truth is that most people would work more remotely than in the office. Nigerian corporate companies should be more open-minded.
So, you've tasted both worlds—corporate/startup. If given a choice, which would you stick with for the long haul and why?
I would stick with corporate culture. If you're starting out in your career, startups will be the best for you because you'll be able to try out different things and see how a business works easier than corporate.
Because corporate is very sectional—you focus on your unit and do what you're supposed to do without interacting with other parts of the business, maybe because there are a lot of people or there is no time.
For the long haul, I'll stick with corporate because they pay their pensions. Startups, while nice—I mean very few startups can pay you well to live a good life, but many of them will not pay as much, the hope is in when they exit. And how many startups exit in Nigeria? So, what are your chances?
I'll pick corporate because they also have bonuses. Startups are just nice for the skills. But if you really want to make money, and you have a family and don't want to wake up tomorrow and hear the company is losing money and wants to downsize 40% of the workforce, I'll pick corporate.
So, for over 4 years, you've never been out of a job, but have you moved jobs? If yes, how many times?
I've moved jobs three times in four years and I might be moving soon.
A fan of job-hopping?
Yes, please. Nigeria is not that great, so you always have to meet up with inflation.
You're of the opinion that job hopping is a sure strategy for increasing pay, yes?
Definitely!
Do you think it can be self-sabotaging?
Yes, if you land in the wrong place. And also, you don't get enough depth anywhere to really grow. I think it also has a limit—there's a time in your career when it isn't so beneficial.
How are you protecting yourself from all these?
I dey pray🤣. I pray before I accept roles. I just take the leap hoping the money is worth it and I haven't suffered for it so far. I have been lucky.
Do you believe you're at a point in your career where the implication of job-hopping can't be felt yet?
Yes. I'm a mid-level senior, if there's anything like that. I’m a senior, but sometimes, I find myself doing mid-level work.
When is it no longer safe?
When you get to more senior roles, where capacity is not just needed. You need context to think strategically. And the more time you spend at a place, the more context you have generated.
Now, since your reason for job-hopping is to grow pay, by how much per cent has your pay increased in the last four years? If you'd guess how much it would have been if you've been at a place or changed job only once, what would it be?
I'm currently earning over a thousand times what I started with. If I had been at one place, my salary would probably be closer to half of what I'm earning now, because that's what people who joined around the time I joined and are still there earn.
But the country makes it feel like 500x because of inflation.
It's safe to say job-hopping has been good to you so far. Do you have strategies you want to share with anyone looking to tow your path?
Yes. The way I think about it is this: I should be able to double my salary every 18 months, or at most before I reach the two-year mark at any place. After I cross the one-year mark, I start looking for a new role in a place that I’m sure can double what I’m earning. Because, if they promote me at this current place, it's not possible they'll double my salary—they might increase it by 30% or 50% at best.
What I do is casual job hunting. In fact, 100% of the jobs I've gotten, I found on X. It's either through someone I know who wants to recommend someone for a role, or someone reaches out to me on X who knows what I do and asks if I'm interested in a role, or I see a job posting on Twitter.
That's to tell you how casually I job-hunt once I cross the one-year mark. That helps me to have enough buffer time to look for a job that will pay me double and then negotiate.
Negotiation is a big part of it, because those companies will not really offer you their best offer and I've seen enough to be able to know that. There was a time when I was earning 50-100k less than what my teammates were earning because I was desperate to leave a job. They gave me double of my pay, but I would have gotten more if I had waited and negotiated. Since then, I give it a lot of time, I don't rush it.
The problem with this strategy is that it will get to a point where I can't get double anywhere, and that point is not even far off considering Nigeria's realities, except I get a job that pays in dollars.
What do I do then? I don't know, but when I get to that bridge, I'll cross it. But for now, even if I don't double it, I'll try to get somewhere that can make me a lot so it doesn't seem like I'm stagnant because the company is moving backwards.
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