Emeka Ezekwe is a business development consultant. He also works in oil and gas sector, Port Harcourt. With his experience in life coupled with his growing up challenges, Ezekwe is of the opinion that the world owes nobody a living, so if you want to live, you have to exploit and take what you want and that is live for you, he said.

Emeka Ezekwe...

In this interview with Saturday Rising On The Job, he x-rays the secret of rising on the job and at the same time failing on the job. Excerpts:

 When asked how he started it before getting to where he is today, he said…

Well, l have always dreamed of doing what l am doing now and would consider myself a go getter. Remember that whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve. I had a very memorable childhood and growing and my experience those years had helped in shapping who l am today.

Some of the major challenge l had growing up was my dad’s financial and business issues at some point in time, but my parents being there for me all the time (till date) helped erase the effect of whatever financial issue that may have hampered my growing up. I keep thanking and blessing God for them especially my dad lchie Simon Ezekwe.

How to grow on the job…

For an employee to earn a promotion in a competitive work place, he or she need to distinguish him/herself in terms of job delivery, client/customer satisfaction and embibment of organizational goal. Every employer is always looking out for someone that will add value to his organization.

However, the key challenge for every employer of labour is to find the ‘right’ people to work with and this is not always easy because it also involves conducting a’ fit and proper person test’.Once this is surpassed, it becomes a bit easier managing your employees once the right incentive and motivational things are in place.

An employee can always rise to the top if he likes his job, be a team player, remains focused, believes in his employers vision and plays a bit of office politics. We can classify all these attributes as ‘working hard’.

When asked if a man’s poor family background be a reason not to rise in life or a place of work, he said, No, never! Rather, a poor background should provide the needed impetus to escape poverty.

The ideal thing is that everyone should aim to leave this world or his situation better than he met it. Most successful people in the world today are from poor homes who vowed to change their situation positively and succeeded. The truth is that, the world owes nobody a living, you exploit and take what you want.

On why people are choosing a job because it’s lucrative even when it is not their area of calling, Ezekwe agreed that the economic situation in Nigeria has compelled a lot of people to accept employment in places or careers they never liked or are not happy being in.

This is the one single reason that service delivery is very poor in Nigeria today, lots of square pegs in round holes. Job satisfaction is necessary for a successful career in any field, if you don’t like what you do, you will never do it well because there is no passion.

On the issue of employing half baked graduates and non graduates with skills since Nigerian environment values certificate, he responded that this is another tricky area, most employers these days are beginning to value experience and skills because we have discovered that most of the so called certificate does not add any value to organizational goal.

For instance, a first class graduate may not have interpersonal skills, may be a poor team member or lack organizational ability or skill, truth is that, no matter your academic qualification, you are going to work with other people, so team work is key.

Also, we are now beginning to know how those bogus certificates come about as per our failing academic standards and interview panels have proved it that most certificate owners or carriers not defend them!

Advice for the youths pursuing a career and those on the job already…

Well, my advice to young people is to always trust in God and believe in yourself. It is very important to identify and seek out a role model and mentor very early in life who will always serve as guiding angel later in life.

I was fortunate to have found one in my dad all through my growing years. As for careers, having a mentor in your future career will help you weigh your option and avoid potential pitfalls. Moreover, you would have avoided and learnt from all your mentors’ mistakes.

Key to success in Nigerian careers these days is to first of all like what you do, like the saying that says ‘a job is what you do with your day. A career is what you do with your life.’ If you want a successful career you might as well start loving what you do.

In the work place, figure out a way to make yourself indispensable and most importantly, try and become a people’ person. It has a value as social capital, every organization is enmeshed in some form of ‘office politics’ if you find yourself in such a place, play the politics skillfully.