[Part 3] The 7 Deadly Philosophies in the Modern Job Market

[Adapted from the Free E-Book, "The 7 Deadly Philosophies in the Modern Job Market-2013]

Dedicated to all those who are passionate about living, loving, making a difference in their world in order to create generational legacies.

The Philosophy of Entitlement:

“What happened intrigued me to say the least. Out of the 35 people only a handful were retained by my former client. Amongst these were the 2 who only had a High School Certificate”.

This philosophy says that you are only useful in life to the level of your education. If you have a Diploma, you can never be CEO. If you have a degree, a second degree and a Masters, then you must be CEO.

You therefore have two types of people looking for a job in the modern job market. There is this group who come to the interview despite their great potential and gifts, they look like they need a favor. Their self belief is down.

The other group goes about thinking that they must be given the job solely because they have come from the heights of academic qualification. Consequently, they overlook other aspects of qualification such as attitude, initiative, innovativeness and ‘team player’.

While working in Uganda, I interviewed over 300 people for 35 positions! That tells you the frustration that employers have in the modern job market. Employers have things that they want to do and are looking for the right people. Unfortunately, it is not easy to get them because of these philosophies.

I remember hiring two individuals who at best had High School certificates. One of them I came to learn later on, was affected by the war in Northern Uganda fueled by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Wycliff’s story of how he narrowly escaped death and travelled to Uganda’s capital city Kampala is for another day.

This man was such an ‘executioner’ so down to earth that you would not know the difference between him and a university graduate. I knew him through a neighbor who is now a full Diplomat heading an embassy in a country in Africa. That is what recommendations can do.

To further dispel the philosophy of Entitlement, let me tell you what happened to me and Wycliff. Unfortunately for me, the client for who I had employed the 35 people for a project had to pull out. 

They still needed people on the ground to continue executing the project. Much as I had to render the 35 ‘jobless’ because of this move by the client, there were still 35 vacancies to be filled.

What happened intrigued me to say the least. Out of the 35 people only a handful were retained by my former client. Amongst these were the 2 who only had a High School Certificate. Later on, these handful were done away with because of one thing or another, with only 2 being retained. Guess who those two were?

Wycliff went ahead to do such a great job that he was given a whole region to manage! None of his former colleagues who had degrees achieved this fete!

The philosophy further states that you are only useful in life in the area in which you studied. If you studied sales, then you must be a salesman. If you studied philosophy, then you must be a philosopher. If you studied engineering, then you must look for engineering jobs. 

This philosophy makes people to wait to be picked instead of doing what they can do with what they have.

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can” –John Wesley

The present job market does not entitle anybody on the basis of their papers. That used to be the norm some decades back, but not anymore. Employers are becoming increasingly aware of a crop of jobseekers who are creative, humble, possess a good attitude, and generally hungry to succeed. If you are looking for a job purely relying on the strength of your academic papers, am here to tell you that dog won’t hunt.