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#StartUps – SoNecessaryNG.com

March 2, 2015January 7, 2017by aspiringprofessionalshubLeave a comment

What do you think when you hear the word entrepreneur? Do you think about people like Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote or Richard Branson? Do you think about yourself? Have you always felt that you were cut out for more than the 9 – 5 and would like to put your skills and abilities into developing your own business? Entrepreneurship is about developing your ideas into a profitable business. This is easier said than done but we can learn from those who have ‘been there and doing that.’ In our #StartUps section, we chat with budding entrepreneurs and share their stories which we can all learn from. This week we had the opportunity to interview Yuddie, the CEO of So Necessary based in Lagos, Nigeria on following her dream not only to start a business but in a country she hadn’t lived in for about a decade!

Could you tell us about your educational and professional background?

I completed a BSc. in Business Information Systems from London Metropolitan University and an MSc in International Business and Management from Westminster University. I worked in Customer Service for a large retail company in the United Kingdom while studying and for two years after graduation.

What was the inspiration behind So Necessary?

My mum is my inspiration I guess. She owned a bookshop where I worked as a teenager. I discovered that I enjoyed selling to customers and going the extra mile to meet their needs. I decided to go into the Fashion Retail sector to draw on my retail experience and because I sensed a gap in the market. Most of us love to look good but we also have to do it on a budget! I wanted to start a business where people could access quality items but at affordable prices. I started with women’s fashion because it was a market I believed I knew better. From a young age, I always knew that at some point, I would start working for myself. I like having a job but I believe in multiple streams of income and not just being dependent on a salary at the end of the month.

How were you able to raise capital to start?

I had saved up some money while working and I borrowed the rest from family members.

What were the challenges you faced?

The biggest challenge I have faced in this business is Logistics. I ship in my products from outside Nigeria and though you get good companies who can ship in within a few days, the charges can sometimes be more than the cost of the total goods you are bringing in! When importing goods, you have to deal with Customs (insert groan). We have been affected by Custom Officers going on strike, introducing further delays in delivering to our customers. The other challenge I have faced is that when you work in fashion retail, trends switch as fast as you can say ‘cheese’… Lol… This week, there are a lot of enquiries about bags, you bring them in and suddenly it is shoes they want. One has to constantly follow market trends on a regular basis, sometimes even weekly. You must know your business.

What was a mistake you made and what did you learn from it?

Hmm, I guess one mistake I made was not fully researching my market before taking the plunge to buy some items. I purchased some items which I believed would storm the market and invested heavily. Talk about…HUGE mistake. When you assume, you may make a fool of yourself. Some of those items are still in storage. It taught me that before taking a leap, research, ask questions, read, seek advice and pray.

What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs?

There are many things you need to run a business but personally, I have found three things to be most important. God, patience and determination. You need God to strengthen you for the other two; you need patience because the most beautiful things can take a long time to develop. Do not expect that the $10 you plunged into the business today will return in double fold tomorrow. You may lose a lot before you gain a lot. You will make mistakes. Be patient, it will come. Finally, if you have no determination to see through what you know is your dream, you might as well just close shop now. People will ask you questions, friends and foes will laugh at you, you may not have customers for long periods of time. Stay determined. God never gives a dream that will die. The plan will surely come to pass.

Who are your business role models?

I know this may sound cliché but Richard Branson, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are some of my greatest role models. I am not a bookworm but reading their autobiographies taught me that acquiring degrees are not the only way to learn what you need to know to succeed. Having an education is very important but think about what you enjoy doing and your passion. Everyone is great at something, all you have to do is invest yourself in it. God is a great business role model. His word says He gives us the power to create wealth. When we tap into what He says on wealth and add that to hard work, there is nothing one cannot achieve.

Contact details

I can be reached on:

BBM: 530B1775

WhatsApp/Contact Number: +234 817 940 9447

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoNecessary13

Twitter & Instagram: @sonecessary13

Website: www.sonecessaryng.com

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#CareerChat – New to networking? Start with these baby steps

February 19, 2015January 7, 2017by aspiringprofessionalshub15 Comments

Are you one of those people that can walk into a busy room and leave an hour later, having spoken to people you’ve never met before and made new valuable contacts? To you, our old pros at networking, we say well done and feel free to look away at this point and check out our other articles. To many aspiring professionals we have encountered, networking can often be a painful, daunting and scary experience and tends to be something they’d rather avoid doing.

In today’s connected world, networking, be it face to face or online has become hugely important. Whilst many ideas or definitions of networking exist, we have identified one which is perfect for networking beginners

‘Networking is the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.’

Merriam-Webster dictionary

You might be a recent graduate looking for a job, an early career scientist looking for a solution to an experiment you have been struggling with or a budding poet or writer looking to get your work published or you might simply be in a new city and need to interact with like-minded people. If so and for so many other reasons, then you will benefit from networking. Honestly in our opinion, every aspiring professional benefits from networking.

In this article, we will focus on five baby steps into the world of networking and in the follow up article (Part II) we will provide tips to make your networking experience more effective and even enjoyable.

So, where to begin????

Location, location, location – Realising where to network can ensure you recognise opportunities to network that are not seemingly obvious. Conferences and meetings are very good venues for networking but they are by no means the only places where you can network. Networking is about cultivating relationships. In your current place of employment, how many productive relationships have you developed in the last week…month…year?

Think about networking events as a marketplace. People rarely go to the market empty handed, its all about exchange – give and take.

There is no perfect place to network. For students, interacting with other students at college or university, engaging with tutors, joining societies or doing a sport can be good places to start. For researchers, businesses or other professionals; attending networking events, themed seminars, workshops, exhibitions, trade shows and conferences are key areas for developing and building networks. For students and professionals alike, creating profiles on social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, ResearchGate, Mendeley and Facebook provides limitless opportunities for networking on a global scale. Social networking can also support advertising for your goods and services if you run a business.

If you will be going to a networking event or a conference sometime in the near future, why not task yourself to make at least one new meaningful professional contact? Come on, you can do it!

Be Prepared – In most cases, a list of names and organisation represented or the people/delegates who will attend the event is published beforehand and included in your delegate pack/meeting information. Take a few minutes and look at the list and identify any individuals of interest, who cultivating a relationship with may be beneficial to you in whatever capacity. It always looks good when you approach someone and you know something about them, things like, where they are from or what they do as it serves as an ice-breaker for conversation. It is also important that you see the relationship you would like to develop as a symbiotic one, where both parties benefit. Networking is about what you can do for someone else as much as what they can do for you.

Think about networking events as a marketplace. People rarely go to the market empty handed, its all about exchange – give and take.

Start small – If you consider yourself a beginner or newbie to networking then it is best to start small i.e. grow into it as it is not about the number of people you speak to or make contact with but whether the contact translates into a positive outcome. Networking is not a competition or a ‘notice me’ venture. If you are able to make one useful contact from a meeting with a 1,000 delegates, still count it as success. We get better by doing, so set yourself a goal before you set out!

But I am not a natural – Some of us have laid back, reserved or quiet personalities which makes us hesitant in approaching people to speak to them at events. Whilst as a long term objective we would advise to look for ways to grow in confidence in speaking to people and speaking publicly, as a starting point, it also helps to ask someone you already know to introduce you to the person you would like to speak to. If you do not know anyone else at the event, perhaps speak to the event organisers and ask if they can connect you with the lady or gentleman you want to network with and more often than not, they’ll be happy to do so! We would recommend the book, ‘The fine art of small talk‘ by Debra Fine to start working on developing your confidence. In our experience, most people are usually happy to talk at events so why not take a plunge. What’s the worst that could happen?

Gone in 30 Seconds – Once you get the chance to interact with your contact or the person(s) you have identified, remember, they do not have all the time in the world to speak to you. Be clear, concise, friendly and engaging. Offer them a firm handshake, make eye contact and remember the first few seconds do really matter. We call it Gone in 30 seconds because first impressions do matter and failure to make the right impression would ensure your contact leaves you flat footed in their wake.

Therefore, use the first few seconds wisely but before you approach your contact, “think about what you want from the contact AND also what you have to offer”

Get started with building your online professional profile, think about your skills and abilities and look for events and conferences where you can find like-minded people. In the follow up article, we will offer tips to ensure you have an enjoyable and worthwhile networking experience.

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#UniAdvice – So you didn’t get a Desmond? How to ‘fail forward’

February 15, 2015January 7, 2017by aspiringprofessionalshubLeave a comment

Are you a Damien, Billy, Desmond or Thora? Although I’m a Damien, I have friends, family and students who didn’t quite make a Desmond. Now before you think I may have lost my marbles, I recently found out that these names are used to describe degree classifications based on rhyming slang of the surnames of some famous people. Are you a Damien (Hirst – 1st), Billy (Gunn – 2:1), Desmond (Tutu – 2:2) or a Thora (Thora Hird – 3rd)? While preparing our previous article on graduate employment, we touched on the point of degree classification and would like to go into further detail here.

So you didn’t make a Desmond. You’ve spent 3, 4 or more years at University working towards a degree and now you’ve finished not even with a 2nd lower (Let my people go…lol) but with a third class degree. Before the doom and gloom sets in, be encouraged that there can be success after a third. Not that there will be but that there can be. Whether it happens or not is really up to you. I worked very hard for my degree and I make no apologies for it. I recognised early in my studies that it would be important for me to excel academically to achieve the career goals I had set for myself and that was my motivation. I am mighty proud I did because it was and still is a tremendous achievement. However, for a number of reasons, not everyone does. As a teacher, I am disappointed to see some of my students finish with a third but I realise this this is far from the end of their story.

This article isn’t about sugarcoating the issue in ‘motivational speak.’ If you have finished with a third, it means you have in essence failed at Higher Education. You have failed to meet most of the assessment criteria set in the subjects you have studied. You cannot prove to have a good knowledge of a discipline you have been studying for a number of years. If you have studied in the UK, more often than not you are in debt to the tune of some thousands of pounds. What this article is saying is that while you may have failed at University, you haven’t failed at life.

Lewis Carrol, most famously known for penning ‘Alice in Wonderland’ was an English writer, mathematician and Anglican cleric. Carol Vorderman is a maths whizz and is best known for co-hosting popular programme ‘Countdown.’ Gani Fawehinmi was a human and civil rights lawyer who was also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN). All three completed their first degrees with a 3rd. All three ‘failed forward’ from that and became very successful in their chosen careers.

Be honest with yourself – Why did you finish with a third? As University lecturers, we teach all types of students. We observe some students who genuinely struggle academically and may have made the wrong course choice. We note those who are just indifferent. University is just the next place to go after completing A Levels and it is sort of what is expected of them. These students just want to coast through the next few years until they have to make a decision on what to do with their lives. Some students have a life changing experience (death of a loved one, accident, mental health issue) occur during their studies that they never really recover from. Reflecting on your answer to the question of Why? can help you decide what to do next and will be useful for interview preparation because you may have to discuss this so be prepared. If you truly believe you have made the wrong course choice, spend time finding out what you are good at. Utilise the Careers Service in your University and if you don’t have one, find a professional in that area to discuss with.

How much does it matter? – It depends on what you want to do next. If you want to progress into a postgraduate degree, teach or get onto a graduate scheme at a top firm then yes it really does matter. If you want to write a best selling novel, work in art/design or create the next Facebook, then maybe not. What do you want to do next? Has University taught you that you don’t want to be an employee but an entrepreneur? Please read our article on identifying your skills and create a list of your skills and abilities. Compare your list with the skill set required in your preferred role(s) and identify where your skills come short. Identify the gaps and search for training opportunities to fill them e.g. professional exams. Remember that your transferable skills are marketable across sectors!

Be proactive – In today’s job market, a first or 2:1 is not an assurance of immediate employment. Beyond academic abilities, employers are looking for particular skills, competencies and attributes. While studies indicate that more employers now ask for a 2:1 as minimum, this is because more and more students are now finishing with 2:1’s. I have two friends who finished with firsts who could not get a graduate job for months after completing their degree. The first worked as a care assistant and the other as a waitress. They are both now in graduate employment. During her interview, my friend’s boss was so impressed that she hadn’t turned her nose down on waitressing because he too worked as a waiter when he finished Uni and was job hunting 30 years before! Do not be too proud to ‘stoop to conquer.’ In my experience, small and medium size companies are more willing to overlook degree classification than bigger companies.

It is always harder to climb the mountain when starting from the bottom but the view is the same when you get to the top, regardless of where you started.

A young friend of mine recently finished with a third and is now working in a small firm where he is getting hands on training and enjoying it. In two years time, he will be able to take professional exams and will be more marketable. A Financial Director of an asset management firm told me ‘When it comes down to it, I will always offer a job to the candidate who is most hungry for it.’ A third may start you off on the wrong foot but nothing stops you from re-balancing and putting your best foot forward. Failing forward means realising the difference between failing at something and being a failure. One is an event, the other is an attitude or way of life.

About our writer – After completing a PhD in Microbiology, Amara is building her career in academia, teaching and supporting a new generation of scientists as well as undertaking research. Amara believes in the combined power of education and developing productive relationships as essential tools for building successful careers. She tweets @amaratweets.

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#UniAdvice – 5 Things you never get told about graduate employment!

February 7, 2015January 7, 2017by aspiringprofessionalshub14 Comments

A common theme that arises in our conversations with ‘soon to graduate’ students is that of employment. Whilst graduation is undoubtedly something worth celebrating, that thought of ‘what happens next’ can evoke a range of emotions from excitement to panic! Things are beginning to look up after the global recession in 2008, however, a large proportion of graduates ‘churned’ out every year are now finding that the hardest job for a recent graduate is actually getting that first job. One of the many reasons we started this blog was to empower graduates with knowledge to navigate the often murky waters of graduate employment.

This article is for all graduates, regardless of level of education (A Levels, BTECs, Bachelors, Masters and PhD). In our experience, the more advanced your education, the more challenging it could be when job hunting. This is because while you are becoming more specialist in your knowledge base, you tend to be focusing in one particular area. It’s not all doom and gloom though, before you think of throwing in the towel, we hope this article will be able to provide some advice to help in your job search. These are things while seemingly obvious, we wish someone had told us at some point while studying.

Start early! – While you don’t need to start job hunting in Fresher’s week, how many of us actually thought about how our CV needed to look at graduation whilst undertaking our degree? How many opportunities to enhance our CVs do we miss because it seems like too much work at the time. Activities such as volunteering, being a student representative, starting or running a student society, joining a Learned Society, undertaking an internship, learning a new language, being a peer mentor, writing a blog or research article etc. Begin to stand out from the crowd!

Graduating is only the beginning! – Achieving your degree should be the beginning of your journey as an aspiring professional. As a friend got told after completing his doctoral studies ‘Well done, now it is time to go prove yourself’. I bet many who have gone through this stage would echo the same sentiments following their experiences. So, if you are coming to the end of your bachelors degree, masters, or even PhD, remember this is only just the beginning. So you’ve got a degree? Welcome to a club that includes millions of others…start thinking about what your unique selling points (USP) are!

How hard can it be? – Well, don’t get me wrong, some new graduates succeed in their first attempt at applying for a graduate job. This is not the norm though as most people apply for an incredible number of jobs before they get a reply or are considered for interview. A point to mention here is that application for and seeking graduate job opportunities is very time consuming. This is something that takes many by surprise. To get a good job, you’ll have to invest a great amount of time and pay a great deal of attention to the job specification and requirements. Future posts will cover techniques to approach job applications such as filling in forms, preparing personal statements and conquering the interview.

But I don’t have a 2:1! – To many graduates, the degree classification is the end point. Well, sorry to burst your bubble. Some graduates believe their chances of a job are limited because they lack the ‘first class’ degrees or ‘distinctions’ at postgraduate level. We’ll do a post (so many things to write…) on ‘Success after a third class degree.’ Whilst educational qualifications are very important; depending on your discipline; they may not be the most important thing. As a graduate, it is important you identify your unique selling point (USP) as this will determine how you approach prospective employers and job opportunities. Employers are looking for skills, not just what you know but what you can do. This is why getting experience in your field whilst studying is one of the best things that can boost your chances of getting a job when you finish.

Your inability to articulate your ability can make you a liability

The scatter-gun approach to job application – For anyone reading this article, you might recognise this as your style of job hunting. If you are confused by what we mean by the scatter-gun approach then I’ll explain. Many graduates get frustrated applying for jobs and make the mistake of sending the same CV and covering letter to every job under the sun. It’s like chatting up every guy or girl at a bar using the same chat-up line. You wouldn’t do that would you? If that is your approach, well, its 2015 so it’s a new year and we won’t judge you this time! On a serious note, it is lazy practice to use the scattergun approach hence the key advice here is to be innovative and adapt your CV, covering letter and profile to suit the specific job(s) you are applying for.

Yes, yes, it’s tough out there and we won’t attempt to suggest otherwise. However, not knowing what one is able to do is more limiting than the paucity of the job market. For example, a lot of biological or medical science graduates generally assume the only jobs available to them are laboratory or hospital based roles, teaching or lecturing or if fortunate within the scientific or pharmaceutical industry. As we addressed in our last article, the skills you have developed are key to your success in the job market and “your job market is only as big as the skills you possess” thus, as a science graduate, you could work in several environments such as media, financial institutions, politics, communications and so on (we will address these specific core areas in subsequent articles). When you identify your transferable skills, you realise that the world can really be your oyster.

It is important that whatever your field of employment, that you start making good contacts as early as possible and Networking. We’ve found that many opportunities come through recommendations, individual and group networks so whatever your current situation, start connecting with others using various media such as LinkedIn, Twitter to develop your professional network.

The time to plan your career is NOW. It is important that you always think about what you can offer rather than what can be offered to you

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#UniAdvice: How to create a winning CV!

January 15, 2015January 7, 2017by aspiringprofessionalshub5 Comments

Having recently organized a successful CV workshop at an international conference for early career scientists, we became aware of the need for an article on writing CVs. This article will highlight some of the key elements of what is important in a CV and also important tips to consider when designing your CV.

A key element of a job application process is the CV. So what exactly is a CV and why is it so important? Careerplanning.about.com describes a CV as ‘a written description of your work experience, educational background and skills.’ Whilst this is a good definition, I prefer to describe the CV in a more personal way as – ‘the reflection of your professional self on paper representing you in front of a potential employer’. Thus, what should be documented on your CV should be what you would be happy to show to a potential employer and also what you can objectively defend if necessary.

So what should be included in your CV? Firstly, generic identifiers such as your name, address, email and phone contact details. In some countries, other identifiers are usually found on the CV such as age, date of birth, state of origin and a photo. In the UK and other countries with strong employment and anti-discriminatory laws, identifiers such as age and place of origin are not required on the CV.

Next, write a short profile that clearly states the objective of your CV. An example of this could be ‘Highly numerate accounting and finance graduate with experience working in an international finance company. I am seeking a career in financial planning.” The profile section should be tailored to suit the job or company you are applying to.

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