Hay guys!
Decided to take a break off my short story series titled Ethereal but I promise I am currently working on some chapters and there will be an update before the week runs out.
Today I decided to share a recent experience I had while job hunting. My job hunting experience seems to be a catalogue now! Should have probably titled this post how I almost landed my dream job since the UN is also one of my dream organizations to work at.
It all started with LinkedIn I follow as many recruiters as possible on LinkedIn. The secret is that say for example a recruiter in the tech field, I have noticed that they don't only post tech-related opportunities but also opportunities from other companies .
Anyways I saw a post for a UNFPA internship from a recruiter's page ( not a UNFPA personnel) checked and saw it was legit. But the vacancy was for human resource interns which is quite far from what I originally studied.
Decided to try anyways, I filled in the cover letter ( motivation statement) and detailed my job experiences. About 2 weeks later, I get an email from UNFPA after applying.
I remember how I tried to use one eye to read it cause I thought it was going to be a "love letter"( rejection letters are called love letters in the job hunting space).
I was asked to send in a video explaining why I wanted to intern at UNFPA in the human resource sector. Boy! did I take video after video till I was like you know what I will just send this in , what will be will be. 2 weeks later I get another email.
This was the person in charge of the department I had applied to, I remember half-heartedly reading the mail till I saw " ...we were highly impressed with your video... we would like to discuss your fit in the role..."
I had to reread the mail to be sure I was not swooning, it was real. And so I began to call my friends that studied things related to HR, I got materials to read. I watched youtube videos on the related field. A day before that interview you could ask me anything related to that field and I can gladly tell you anything about it that's how much I had studied it.
The interview day came and I was on time btw I got a new mifi for this cause my airtel was misbehaving. The first few minutes after exchanging pleasantries was all good and nice everyone was all smiles. Till the real interview began and my network began to shake. I could barely hear them.
The rest they say is history. I went on LinkedIn to rant about network providers in Nigeria afterwards it was so embarrassing. But oh well! That's how I almost landed the job of my dreams again! lol.
Here's what I did that got me thus far:
1. Applying:
I made sure my experiences matched the profile they were looking for. I tailored y cover letter ( motivation) to highlight experiences related to the profile that was desired for the role.
2. Networking:
I searched for past interns and current ones at UNFPA in the field I was applying to and connected to most of them. Most of them responded, others didn't. One was particularly helpful and gave me helpful tips on how to go about the interview and other stuff, she was literally an angel! I made posts on LinkedIn and also how to network on LinkedIn here
3. Video:
For the video, we were asked to make I typed in everything I wanted to say and used a telemprompter so that I would not go off or forget what I had planned to say.
That's it, guys! I hope my experience helps you with yours. You can read my job-hunting experiences here.
I am rooting for you !
Your Cheerleader,
Gimbiya.