Interview Cons!!

There is a trend in town now, you get called for an interview and when you get there, the first impression you have is; “this venue doesn’t look like a corporate office where serious business occurs”. Alas you are there, perhaps your first impression is wrong. Once seated, you will be given an aptitude test paper comprising of 10 questions. Hmmm, you proceed to answer, first few questions are quantitative in nature. But hold up, did you read the instructions? It says to ignore question 1 to 7….. (You exhale), you move on to question 8 to 10 which asks you what skills you possess, your vision for your future and your objectives in life. You submit once you are done. There are perhaps about 10 or 20 other people there as well who like you are in attendance.

Next, a speaker number comes in to introduce the company to you alongside their mission, vision, goals and core values. The first two hours are spent enlightening you about their company, (not what they do, that is, not the product or service they offer). Emphasis is laid on their core values which are Honesty, Integrity, Discipline, among others. When he is done, another speaker comes in to lecture you on “why a graduate shouldn’t be searching for a job”, they tear you down for being a graduate and job hunting with your certificates and Resume in brown envelops all the time, while also giving you mind blowing speeches about Robert Kiyosaki, Mark Zuckerberg and the likes of them. This will take another two hours and thirty minutes.

By now, you are most likely restless but intrigued, you have been mesmerized, suspense has gripped your entire being and you are already eager to find out what the business is about. You are saying to yourself “I will be a millionaire in no time, yipeee”. The speaker then goes ahead to introduce what they actually do, most likely health marketing. They have a portable health device used to run full body checkup and give diagnoses of your health status. Your job is to work for them after they train you, you go out to market the business and drop proposals, when you get clients, they go in to offer their service at a cost of N1000 per person and you get paid 90% of each N1000. By now, your head has turned into a calculator, imagining the millions you would make.

Then comes the catch, you are expected to register with money to become a member of their team. Token they call it, it could be N5, 000, N10, 000, N20, 000 or more, at this point, you are asked to take your leave if you are not registering on the spot and perhaps come back if you are interested.

FREEZE your thought right there!!! You were invited to an interview for a job, how come you are being lectured on “Entrepreneurship and Intrapreneurship”. You are also asked to pay up to become a member. Hmmmm…sounds interesting. A person has gone to attend an interview with the hope of getting the job for the purpose of fulfilling a need in their personal life, and he/she is being lectured on how to become another Mark Zuckerberg within a year, and on top of that, the person still has to buy into this business with cash. I don’t get it, the SMS shouldn’t read an invite to a job interview, this feels to me like paying to market another persons’ business. Here’s a snapshot of the test message.

Now am wondering, why it is so hard for these companies to tell the truth upfront? Does it mean they are not sure of what they are offering so they twist their messages to get people’s attention? How can they say their core value is integrity when it is not displayed in their modus operandi? Imagine a company organizing an interview with OND and Bsc holders in attendance, yet they are told what qualified them to be invited is not needed. If such companies feel that the certificates these job hunters carry are so useless, why don’t they pitch their business to people who are not able to get educated for one reason or the other. These people in attendance have come to honor an invitation, and what do they get? They are teared down, inspired to be creative instead of job hunting, they are also told how some people already make N18million monthly, and they quote bible passages on success; at an interview?? I shall put up an audio recording of a friend's experience soon.

I was lucky to experience this twice, and the speaker cited a case saying, for every 100 naira mtn airtime you purchase, part of the proceeds goes to Obasanjos’ account, he also said for every bottle of coke you drink, part of the proceeds also goes to Awolowos’ family account, he says this because he believes one should lay a legacy for the future generation. It is a great idea but I ask, which legacy is being laid here? Is it going to be of monetary or personal value? How will it impact the society you live in? How will it affect the lives of the masses? How will it be of value to the world? How sure are you that your future generation wouldn’t squander all the investment rewards on irregularities? Am just curious.

Perhaps am wrong, and this method is actually a good way of recruitment for such companies. Or just maybe they need to come up with better innovative ways to market their services, but if you are not the type that has a good reading culture already, they sure enlighten you on why you should adopt one, it is good also that they encourage you to be creative. Or what do you think? Have you been to an interview like this before or know someone who has? Please feel free to share your thoughts by commenting below.