Jonathan Pledges More Projects As Buhari, Others Berate President on Corruption, Security

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday promised that if re-elected into power, he would embark on developmental projects that would transform Nigeria into a developed nation.

  Again, the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Maj-Gen. Muhammad Buhari, has vowed to sanction any public officer who indulged in corruption if elected president, saying that administration would have zero tolerance for graft.

  Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the certificate released by Buhari’s school, alleging that it was forged, while the  Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), yesterday said that Nigerians would  still remain one indivisible entity if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the forthcoming election.

  Jonathan who made the promise yesterday in Bauchi during the campaign in the State, added that his vision  in the next four years was to add to the list of job vacancies in Nigeria for youths and women.

  On his part, Vice President Namadi Sambo said that the purpose of their visit to Bauchi was to canvass for votes and support for Jonathan in next month’s election.

  He said that politics of bitterness was not good for the country’s nascent democracy and people should desist from such campaigns of calumny for the sake of peace in the country.

  According to him, God had made us in Nigeria both Christians and Muslims and people should stop playing politics with religion, because the country is for all of us.

  He further stressed: “It is not all about shouting but about registration, most of the people shouting they have not registered and without registration, you cannot vote so people should register so that they can vote.

  Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State also disclosed that it was God that gave power to whom He wished and not by men’s wish.

  “It is God that gives power and God has given it to President Jonathan, we the people of  the Northeast, we are loyal to our leaders and we will give all our support to Jonathan, then we can tell him some of our problems,” Yuguda said.

  He assured the President that the people of the state would vote him beyond his expectations in the February 14 polls.

  Also, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed said that he was sure the people of the state would vote Jonathan for the second term because of the good things he had done for the people of the state.

  According to him, the President had done well by appointing sons and daughters of the state into juicy positions in the federal government.

  National Chairman of the PDP, Ahmed Adamu Muazu said that it was time for the PDP in all the states to work hard to ensure that PDP won elections at all levels.

  Buhari who stated this at a campaign rally  in Gasau, Zamfara State also pledged to ensure that the Nigeria Army, Police, and other para-military security agencies were dedicated and productive in their duties.

  Addressing a mammoth crowd at the rally, Buhari however,  asserted  that if elected as president, he would not investigate past corrupt practices, but would draw a line and looters of the treasury would not go unpunished.

  He added: “I want assure all that all past corrupt practices will not be investigated by the APC led administration. However, we must stop and eliminate all forms of corruption in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and security agencies. Let me said it categorically that if I am elected as your next president, any person who loots the treasury under my administration will not be spared. I am assuring you he or she will go to jail.”

  Buhari who arrived the venue of the event at around 10:48pm and spoke in Hausa, remarked that the stealing of public funds had become a tradition, saying that if you don’t steal you would be regarded as old fashioned.

  According to him, if elected, l will in  the next two years,  clear all the mess and put the nation’s on the path of economic and political progress.

  The APC presidential candidate reiterated his determination to educate the youths by resuscitating the nation’s ailing educational system, stressing, ‘’when you give education to the youths they would be able to sustain themselves.”

  He charged the youths to join in this crusade of changing the existing status quo if they want a secured nation where the rule of law and true federalism would prevail.

  The ex-military leader also promised to re-organise and re-structure the army and police, maintaining that the present state of the military was a disgrace to a country like Nigeria.

  Director of Media for the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Femi Fani-Kayode, who addressed a news conference on the matter in Abuja yesterday called on the police to find the authors of the alleged forged document and prosecute them for forgery.

  He stated: “It is quite unfortunate that a few hours after Buhari’s press conference, some documents appeared on various media platforms purporting to be the APC candidate’s results released by his old school.”

   Fani- Kayode alleged: “The results sheet which was attributed to the Cambridge examination body is clearly a super imposition of one document on another.

The column lines on the part where names are printed do not align with the blank columns while there is an introduction of extraneous lines on some other columns.

   He continued: “The document contains an obvious alteration on the Mathematics column of the candidate, Mohamed Buhari, who was assumed to have scored an “F” in the subject. This raises a very fundamental issue of validity in view of the fact that the accompanying result sheet states,  “any alteration or erasure renders this statement of results invalid. This is the standard practice in all interpretation of documents especially academic records.

  The PDP campaigns spokesman further said:

“The question we put to Buhari and his party is whether this alteration was done by the University of Cambridge.

   One of the footnotes on the document purportedly issued by the University of Cambridge says, “the results of this candidate in all subjects except English Language have been carried forward from the 1960 examination.”

  The question arising from this is: When exactly did Buhari sit for all the other subjects claimed to have been passed in the Secondary School Examination?

   Our conclusion from all these is that the documents purportedly released by Government College (Pilot) Katsina, upon which the APC presidential candidates hopes to bury the doubt about his eligibility for next month’s election are forged, manipulated and fraudulently procured. They are therefore untenable in fact and in law.

   “We do not know who the authors and masterminds of this forgery are but whoever they are, we urge them to come forward and be identified. If they fail to come forward voluntarily, we hereby call on the police and other security agencies to seek them out, find them, arrest them, interrogate them and prosecute them in accordance with the laws of the land.

  “We reiterate our call on Buhari to submit himself to the police to answer charges of perjury, having lied on oath about his academic qualifications. This is what a man who claims to represent integrity and due process ought to do in this situation.” 

  But, a former Managing Editor of The Guardian Newspapers, Tunde Thompson has said all the charades to Buhari from contesting the forth coming elections should stop now.

Thompson was a Diplomatic Correspondent at The Guardian when he was arrested and jailed along with his colleague, former member of the House of Representatives, Nduka Irabor, by the then Buhari-led military administration  

  Thompson said: “Buhari has humbled himself; people say he has been running for this position since 1999, that he keeps persevering and remains consistent means there must be something he believes he has to offer. I have chosen to look at the positive side of what he presents, which is commitment on progress, attack on corruption, building and restoration of Nigeria’s integrity because we have lost it.”

  Fashola also accused the president of dividing Nigerians along religious and ethnic lines rather than fulfilling his electoral promises.

   The governor, who also said that he was yet to get his Permanent Voters Card (PVC), said it was unfortunate that many eligible voters in the country were yet to collect their PVCs less than one month to the general election.

Daily Habit That Can Boost Your Career

Are you interested in an easy way to improve your job performance and boost your career, it’s time to start a writing habit.

A study from Harvard Business School tested whether taking 15 minutes at the end of a work day to reflect on that day’s work improves their performance and found the participants tasked with daily written reflection did 22.8 percent better on an assessment than the control group.

But wouldn’t internal reflection by itself be enough to bolster performance? “My speculation would be that writing things down would be more beneficial as the act of writing imposes a discipline on us to stay focused,” says paper co-author Brad Staats, an associate professor of operations at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Reflection forced people to process their days, find patterns and link actions. Some people might think the experiment focused on the successes of the day, but Staats says the parameters of the experiment when explained to the journaling employees didn’t specify giving the reflections a positive or negative slant.

“What we wanted was for them to reflect more on whatever they thought was most important from the day,” Staats explains. “The positive/negative point is a great question, but not one we looked at here.

In other research, was on how individuals struggle to learn from failure, but when they accept internal responsibility for their actions then they learn from failure.”

One idea of why a writing habit helps is that thoughts running through your mind about your day suddenly become significant and deliberate catalysts for change through thinking them over and writing them down. “Reflection on experience and learning facilitates deep processing, which allows you to retain information for a long time — as opposed to simply cramming it in your brain and promptly forgetting it after the test,” says career coach George A. Boyd.

Despite taking a portion of time out of the work day, essentially working less than the control group, the new distribution of energy towards reflection heavily impacted performance. Even Staats was surprised by how much of a difference the exercise made.

“I thought reflection might help a bit, but I didn’t expect it to make such a meaningful impact on performance,” Staats said. “These people weren’t spending extra time at work — they were spending 15 minutes less on training each day so they could reflect, however by reallocating their time in such a small way we see a significant, positive impact on performance.”

Making writing a habit could be a simple way to both gather your bearings and be a better employee, but it is also a hard habit to adopt and keep consistently. “In talking to people, one of the real challenges with reflection is finding the discipline to maintain it,” Staats warns. “That means people need to find ways to continue the practice — whether that is blocking your calendar, finding an accountability partner who might also reflect at the same time, or something else that works well for you.”

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Five Key Characteristics of Successful Jobseekers

If you could highlight any one asset you really needed to find a job that you love, what would you choose?

Crafting the perfect CV/cover letter is vital, and making the right preparations for acing the interview goes without saying. And of course, for certain positions, having a particular skill may be a necessity. But what else does it take to actually get the job you want?

The answer may be simpler than you think. In fact, there might be one key change you can make to dramatically improve your chances of success: master your mindset.

What is mindset?

If skill set is about what you can do, then your mindset is about what you see, think and believe. Used correctly, it can make any one of us stand out from the crowd.

With technology developing at an unprecedented rate, certain skills are becoming obsolete more quickly now than ever before. However, whilst nobody can predict the skills needed to succeed in five or ten years’ time, mindset stays constant.

Echoing these sentiments, we asked over 800 employers, and 96% of them chose mindset over skill set as the key element they seek when employing (and retaining) staff.

Based on these findings, here are the top five characteristics of successful job seekers:

Accountability

72.56% of employers, in Nigeria job market, highlighted accountability as an essential characteristic when looking for new employees.

The individuals who demonstrate accountability most effectively are those who go beyond the confines of their job description, take responsibility for things that go wrong and/or attempt to improve the current situation in any way they can.

Example of how to use accountability in your CV: ‘Sought one-to-one coaching to improve my value per transaction, allowing me to consistently hit not only my individual targets, but also those of the team for a period of six months.’

 Adaptability

Perhaps unsurprisingly, adaptability was chosen as essential by 75.12% of employers surveyed.

Those candidates who can genuinely display the flexibility and ingenuity to rise to any challenge they face, maintain a dynamic approach and respond positively to it all, will automatically increase their employability.


Example of how to use adaptability in your CV: Due to a change in personnel, I increased my workload for one quarter to compensate for the loss (until a new hire could be made), successfully adapting my approach to meet the requirements at hand and ensuring the team’s goals continued to be met.

 Trustworthiness

Whatever industry you’re in, having a sense of trust in others around you is vital for a harmonious workplace. Perhaps that’s why 90.93% of employers chose trustworthiness as their next essential characteristic when hiring.

There are a number of ways you can demonstrate this in your CV or at an interview, from both a moral sense (e.g. opening tills, cashing up etc.) and from a team working/delegation standpoint. Establish your trustworthiness effectively, and a big box is ticked for the hiring manager.

Example of how to use trustworthiness in your CV: Efficiently managed my own workload, which included setting deadlines and delivering copy to external agencies on time, maintaining excellent productivity and ensuring quality of work met a consistently high standard.

Honesty

Affirming the old adage, 91.4% of hiring managers think that honesty really is the best policy.

And, although honesty is inevitably linked to accountability and trustworthiness to a certain degree, adopting it as an integral part of your mindset and being able to practically display it is crucial. It doesn’t have to be too hard-hitting, just a few words to display your morals are in the right place should be more than enough.

Example of how to use honesty in your CV: In my role as supervisor, I have recently had to deal with a member of staff whose recent output has been of a unsatisfactory nature. However, rather than formally discipline them, I confidentially spoke to them to ascertain the problem, and their work has dramatically improved as a result.

 Commitment
Finally, according to our research the most important trait for successful jobseekers is commitment. In fact, 92.09% of all employers said that this was absolutely essential for all team members and potential hires.

Commitment undoubtedly has an exceptionally powerful effect. If it’s there, it engenders trust and earns respect. When it’s missing, it’s almost impossible to replicate or attain belief from any level of the business. 

Actively exhibit your commitment, and you’ll set yourself apart for all the right reasons. (Warning: Stating you always give 110% is not necessarily the most effective way to do this. It’s also impossible…). 

Example of how to use commitment in your CV: During a recent project, I undertook over 40 hours of overtime, making sure all commitments made to suppliers were met on schedule, and personally overseeing all creative changes were implemented right through until the assignment’s completion. 

Negotiating A Job Offer; Effective Way

From the basic pay to your benefits package, make sure you know the most effective way to negotiate a job offer.

Ok, you've applied for one the latest job in Nigeria, aced the interviews and you're finally at the point where you're discussing salary.

So, do you just accept the salary on offer or do you take a gamble and hold out for more? From the basic pay to your benefits package, make sure you know the most effective way to negotiate an offer.

Consider the salary

The first step in salary negotiation is to do some research into the remuneration package you expect, as well as the current market rates for the type of role you've been offered.

Consider the following three salaries:

Minimum salary
Whilst seemingly obvious, ascertaining your minimum salary can be tricky. Does it equate to what you're currently earning? Or perhaps it's just enough to pay your outgoing bills? Your minimum salary should basically equate to your minimum cash requirements for a role, based on your circumstances.

So, if you're a first jobber, this may be enough to cover your costs and give you some extra spending money. Alternatively, if you're currently working and you're moving jobs to earn more money, your minimum will probably be at least the same as you're earning now.

Expected salary

Your 'expected' salary will naturally sit in between your minimum and dream salaries. But how do you calculate this?

Looking at equivalent salaries is usually the best place to start. You should also look for job specs with similar requirements to what you've been offered and check what other employers are currently offering. Of course, if you're particularly well qualified or experienced, you may well expect higher than average market rates.

Dream salary

Having done some research into what the market rates are, you're now in a position to start considering your dream salary. But what is your dream salary?

Most of us would like more money, so, naturally, we're reluctant to put a cap on our 'dream' salary. It’s easy to get carried away, but you should try and remain realistic. Your dream earnings should be the most you can expect to be paid given the job you're applying for and your own level of experience.

Looking at the higher-end salaries for jobs being advertised in your chosen field, as well as the level of experience they require, is a good place to start. If you're expecting a salary higher than any of the jobs you've seen, the chances are you're probably expecting too much.

What about the benefits package?

Whilst take-home salary is clearly important, there are other elements to consider. Namely, the benefits package.

For example, your prospective employer might offer one or more of the following benefits:

    health care
    pension scheme
    stock options
    free gym membership
    travel schemes
    flexible working options (e.g. flexi-time)

The next step is to consider how much flexibility you're willing to offer for all of these benefits. This should take into account the monetary value of each benefit, but you should also consider some of the lifestyle and time-saving benefits. For instance, flexible working hours might allow you to spend more time with your family, whilst the provision of company pensions scheme will mean you don't have to organise your own pension scheme.

How to negotiate

You're now at the stage where you know what you should be earning, and what room you have for negotiation. So it's time to start negotiating your offer.

Your prospective employer is likely to have a figure in mind for your salary, but don't simply accept or reject the first offer.

    Ask if there is any flexibility in the offer, as well as how regular salary reviews will take place - taking a lower salary will be more acceptable if there will be regular salary reviews
    If the salary is below your minimum expectation, explain that the offer is below what you were expecting, backing it up with why
    If the package is around your expected salary, you should still attempt negotiation, explaining how your experience, knowledge and qualifications position you in the market
    In the event of being offered your dream salary, you'll probably want to discuss room for future growth in earnings and career development; remember, although this is your dream salary, as you progress your expectations are likely to increase

For any of these scenarios, you should never flat-out refuse the offer of a salary straight away. You should state that you 'need time to consider the package', giving you and the employer time more time to consider your options.

Know when to back out
There are clearly a number of considerations when deciding whether to accept an offer from an employer.

    Don't solely consider salary: take into account other considerations, such as benefits, working hours, work culture, the job itself and room for career development
    If the salary is not what you expected and is not compensated by additional benefits or career development, you should say so; if this is not then reviewed by the employer, you'll probably need to accept that the job wasn't right for you and move on

Remember, if you've done your homework, you should know what you're worth, so you should try your best to make sure that's what you earn in your next job. Whatever happens, don’t sell yourself short.

Benefits of Volunteering

Volunteering is generally considered an altruistic activity and is intended to promote goodness or improve human quality of life. In return, this activity can produce a feeling of self-worth and respect. There is no financial gain involved for the individual. Aside from the obvious feel-good factor from giving your time to a worthy cause, volunteering has a number of key benefits for your career which make it well worth considering.

From improving your skills and experience, to adding value to your CV, find out why a stint as a volunteer can seriously help your career prospects. Not only is it a great way to gain practical experience (something which can be extremely frustrating when lacking from your CV), volunteering can also help you stand out from the crowd and learn practical skills which will make you more desirable for prospective employers.

Here are just a few of the key benefits of volunteering:

Work in an industry that interests you

Charities and not-for-profit organisations recruit hundreds of thousands of volunteers every year throughout the UK and, as a result, the range of opportunities on offer is endless. From sports coaching to fundraising, eBay trading to mentoring, volunteering is a great way to hone your career skills in an area that interests you.

If you’re unsure of what sector will be the best fit for you, Local Volunteer Centres, Charity Advisors and online services (such as do-it.org.uk) will help match your requirements with the opportunities on offer. And whilst you won’t get paid (apart from expenses), you will have the opportunity to get involved in activities you may later want to pursue as a career.

Gain valuable skills & experience
As well as helping to equip you with the skills that many companies look for in staff, volunteering as part of a structured volunteer programme can expose you to a range of core workplace activities, including: communication, line management, teamwork and using your initiative.

From writing newsletters to maintaining computer networks, the best way to get a new job is often through experience and the right volunteering opportunity is a rewarding way to achieve this. In fact, in certain sectors, such as health and social care or charities, volunteering may even be considered a pre-requisite.

Voluntary organisations are well aware that many people volunteer to gain experience, and as long as you can show your commitment and dedication to the cause from the outset, don’t be afraid to be honest about your motives and use volunteering as a stepping stone to further your career.

Improve your CV and become more successful at interviews

Establishing what experience you want to add to your CV will help you identify the right voluntary opportunity. And, once your CV’s looking more complete, you’ll find it easier to reach the interview stage for the jobs you apply for.

One at the interview, you will have the perfect opportunity to impress recruiters with your experiences and passion for your interests. Employers are well aware of the benefits of volunteering and recognise the initiative and commitment that can be required by volunteers.

Whilst qualifications are undoubtedly of importance, voluntary work can help you get the experience you need. And remember, the benefits don’t end there: you’ll meet new people, try new things and almost definitely have some fun at the same time.

What the experts say

“In all recent job vacancies in Nigeria, prospective employers want to see what makes you different from all the other candidates, and volunteering is a great way of standing out from the crowd. By demonstrating that you take part in meaningful activities in your spare time, you will show an employer that you are a well-rounded person with some interesting life experience.”

Thanks for reading, you can drop a comment....

The Big Career Mistakes Young People Make

Are you eager to know what's slowing down your career?

A 28-year veteran at Morgan Stanley is out with a book on the unique challenges young professionals face when trying to navigate the workplace.

After publishing her first career advice book, Expect To Win, Carla Harris said she encountered questions from young professionals that weren't answered, such as how to advance or change careers completely. Although Strategize To Win, her new book, targets all industries, many of Harris' examples comes from her own experience in the financial sector.

Harris is the vice chairman of wealth management at Morgan Stanley. She joined the firm in 1987 in mergers and acquisitions. In 2013, Harris was named chairperson of the National Women's Business Council.

Know when to use what skills

Harris said the biggest mistake young professionals make is not understanding the necessary skill set and how it changes. She said young professionals must know when to transition from analytical skills to interpersonal skills as their careers move forward.

"When you’re first starting out in your career on Wall Street, your analytic skills, your quantitative skills and your attention to detail are the things that are most valued," she said. "Three to four years into your career as associate, you’re about to be promoted to vice president. And at that point people are valuing your commercially, your ability to build relationships, especially at the junior levels at the client organizations."

Be authentic

Harris' advice for finding an advantage within a very competitive industry is to be your authentic self. Figure out what the recruiter is buying, and match up your skills and abilities based on the position. Authenticity is the best way to differentiate between yourself and the rest of your peers, she said.

"People make a mistake when they try to behave or act like other people, and then they lose the power of their individuality," she said. "Each of us has something that makes us uniquely who we are. And that is your competitive advantage.”

Manage your time aggressively

After graduating from Harvard, Harris has moved up the ranks at Morgan Stanley, has written two books and sings gospel music in her spare time. She said that many people have a misconception about Wall Street as very demanding and time-consuming, but in reality, time management is doable.

"I made a commitment to myself when I came into this business that if I was going to have to work hard, I would play hard. And I wanted to make sure I had a well-rounded life," Harris said.

To do this, Harris said she aggressively utilizes any spare time on evenings, weekends and lunch hours.

"I think it’s really important to maintaining long-term success, particularly in financial services, that you have balance in your life. Because work is not always going to go well," she said. "And if you don’t have balance, it’s easy to become distracted, disoriented, disillusioned with this business.”

Distinguish between relationships and performance

To set yourself up for success, Harris talks about the importance in using both 'performance currency' and 'relationship currency.'

“Performance currency is the currency that you gain from doing a great job, and it can do three things for you," Harris said. "Number one, it will attract a sponsor, it can get you paid and promoted, and it also gets you a reputation in the workplace as someone who delivers."

Harris said performance currency is key when starting out in a new position. As you move into the third or fourth year, that emphasis should shift over to relationship currency, in which you invest in people that respect and support you.

"That relationship currency is the most valuable when it comes to ascending in an organization," Harris said. "It’s going to be somebody’s judgment about whether or not you’ll be successful in this new assignment, and judgments are directly influenced by relationships."

Neither performance nor relationships should be neglected at either stage, Harris said. But the investment into each type of currency should have a notable shift as you progress.

Understand the company structure and mobility

When entering a new position, Harris said it's important to understand how the company promotes and utilizes its employees. Without knowing how a firm operates, you can't just join operations and expect to move into mergers and acquisitions or corporate finance, she said.

"If the company has no precedence for moving people from operations into investment banking, it does not have anything to do with your ability, but it has everything to do with their precedence,” she said. "So if they haven’t done that, you’re not going to be the exception to the rule."


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Tips for Building All Round Confidence

A gradual process indeed building true confidence. No one is going to turn into a positive, self-confident person overnight. But if you’re in need of some extra confidence, here are seven secrets for building unstoppable confidence that are no longer undercover.

Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

The worst thing you can do is compare yourself to others. Remember that you’re seeing the surface of their lives, not the underlying reality. Focus instead on what’s important—your own strengths and goals.

Remember That the Loudest Is Not the Most Confident

We tend to look to the blow-your-own-horn types as the confident ones—but some of the most successful people are gentle giants, humble and self-effacing people who we admire more and more as we come to appreciate their depth.

Keep Your Limiting Beliefs at Bay

Even the most successful people have limiting beliefs about themselves, but the biggest difference is that they choose to focus on their strengths and possibilities instead of their limits.

Live in a Positive Reality

Don’t say anything about yourself that you don’t want to become a reality. Positive thoughts and words alone won’t make you a more confident person, but confident people do think a lot of positive things about themselves. Remind yourself of what you’re capable of and what you’ve already accomplished.

Don’t Mask It

Self-confidence isn’t the impression you give others but how you feel about yourself. It’s all about who you are, where you are, and where you want to be in your own life and leadership.

Change What You Can

Confident people know they cannot change the past, but they can change the future. They make daily choices that lead them toward the future they want to live out.

Be Fully Committed

Be fully committed to doing whatever you can to build your success every single day, and to accepting full responsibility for your life. If it’s uncomfortable, you’re probably on the right track. Don’t procrastinate; do what it takes without agonizing or drama.

These secrets can uncover your confidence from within—the kind of confidence that gives you sole responsibility for everything in your life and prepare you to embrace whatever life presents.

7 Simple Tips to Motivation and Success

For most, the start of a new year does renew their energy and motivate them to achieve certain changes in their lives. But let’s face it, no matter how driven you are, there will be times when your energy and commitment will ebb. Yes, it happens—even to the most motivated.

When you need a boost, try these simple tips to tap into your motivation. You know you can achieve anything when you put your mind to it, so put your mind to making 2015 a great year!

Determine Your Motivating Force

What’s your why, your passion, the vision beyond the vision, as I call it? You must have a reason to succeed: One that touches the deepest levels of your being. Before you begin every project, explore the big picture. Why is it so important to you? What will you lose if you don’t keep going? If you commit to something, just because you should, you will look back upon failure.

Tap Into the Energy of Others
If you feel tired, uninspired, even like giving up, I challenge you to examine the mindset of those around you. Do conversations with your closest companions renew your energy or drain it? Do you have people in your life who can engage in stimulating conversation about business or the other things that you’re passionate about?

As human beings, we give and receive energy and inspiration. Make sure you are receiving as much as, or more than, you are handing out.

Get Your Thoughts Organized

When I’m working on a big project, nothing zaps my energy more than an over-stimulated, cluttered mind. This is an easy state for entrepreneurs to fall into because we are so full of ideas and strategies: Your mind can go in a million directions and all of them seem viable at the time.

Collect these thoughts by talking through your desired outcome, what you’ve done so far, and your options for moving forward. A coach is a great resource for this, and I’d be happy to help. Sometimes all it takes is a willing ear, so a patient friend will do. It’s surprising how things can fall back into place simply by revisiting your goals with a second party.

Move the Process From Your Head to an Organized List

You know how it goes. You’re determined to make some headway today, and you’ve got two hours to make a dent in your project. But you sit down, uncertain about where to begin. So what do you do instead? Get lost in social media or another distraction, right?

Detailed lists outlining your next steps can eliminate this temptation. Break down your goals into bite-size, manageable chunks, and always refer to your list before you get to work. Better yet, schedule time into your calendar for the very specific tasks that will take you to the next level in your project. The more specific you get, the less your mind will be inclined to go another direction.

Renew Your Creativity With a Mind Map

If you keep your ideas and options in your head, it’s difficult to tap into more expansive thinking. Your brain can efficiently manage only so much information before that information becomes nothing more than clutter. When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or confused about how to get from point A to point B, create a mind map. When you do this, it not only organizes the mess in your brain, it also brings out your creativity and resourcefulness.

Have a Plan B

Find inspiration in these words from Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Be prepared to change course in light of the unexpected. This does not mean that you are giving up on a great idea. It means that you’re destined to find one that’s even better.

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

The Dalai Lama was once asked what surprised him most about humanity. “Man,” he answered. Why? “Because,” said His Holiness, “he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Like i always say, “Let go of anxious thinking. There’s a difference between seeing the big picture and being well prepared and worrying about every possible problem before it exists. Take calculated risks and focus your energy on preparedness, not anxiety-provoking worry.” You can also check on the latest jobs in Nigeria.



Have A Great Year

Seeking for Promotion? 4 Mistakes That Maybe Ruinning Your Chances

Years have gone by now, and you’ve been exceptionally diligent. Ever since you realized the possibility, promotion has been your goal, and you’ve been gunning for it with everything you’ve got.

But, wait. Before you keep charging blindly ahead, make sure your grand plans aren’t derailed by any of these easy-to-make mistakes.


Winning Over Your Boss But Not Your Co-workers

Your direct supervisor will have a big say in whether or not you get to move up, so it makes perfect sense to curry his or her favor. But before you keep nodding yes to everything your manager says, consider the impression you’re making on your colleagues. It might be completely obvious to everyone but you that you’re “running for office” and ready to sacrifice anyone standing in your way.

To prevent any resentment from building up, you’ll want to be a bit more mindful of the way your actions to please your boss make you look in front of your co-workers. After all, it’s not like these people just go away when you get promoted. In fact, you will still have to work with them—and possibly even report to manage or them.

Focusing on New Responsibilities But Neglecting Your Current Ones

It’s great to be eager, but obsessing over your next career move instead of focusing on your present role isn’t going to get you anywhere. It’s easy to get carried away with newer, possibly more exciting responsibilities, but neglecting your core duties will get you in trouble. You won’t make a very compelling case for yourself to take on a greater role in the team if you can’t even manage your current assignments.

In other words, before you get too preoccupied with revamping the internship training schedule or planning the regional conference, make sure your main responsibilities are completed in a timely and consistent manner.

Going Above and Beyond But Not Letting Anyone Know

So, you’re knocking out old and new responsibilities, helping out colleagues, and mentoring interns. If anyone is paying attention, that promotion should be yours. Problem is, you can’t rely on other people to pay attention. If you’re not fully promoting yourself and your achievements, it almost doesn’t matter that you’re killing it at your job.

So, how does one actually do this? It’s all about setting aside time to talk about and celebrate team successes with your manager. Check out this handy guide on how to brag at work (without sounding like a jerk) for a more step-by-step guide.

Not Creating a Plan for When You Actually Do Get Promoted
This one might be the least obvious one. What is your team or company going to do if you’re no longer in your current role? If you don’t have a plan in place, that can be a serious deterrent for promoting you.

Plan for your succession, or if you’re in a more entry-level role, document processes you oversee, training you’ve completed, and your general responsibilities so that it’ll be easy to train someone to take your place. It might feel a bit presumptuous to be getting ready to move on to a new role that you may or may not get, but when it does happen, you’ll look completely prepared and ready to take on that promotion.



The moral of this story is that getting promoted shouldn’t just be about you. If you’re able to make it about what’s best for the team or the company, you’ll not only be making a better impression on everyone involved, you’ll also be more likely to get that coveted promotion.

Also get access to current job vacancies in Nigeria. Good luck!

3 Key Must-Know, To Be A Good Sales Person

Findings has it that to be successful in life and succeed in whatever you do in life; four things among other things are a must to know. Without these four things one can only continue to dream on about being that great in life. Anyone who really wants to move away from just being a dreamer to becoming an achiever needs to take possession of these four things. Take a closer look at all kinds of achievers and you will find that they have long taken possession of these four things.

Given the importance of these things for success it will be proper to quickly consider them before I discuss the three things you must know to become a good sales person.

The first of the four things one must have is desire. A life without desire is an unmotivated life, living for no cause. A desire or dream to become something or achieve something is the first step to becoming anything or achieving anything since it is the spark that ignites the flame within which turns to the passion that drives one to achieve or become something. The next is passion for what one wants to achieve or want to be. Passion is like the flame within that drives the engine. Once the flame is put off the engine stalls. Without the passion the desire and dream will die. So keep the passion and you will keep the dream alive.

The third thing among the four is a plan or if you like a strategy. You have a vision of what you want to be and when you want to be what you want to be but to get to your destination you need a map that will give you direction on what to do, how to do it and when to do it. It is only sensible to get a map to direct you to a place you have never been before rather than rambling and wandering about and hoping you will get there someday. The fourth but not less important is knowledge. It could be through formal education within the walls of an institution or from everyday work and life experiences but there has to be some form of learning for knowledge to be acquired. The importance of knowledge to success cannot be overemphasize. It is actually the fuel that feeds the passion and keeps it flaming. The more relevant knowledge you acquired the more ‘fired up’ you will be to achieving your goals. That is why organizations that understand the relevance of knowledge in motivating their employees to take their corporate learning seriously.

Now back to the topic. Take note that this topic is considering only one out of the four things discussed above that one must have to succeed in life, which is knowledge. What are those three things you must know to become a good sales person? They are actually obvious things but the more knowledgeable you are in these three things, the more successful you are likely to be as a sales rep that is if you apply the knowledge.

The first and most important by my judgment is that you must know your product. How could one possibly sell something that has no name and has no known use (value) to anyone? Even if that were possible it will be a very hard sell indeed. So then this is where to begin. Know the name and composition of your product but more importantly know the benefits for using the product. The more knowledge you have of the benefits of your product the more confident and motivated you will get at selling it.

The next thing you need to know to be a good sales person is to know your customer. It is not just enough to know your product and hope to make a sale to just anyone. You need to identify your potential customers to sell to. Who are the likely people who will most certainly benefit from your product? How do they want the product presented to them? What are the options they have in terms of alternative products? There are just so much you need to know about your customers and the more knowledgeable you are about them the more directed and focused you will be in your selling.

The third thing you need to know is your competition. Why do you need to know your competition? The main reason is you want to outsmart and outrun them. You obviously want to do better than them but the only way you can achieve that is to check out where they are now, where they are going, why are they going there, and how do they plan to get there? Your product should give you the most concern and then your customers, but after these two you should be concerned about your competition. Knowledge of your competition is an excellent feedback that can help you understand your product and customers better.

If you want to access other essential career development tips, keep visiting this page. You may also want to check out the current job vacancies in Nigeria.

Job Search Tips To Assist You This Hard Times

With unemployment on the rise and things unbearable for Nigerians, recent glimmers of hope in the economy indicates that maybe, just maybe here is light at the end of this tunnel. This is a very difficult time for both employed and unemployed workers alike, and one that will likely be remembered for years to come. But beyond the horror stories of layoffs, failing companies, fewer jobs in Nigeria and collapsing home prices, what will we learn from this time?

Each of us has our own personal lessons from this time that we will take to heart. In addition, however, once the hard times end and job vacancies in Nigeria finally starts to pop up, there are four basic concepts that every job seeker will need to follow in order to find a successful and fulfilling career:

Seeking job security makes you vulnerable.
In today's turbulent economy, employers have no idea what's coming around the corner. They may promise job security, but they can't deliver it. Because of this, counting on steady employment is a surefire way to wind up jobless and unprepared for the demands of the employment market. Instead of job security, a far better objective is to strive for career security – the ability to stay employed in a career of your choosing, regardless of economic conditions as a whole. Unlike job security, this is a state you create for yourself. You don't rely on some employer's supposed "loyalty" to you; rather you anticipate changes in your career and focus on the new skills that you'll need to keep pace. This way you can adapt to the ever-evolving job market in a way that benefits you.

Recognition is something you give yourself.

Most managers mean well, but if you wait for them to recognize your accomplishments you're likely to be disappointed. Some have the social skills of a brick, while others are too worried about their own security to take care of yours. That's why it's important for you to keep track of your own "career victories." Sure, it takes a little effort to maintain a record of what you've done and how well you've done it, but that account will give you more satisfaction than most managers ever will. Don't just write it down; also review it regularly. Take the time to remember what you've done, reward yourself when you deserve it or give yourself a little counseling if you've let yourself down.

Working tirelessly is a sure way to get tired.

Sadly, today many people find themselves unable to disengage from work, either due to fear of appearing lazy or the "over-connectedness" created by laptops and smart phones. The impact of this on both performance and well being is already acute, and likely to get worse. In a knowledge-based economy, your worth is measured not by your connectivity, but by your contribution. And your contribution suffers when your mind and body don't get enough rest.

Taking care of your career is the best way to take care of you.

The conventional approach to career management has been to keep your head down in your work, and surface to take stock once a year – during your annual performance review. That approach was dangerous then; today, it's a one-way ticket to the unemployment office. The only safe course in a turbulent job market is to develop career fitness the same way you develop physical fitness. You have to commit yourself to building up the strength, endurance and reach of your career every single day. After all, you spend one-third or more of your day at work – shouldn't that time be just as rewarding as the rest of your life?

As workers, we've acquired many insights from the current problems. But beyond just these personal lessons, if we don't begin to share what we've learned and begin to help each other understand how the workplace has changed, we'll never be able to truly prepare for the employment market to come.

Five Key Interview Questions You Might Fail

Lets take a step away from arranging a good CV and look at other facts to be considered while attempting to land a new job. In this crucial part of getting a new job, interviews, a great CV writer might still fail.

Lets assume you are a invited for an interview after applying one of the recent job vacancies in Nigeria. Apart from the fact that your CV is your first point of marketing, it doesn't guarantee you a job if you fail answering interview questions. From a recent survey carried out, I was able to compile 5 most asked questions that interviewers will for sure not forget to ask even though most job-seekers pray they skip.

Read on and learn how to give appropriate answers to these questions lest you come across them in a job interview.

Question 1: Where do you see yourself five years from now?

Possible Answer: Every employer looks out for a long term commitment & hence this question. Please reassure your interviewer that you’re looking for a long-term commitment because the role is something you have been looking out for.

For instance: I am very much interested in making a long-term commitment with your esteemed Organization. Considering what you’ve told me about this position, it’s something that I have been looking out for & are aligned to my skill set & I am sure of making visible contribution to
company’s overall growth objectives. I am confident if I do my work with par excellence, opportunities will open up for me. It’s always been the same in my career, and I’m confident I’ll have similar opportunities here as well.

Question 2: Tell me about a situation when your work was criticized.

Possible Answer:  Start by emphasizing the positive feedback you’ve been getting all through your career and then try answering this tricky question.
No one is perfect and you always welcome suggestions on how to improve your performance. After this, give an example of a learning experience from early days in your career and relate it to the ways it has helped you. This would demonstrate that you have learned from your experience.
Another way to answer this question would be to describe your intention to broaden your master of an area of growing importance in your field.

For example, this might be a computer program you’ve been meaning to sit down and learn… a new management technique you’ve read about…or perhaps attending a seminar on some cutting-edge branch of your profession.
The key here is to focus on something not essential to your brilliant performance but has added another dimension to your knowledge.

Question 3: Can you work under pressure?

Possible Answer:  Absolutely. Prove it with an example from your earlier organization where the project/task was completed within stipulated time frame under immense pressure.

Question 4: What makes you angry?

Examples: If you are a reserved person:
Possible Answer:  “I’m an even-tempered and positive person by nature, and I believe this helps me a great deal in keeping my department running smoothly. I believe in communicating clearly what’s expected, getting people’s commitment aligned towards those goals, and then following up
continuously to check progress.”
“If anything is going off track, I want to know about it in early days. If, after that kind of open communication and follow up, someone isn’t getting the job done, I’ll want to know why. If there’s no good reason, then I’ll get impatient and angry…and take appropriate steps from there.
If you are feisty by nature:
“You know what makes me angry? People who (the fill in the blanks with the most objectionable traits for this type of position)…people who don’t pull their own weight, who are negative, people wa particular manner ho lie…etc.”

Question 5: What was the toughest decision you ever had to make?

Possible Answer:  Be prepared with a good example, explaining why the decision was difficult…the process you followed in reaching it…the courageous or effective way you carried it out…and the great results.

Hope you have been able to learn a thing or two. When next you go for an interview, please arm yourself with these answers so you won't be caught off-guard.

Happy New Year!!!!