Tag: national service postings

Categories
Strategy

Stepping Onto The Corporate Scene: My First Commandments

 After a long and boring wait the national service started. I was asked to come for orientation at the place where I was posted to serve. I showed up with no expectations because I hate disappointments. I did leave with a few guiding principles I will share with you.

  1. Work as a Team

No matter the job you do, you are a part of a process and hence you must work with your team. You must play your part to ensure the smooth running of whole process to eventually achieve team goals.

Many workers have preceded you at the workplace, and there will be many more when you leave. You can only leave a positive mark when you work as a team and achieve goals.

  1. Be Trustworthy

Can they rely on you to put in your best? National Service is not usually respected because previously the 350 wasn’t always forthcoming. However Service is where you need to show commitment to the task at hand.

You should work efficiently, act honestly, discretely and be able to keep confidential information CONFIDENTIAL.

  1. Be a Business Person

 

This must be the thing that struck me the most. A business person is one who grows and sustains an enterprise. Make whatever you do your own and have a vested interest.

Yeah, ‘take the work personal’. This may seem silly to some but through it others have broken through.

  1. Be an Ambassador

As long as you are working in a place, you are an unofficial brand ambassador. Anything you do could be used against you or help promote the business. This puts an extra responsibility on your actions, words and reactions. You are expected to carry your brand well. Speak well of the place even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t tell lies though.

Say the positives and keep the rest to yourself.

  1. Grow Through It

No matter how annoying your supervisor may be, there is always a useful lesson to be learnt from them –their invaluable experience. Every bad situation you will face can and will prepare you for the future. There are skills of life you can learn while serving, opportunities to grasp but complaining and complacency will not let you.

 

So the day of orientation ended rather well for me. I am not sure how this year of service will end but I am positive there will be much growth.

For some it is just service and they want their GHc350 for diverse purposes. Though early days, it clearly appears to me that it can be so much more than that if we condition our minds.

Categories
Business featured

Part-Time Jobs you can do during your National Service

So people want to know what small-scale businesses they can start after graduation, when they take their first step in the corporate world as national service personnel. Here are some jobs or businesses you can run on part-time basis, if you’re one of those service personnel or prospective service personnel, or you’re still school.

Writing

You can write posts for blogs or articles for newspapers for a fee. I must remind you that blogs would pay for your articles if they are unique, educative or informative and generally of high quality. You can choose one area where you’re good and submit a few to a reputable blog for free.

If they are interested, then you place a fee on your articles. You may not be able to charge as high as experienced writers who have built and earned powerful reputations of the years. Remember you’re only a beginner now. The more you write the more money you make.

Sell to your Co-workers

If you find yourself in a ‘relaxed’ working environment, you can take advantage of that to initiate some off-site commercial activity with your co-workers. For example, you can sell them shoes, suits, ties, phones and in some cases, deliver them breakfast at a cost. Your margins must be competitive though.

Document your Experiences

Experiences gained during your national service period could be documented into a small book and sold online for prospective service personnel as a guide to their first year in the corporate world. Talk about your good and exciting experiences, the anxieties, your goofs, your faux pas, relationships initiated, collapsed friendships as a result of your busy schedules, and many more.

You’ll be surprised the interest that it would arouse if you properly market the book. And you don’t need to print hard copies if you don’t have the funds. Just sell it online. Experts Like Kwabena Okyire Appianing can help you do that

Your Energy is your Advantage

As a fresh graduate, your older colleagues at work would expect higher levels of energy and sharpness. And yes you can. This sharpness and energy can become a powerful personal asset that colleagues can tap in. For many of them who have other businesses they do on weekends, you’ll come to mind and they’ll surely make you an offer. Many more will recommend you for other part-time jobs.

Monetize your Skills and Hobbies

There’s definitely something you know how to do that not many can do. People often consider them as hobbies, but many people have ridden their hobbies into riches and have built viable businesses around them. Sewing, make-ups, movies, painting, shopping, weaving, sports, cooking and many others can be monetized, rather than just treating them as hobbies.

Make some money while you’re at your hobbies. Start by telling your co-workers what you can do and sell them a service related to it. For instance If you love doing make-ups and you’re good at it, you can do make-ups for them at a fee for occasions like weddings.

[junkie-alert style=”grey”] I have met many national service personnel who complain that their allowance is very small, even though they perform the same or similar tasks at work as their senior colleagues. It’s just a 9 to 12 month period that will soon pass. But you can as well seize the opportunity and increase your earnings, rather than waiting for the period to pass quietly so you can jump onto the regular pay scheme. [/junkie-alert]