"So...whom did you say know in this company?" My colleague asked me immediately when I joined their company for an internship. It seemed as if he had taken his time thinking about this, wondering who would have connected me. He seemed unease, not knowing how to treat me. He had to make sure if I knew anyone in the company. and whom it was. "No one," I replied. To be honest, I was disappointed that I didn't know anyone. "It was just by bad luck that they chose me, I guess it was a mistake or something," He laughed.
Since then I have been asking myself: Whom do I know? I know most of my colleagues take this trend in hiring negatively, blaming it on nepotism and tribalism in the country. But I think we are just being unfair to our beloved country Kenya. This is a worldwide trend. In the so-called free world, children of American billionaires are 28,000 times more likely to hit the same financial marker as their parents. The sons of US governors have a 1 in 50 chance of following in their father’s footsteps (compared to the odds of 1 in 306,807 for the rest of ordinary Americans).
Therefore the trend is here to stay, at least for the next 60 years. that is why instead of complaining and tweeting about all the nepotism staff, we could look around and do what we have been doing all along- learn. I look at our current president and see that he is the son of the first president, and the next area MP is the son of one of the most dominant MP in the constituency. ( I hope you see the same). All this reminds me of one important lesson I learnt in my fourth year during a chemistry class: It is more important to know people than to know chemistry.
We need to know people- and most importantly, know people who know other people. Our networking should be specific and selective- hunting for those who are already and can increase our chances of getting employed.
Even when we wish to venture into entrepreneurship, we ought to be connected to people who can make calls. Ideas will remain ideas. The will and constant motivation is important, but so is the guy who will fund (or find a guy who will ) your project. So instead of complaining that people are being employed because their influences and relationships, be part of the game by forging the relationships.
Since then I have been asking myself: Whom do I know? I know most of my colleagues take this trend in hiring negatively, blaming it on nepotism and tribalism in the country. But I think we are just being unfair to our beloved country Kenya. This is a worldwide trend. In the so-called free world, children of American billionaires are 28,000 times more likely to hit the same financial marker as their parents. The sons of US governors have a 1 in 50 chance of following in their father’s footsteps (compared to the odds of 1 in 306,807 for the rest of ordinary Americans).
Therefore the trend is here to stay, at least for the next 60 years. that is why instead of complaining and tweeting about all the nepotism staff, we could look around and do what we have been doing all along- learn. I look at our current president and see that he is the son of the first president, and the next area MP is the son of one of the most dominant MP in the constituency. ( I hope you see the same). All this reminds me of one important lesson I learnt in my fourth year during a chemistry class: It is more important to know people than to know chemistry.
We need to know people- and most importantly, know people who know other people. Our networking should be specific and selective- hunting for those who are already and can increase our chances of getting employed.
Even when we wish to venture into entrepreneurship, we ought to be connected to people who can make calls. Ideas will remain ideas. The will and constant motivation is important, but so is the guy who will fund (or find a guy who will ) your project. So instead of complaining that people are being employed because their influences and relationships, be part of the game by forging the relationships.
