Everybody needs somebody to guide or back them up as they grow through the ranks of the career world. We spoke with 5 Nigerians and they shared their journey with us, and who the career “hero” in their lives are.
Dive in.
John, 24, M
My career in tech just kicked off, and I can’t wait to see how the growth curve is going to look like. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have people who have been instrumental in making this a reality. They are largely people I met on social media, Twitter to be precise. If someone had told me in 2019 that I would be a “tech bro” in 2021, I would have laughed it off with “Meee??”, because I didn’t dare to dream this big. I was content in my comfort zone writing articles as many as 15 articles a week for shitty pay. These people showed me that there is more I could be doing, so many opportunities just waiting to be grabbed by the collar. They probably don’t know it, but those are the people I consider my career heroes. They totally transformed my mindset towards life in general, not just career related matters – that the world is ours for the taking, if we can only two into that consciousness.
Nike, 28
I wouldn’t be where I am now in my career journey if not for my big sister. The interesting thing about our relationship is that she doubles as sister and career coach/mentor because of her line of work – Human Resource – and that’s something I hold very dear. Not everyone has that privilege. I remember when I was made redundant at my bank job after 4 years of service, it was such a hard blow to my career and self-worth as a person that I lost all zeal to apply for new jobs. I felt like I could never get a better offer than what I had at that job. But my sister was having none of that; from opportunities to constantly reminding me how much of a badass I am, she pulled me up. And I think that’s what matters in the end, having that one person who refuses to give up on you no matter what.
Nana, 26, F
My current place of work is basically my first official taste of the career world. I started as an intern, and now, I have grown to a Sales Manager position. I’m thankful for the people who supported me in those early days, particularly my team lead then who was very supportive and patient. She taught me every single thing I know in Sales. I’ll forever be grateful for that, because Sales was like a whole new world altogether for me and I struggled to get the hang of things at first. She gave me the opportunity to prove that I could do good work, and never stopped pushing me to be better.
Phoebe, 27, F
The career hero that stands out for me is the person who offered me my first hands-on job. Before that, I was out of school and did not have a lot of experience working on real projects. The experience I had was mostly working on things with my school mate. But then one day, I was in a cab ride with her (my career hero) and she mentioned needing extra hands for a job, and I was excited to come on board. I would say that is where I got the most practical experience and improved on my skills. It equally opened me up to better opportunities that came along the way.
Semilore, 25, M
Can you believe there was a time I was earning 5, 000N per month? Now, that I’ve 30xed my income and made significant progress in my career journey, I try to understand how I survived. Crazy times. I owe it all to my current boss who saw potential in me even when I was blind to it and steered me in the right direction. I mean, I had dreams and an idea of where I wanted to be career-wise, but I lacked guidance. I can’t stress how important it is to have someone hold your hand during those shaky, uncertain phases. It prevented a lot of pitfalls I would have fallen into if I was walking blindly.
Join Fuzu in saying “Thank you” to all the amazing career heroes out there by celebrating your own career hero at www.fuzu.com/nigeria/career-hero.
Fuzu, Africa’s No. 1 career development platform, is collecting the heroic baton from here. Register at fuzu.com/nigeria to enjoy free, advanced and all-round support in your career journeys. Whatever your needs are; career goal setting, career coaching, professional CV creation, AI-based job recommendations, CV application management and feedback, personalised learning, skill validation, and community engagement, Fuzu has your interest at heart!
