Kemisola* had to leave two jobs even though she didn't have another one yet for reasons she considers weird. She summarises what she's learnt in almost four years of working into six lessons that'll help newbies.
Would you work if you had a choice not to but still be able to live a comfortable life?
No.
What's it about the concept of work you'd like to change if given the chance?
I wish we could resume anytime we wanted, say 11 am. Also, I wish we had just a 4-day work week. Hope I'm not sounding lazy. I'm just a girl 🥹.
Some jobs offer that. I had a side gig one time that allowed me to resume anytime. You just had to get your work done by the end of the work week. I really like that kind of flexibility.
So you could fit all you had to do into the few hours you chose to work?
No! The work was more than the hours allocated—I was expected to put in 25 hours weekly. So, if you wanted to work every day, that's five hours daily. But the work was too much so I had to spend more hours even though I could do it any time.
The work wanted to end me. I wasn't sleeping because I was working two jobs then. My parents were looking at me like I was crazy and kept asking why I was doing so much. Well, I just wanted to make it in life 😂.
I had serious dark circles under my eyes. Funny enough, I actually prayed for the job and God gave me. But I gave it back to the owners because I can't go and die.
The pay was good; it was in dollars. But I chose myself over the money. I really struggled with giving up. Every morning, I would weigh the pros and cons. Till I eventually decided to let go. I ran for my life.
Why not let go of the other job?
Ha! No oh. For job security reasons. I knew these guys, I mean the Nigerian company I'm working for. I was doing the job well, so I couldn't have been fired. This foreign one, on the other hand, could drop me at any time. I knew people they fired for not meeting work hours. I couldn't take that risk.
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But would you have been able to cope if it was only that one job?
I think about this every time. I guess, yes. But it would still have been stressful. It was quite tedious.
So, it wasn't your type of job then?
No, it wasn't.
What's the weirdest thing you've had to do for work's sake?
Keep my phone away. In my previous job, we had to keep our phones away from our workstations. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard that. What do you mean by "keep your phone in your bag?"
They said we were working with sensitive customer information. You could get sacked for having your phone in your workspace. I was in customer care, so we had access to customers' accounts.
To this day, I don't even know how I would have been able to move money. But they claimed that previous staff had done funny things, leading them to set this up. I once asked my line manager, "What if there was an emergency and people wanted to reach me?" He said I should buy a smartwatch. And I did.
And did it help?
Well, yes. For a while. Then later on, the lockers were far away from the offices, and my watch couldn't pick up the signal from my phone. Crazy times, but I survived it.
How long did you last there?
A year. Needed to be there for at least a year. I had quit a job before and people thought I was crazy for leaving a job without another.
So, I didn't want them to think my hobby was leaving jobs. That's why I wanted to stay longer until I found another offer. I still ended up leaving, though.
I need to know how you coped with a job like that.
I just kept on going. I was applying for jobs but wasn't getting anything. The strict work environment didn't foster doing other things at work. You couldn't even open another website during work, not to talk of taking an aptitude test.
Someone got fired for being on another website. Work hours even got extended at a point, then they brought up a shift system and many other things. Coupled with the co-founder insulting staff. It was a lot! Thank God it's in the past now.
Let's talk about leaving jobs before getting another one. Why did you do that the first time?
I didn't feel like I was doing what I enjoyed doing. I took the job as an intern and when the internship period was over, my boss refused to talk about a salary increase.
I didn't even sign a new contract. Then she added 10k to the money and moved on with her life. One time, she even added 20k extra (to the internship amount) and got annoyed that I didn't acknowledge the increase.
I was wondering what happened 😂 Am I supposed to say thank you when I receive my salary? Then she reverted to the extra 10k. And I kept on looking. It was my first job after NYSC and I didn't know how to go about things.
The company didn't have any structure at all. In fact, at a point, it was just me and the owner working at the "company".
The two other people who were there at the start had left, and I took on their jobs, yet no salary increase.
And I knew she had the money to do the right thing. I would say she just found cheap labour and stuck to it. I was there for a year and a half, with no benefits.
How did you survive the times you were without a job?
I just went back home. Grateful to have been able to do that. Initially, I moved to my aunt's to be closer to the job. It also wasn't for long. Got another job in two months.
What about the other one (fintech)?
Same thing, went back home when I couldn't do it anymore. Got the next one in two months also. Wow! Thinking about it, God has really been faithful.
What do you expect from an ideal workplace?
Peace of mind, and fulfilment of contract agreements. The fintech is still owing me pension till today.
How will I retire early like this? If you say I'm working 9-5, let it be 9-5, don't say because my teammates are working 9-6, I have to join them when we didn't even sign the same contract. If I work overtime, pay me for the overtime.
That's the plan? To retire early?
Isn't that everyone's plan? I would love to, though. Maybe I need to become a founder to achieve such.
The flexibility and money you expect from an ideal job; do you think being a founder or being an employee is the closest route to it?
It depends on the job. Some jobs will give you the peace of mind that owning a business won't give you; the steady income and all. And then everything is sure as long as you're doing your job well.
I actually started a business in the pandemic year with my friend. It was going well until it stopped going well. Funding was the issue; we could no longer afford to ship in from China, so we rested.
I'd like to have a really successful company that's actually solving problems and can stand the test of time.
So, being an employee then? I need your verdict😃
For now, I guess yes. An employee with a big salary, though, not peanuts. Until I get my billion-dollar idea that'll bring plenty of money.
How many years have you been working cumulatively?
Almost four years.
If you could share five lessons with a newbie, what would that be?
One, Always ask for written agreements. Sign contracts that you can use to hold your employer accountable. Two, don't be afraid to speak up. I wish I could speak up at my first job. Three, protect your peace. If the job is taking too much from you, please leave. There's no award for staying the longest at a job.
Four, be on the lookout for better opportunities. Five, always be ready to do a good job. Let it never be said that you didn't take your job seriously.
Bonus point: Leave the job before they sack you.
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