What are your greatest strengths?

The job market in Kenya is really competitive. One has to put the best foot forward in order to get the coveted job. For any one position, there are going to be thousands of applications. So, how then does someone make sure that they are selected for the job? The interview process is one of the most rigorous process in staff selection. One of the most common questions that is asked by employers and recruiters is “What is your greatest strength?”

TRAPS: This question seems like a softball lob, but be prepared. You don't want to come across as egotistical or arrogant. Neither is this a time to be humble.

BEST ANSWER: You know that your key strategy is to first uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs before you answer questions. And from Question 1, you know how to do this.

Prior to any interview, you should have a list mentally prepared of your greatest strengths. You should also have, a specific example or two, which illustrates each strength, an example chosen from your most recent and most impressive achievements.

You should, have this list of your greatest strengths and corresponding examples from your achievements so well committed to memory that you can recite them cold after being shaken awake at 2:30AM.

Then, once you uncover your interviewer's greatest wants and needs, you can choose those achievements from your list that best match up.

As a general guideline, the 10 most desirable traits that all employers love to see in their employees are:

1. A proven track record as an achiever...especially if your achievements match up with the employer's greatest wants and needs.

2. Intelligence...management "savvy".

3. Honesty...integrity...a decent human being.

4. Good fit with corporate culture...someone to feel comfortable with...a team player who meshes well with interviewer's team.

5. Likeability...positive attitude...sense of humor.

6. Good communication skills.

7. Dedication...willingness to walk the extra mile to achieve excellence.

8. Definiteness of purpose...clear goals.

9. Enthusiasm...high level of motivation.

10. Confident...healthy...a leader.

The above rules are of course not the rule in themselves but they provide a general guideline. It would be suicidal to cram word for word answers below and then regurgitate them to the employer. 

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.

Graduation gown

 This is a career ebook that is dedicated to all Kenyans. In particular, prospective applicants to Universities and colleges, high school students, Parents and career coaches, and HR Professionals will find the ebook useful. The ebook has three chapters, chapter one is answers to frequently asked questions, questions that many readers of my two blogs, Kenyans Campus Blog and www.kenya.47.com asked. The answers are elaborate and are particularly geared to the Kenyan education and job market environment.

Chapter two of the ebook explains about forty courses in detail, and at the end, the reader will have a deep knowledge of many careers, and in turn, he/she will make an informed choice of their career. It is worth noting that many students do not know which careers to select, and instead rely on peer pressure, pressure from parents or societal pressure. Rarely do students ever consider their unique strengths and weaknesses, their personalities, their abilities and talents. In reading through the ebook, I hope the reader will have a firm knowledge of the many careers available in the Kenyan job market.

Chapter three deals with application to US and UK Universities. As many students are enrolling in the US and UK Universities, they will need information on how to get scholarships to US and UK Universities.

Finally, the last chapter is on how one can get scholarships to several Universities, both in Kenya and abroad.  A number of scholarships are listed.

And finally, I wish to thank God, my family members, my friends, the readers of my two blogs, www.kenya47.com and www.kenyancampos.blogspot.com (Kenyan Campus blog) for their continued support. Without you, this ebook wouldn’t have been possible. 

Ahsante Sana

C.O.O Mabinda

Author of the Kenyan career ebook and Editor

Kenyan Campus Blog and www.kenya47.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON CAREER                                           3

                                                                                               

CHAPTER TWO

COURSES EXPLANATION AND WHERE ONE CAN WORK              43

CHAPTR THREE

APPLYING TO UNIVERSITIES ABROAD                                                           74

CHAPTER FOUR

SCHOLARSHIPS                                                                                                 79

KENYAN CAREER EBOOK :EXPLORE YOUR HEIGHTS; BE EMPOWERED.       

For enquiries call 0725026264

At just kshs.150, get your 82 page ebook.    

Payment by MPESA to 0725026264                                                     

Is Kenya really ready for a drawn out war in Somalia?

Kenyan troops have advanced into Somalia and many have questioned whether Kenya has the expertise and financial resources to stay in Somalia that long. To be sure, the capture of tourists in Kenya made the situation worse. The tourism sector is very sensitive and any small negative news item on a country drives down the tourist numbers. Perhaps, the major reason that Kenya entered into Somalia was to safeguard the economic interests of the country.

The combination of the forces from Kenya, the Somalia transitional government and the African Union forces are sure to prove hard for the al shabab forces to capture. Perhaps, the military aid from USA and NATO countries would come in handy.   

Why do Kenyans shun self employment?

Many Kenyans, young people especially, would gladly give a wide berth to self employment. It is considered risky, and very unpredictable. To many people, those who are self employed are not in any way knowledgeable or never went to school much. While it is true that many self employed people do struggle, there are those who are flourishing, and it would be foolhardy to ignore them. When one says that would want to study a business, many friends and relatives try to discourage them from doing so. It takes a very courageous person to go against that grain. 

In other totally unrelated news

The exchange of words between Sunday nation columnist Murithi Mutiga and self confessed conservative right winger, R.A Massie Bloomfield was intriguing. Mr. Bloomfield, one of the few Kenyans of British decent, has always advocated the virtues of colonialism, and that we should be thankful of the British values it ingrained on us. On the other hand, writers like Muirthi Mutiga, Gitau Warigi, Philip Ochieng, have been quick to counter that, and have in fact pointed out that Africans could have developed as a result of slow evolution of the cultural process, and not necessarily in contact with the western powers.

In a way, Mr. Bloomfield’s arguments reminds me of a former Labor MP who in 2005, had called for Africa recolonisation, so as to reinforce the once noble British virtues that had been lost in her former colonies. In a letter on Sunday Nation yesterday, Mr. Bloomfield praised Zambia for having a white Vice President, and the Vice President said that the clean hospitals, staffed schools, efficient roads had rightly or wrongly been referred to as the white man’s standards. 

Aside from Mr.Bloomfield’s arguments, how is it that the African population finds itself as an underclass, in whichever country. Even in Kenya, the economic classes are still structured along race lines. It would be a miracle to find a white or even Asian person in a low or a middle class estate. In the western hemisphere, Haiti, a country that is predominantly black, is the poorest nation. So poor that a French historian some time back described it’s poverty and string of misfortunes as being God’s punishment for the country after it was the first slave country to rebel against the masters, in this case, against the French in 1804. In Rio De Janeiro as in New York, in Mauritius as in South Africa, in Kenya as in Ghana, in Ecuador as in Bolivia, the blacks still constitute the underclass.

Some people, such as the Normans, a section of Christianity, suggest that the seeming low development of the ‘African’ might be something to do with a curse; I think they subscribe to the story of Seth in the Bible, one of Noah’s sons I believe, who watching Noah, his father drunk, laughed and was then cursed by Noah. He was told that he would serve the other races all his life. In fact, if I’m not wrong, this was one of the basis for slavery, which even some church ministers in the 16th through the 19th century had supported, since it was biblically correct. In fact, one of the first slaves to be captured from the Congo region was taken to serve some catholic priests in Portugal in the 1500s.  Others, such as Nobel laureate and discoverer of DNA James Watson argue it could be something to do with the low IQ of Africans while others still argue that it could be just a process of evolution, that great empires come and go, and at this time in history, it is just time for Africans to be the underclass, but hopefully some time in the future, they will get to be at the top.

Though Afro centrists such as Murithi Mutiga and Philip Ochieng would love to be optimistic, the situation for the African at the moment is grim. So much so that a group of Sierra Leone youth, would have preferred the British to have stayed another 100 or so years. They wouldn’t mind jumping into a slave boat if it came to the shores of West Africa. Not even the efforts of former Ghanaian President John Kuffour, who initiated the building of the first slave school at the School of African and Oriental studies in London would make such youth change their mind.  

As popular comedian Chris Rock likes to say, An African has to fly to get the same things that the other races get just by walking. In his neighborhood in Alpine New jersey, there are just four black people, Mary J Blige, Eddie Murphy, himself, and a fourth one who is also a star, but I have forgotten his name. In fact, his was one of bemusement, noting that his neighbor was just a fuc***ing dentist, while he had won so many Grammy awards to be awarded. The black dentist would have to invent teeth to live in the same neighborhood as him.
**Just a thought** 

Can Kenya join the list of emerging economy countries?

Almost anyone in the economic circles has heard of the term the “BRICS” countries. Put simply, these are the emerging economy countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These are countries that are experiencing fast economic growths and are lifting many of their citizens out of poverty. For instance, a country like China has lifted hundreds of millions of its citizens out of poverty in the past twenty or so years. As Kenya seeks to develop and morph into the Vision 2030 program, we seem fixated on copying the Asian Tigers and the so called BRIC countries. But can the economy really develop that much, in the same way that the BRIC countries develop. What is really needed to develop the economy develop at such a staggering rate?

Some economists suggest that we adopt a more service oriented economy, where we have a huge comparative advantage. We could then provide services such as software and small jobs outsourcing, and other back office operations. With highly educated workforce, that can communicate well in English, then we could make some significant gains and really approach the BRIC countries that we so much aspire to reach.  

Mo Ibrahim Prize- Where did Kenya rank?

So, finally, the Mo Ibrahim Prize has been announced, and the winner is the former President of Cape Verde. In the last two years, the prize was not awarded as the prize committee did not find any suitable candidate. The first winner of the prize was former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano, while the 2008 one was awarded to former President of Botswana, Mr. Festus Mogae.

Kenya has been ranked position 23 overall, quite higher than the regional average of position 46. Quite clearly, Kenya has many steps to take before it can compete with the top African countries such as Mauritius, Cape Verde, South Africa and Botswana. Hopefully, the prize will motivate the African Presidents not to stay in power forever, and show them that there is life outside of power.  

Will Uganda begrudge Kenya for spoiling its African Nations cup ambitions?

It was an anticipated match, as Uganda needed a win to qualify while Kenya needed a win and hope that Angola would not win their match. So, after the tight match ended in a draw, both Kenya and Uganda failed to qualify for the African cup of Nations, as Angola paved through at the last minute.

Of course, Uganda now has a grudge with Kenya, and in an international station, one could hear how Ugandans were so upset that Kenya had blocked their bid to reach the Africa Nations Cup finals. For quite some time, there has been rivalry over superiority on the East African stage. First, the Migingo Island is a thorny issue that is yet to be resolved. Secondly, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has often not hid his ambitions of being the leader of the new East Africa federation once it becomes effective. Could the match merely have been a fight for supremacy on the East African stage?

Will internet commerce really take root in Kenya?

Internet commerce is growing in leaps and bounds throughout the world. The success of such internet giants as Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Amazon has made many people to believe that the internet is really cash minting machine. However, many people discover that making money on the internet is not as easy as it seems.

For Kenyans especially, internet commerce is something that will take a long time to take root. For instance, many Kenyans do not trust making payments with credit cards. The internet penetration is also pitifully low, which means that a large number of potential customers are outside the radar. To fully make ecommerce to be viable, local entrepreneurs need to develop content and business solutions tailored towards the local market. They also need to develop a clear payments system, which both parties can trust. Only then can we hope to see some kind of an ecommerce revolution in the country.

Business news- Are they are boring as they are made to?

If one has been a regular reader or viewer of Kenyan business news, they will realize that few people watch business news. The moment business news starts, that is the time to change the channel, or to do other engaging activities that require less time on TV. How is it that few people are ever really interested in business news?

One of the reasons that many people find business news boring is the tendency for the news to be very analytical, and removed from the everyday reality of the average person. The business news in newspapers are also hardly interesting, and the few business publications in the country are struggling to stay afloat. Some media houses around the globe have made it compulsory for business journalists to undergo a course in fiction and creative writing, so as to make the business news more engaging. If the business anchors/journalists can make the stories to be more connected to people, to be more emotional and relate to the feelings of people, then they would have to radically change the content and angle of business news.  

Is Kenyan University education only affordable to the rich these days?

The number of Universities in Kenya has been increasing rapidly. There are now close to 30 or so Universities and University Colleges. The high number of students that graduate out of high school ensure that the higher education sector is one of the most lucrative sectors to invest in.

However, over the years, university education in the country has been skewed towards the rich. For instance, in many public Universities, the number of parallel students has exceeded that of regular students, as the universities now rely on the fees from the parallel programs to supplement the cost of running the university. The private universities are equally as expensive, which means that only rich students can access them. The regular students have over the past few years tended to come from the high cost national, provincial and private schools, which means that in effect, the poor students are still being locked out. So, whereas education was previously a tool for some to escape poverty and balance the opportunities, these days, education serves to perpetuate the large social economic divide between the rich and the poor.

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Are African Universities lagging behind?

Many Universities have sprout out in Africa, in a bid to train more human resources professional for the continent. Even as the number of graduates and universities continues to rise, one should ask whether the universities are really producing quality and innovative graduates. Are the graduates really able to compete on the world stage? Can the graduates really carry out first class research, can they start world beating companies, can they make first class professionals and executives?

Whilst at independence there were universities that were as equipped as those in the West, the quality in the universities has been declining over the years. Many African governments have abandoned the higher education sector as they concentrate on the basic education. This has partly been helped by donors who are willing to finance the basic education sector but are reluctant to finance the higher education sector.  The overcrowded lecture halls, the inadequate lab facilities, poorly paid lecturers, a rote learning curriculum removed from the everyday African life, few jobs after graduation are just some of the factors that have hindered the growth of the higher education sector.