The details below is an excerpt of discussions with a Nigerian graduate, Ups and Downs in achieving his dreams and what he plans to do.
You'd learn that life isn't a fairy-tale all the time. A few failures here and there will always come by. Just keep pushing. Read on and enjoy


Tell me about yourself?
My name is Emmanuel Hawke. I was born in June, 1989. That makes me 27 years old. I live in Lagos, Nigeria with my parents.

What do you do for a living?
I currently work for an FMCG in Nigeria. I sell milk and yogurt for them.

Is that why you still live with you parents? Pay not enough to get an apartment of your own?
Not really. Given the economic condition, pay seems decent. Just feel I could save a few bucks on rent, bills and food by hanging out in their house for a while. Been some good while though.

Is that what you’ve always wanted to do?
To sell milk and yogurt! Of course not.

So tell me, what was your dream job growing up?
Well, I never really fancied the sciences in junior school and had fallen in love with mathematics and business studies. So it was easy for me to tell the world that I was going to be an accountant. What did an accountant mean to me at that age? Working in a bank and counting so much money. I guess that was allowed at that time. I really didn’t know jack of what an accountant did. I was between 11 and 12.

When I got into Senior School, I discovered a new love called Economics. It was like the best thing that ever happened to me. The theories, models, logics and generalisations were so fascinating that I started thinking in like manner. I guess the fact that it had a lot of maths, tables and graphs interested me more. By this time, I wanted to be an economist. I wanted to study the economy, how it worked, how it could be influenced and how I can influence it.

Hmmm, so I expect you must have aced Economics and Mathematics all through senior school?
Well… I enrolled for my first Senior external exam, G.C.E, just at the start of my S.S. 3. And guess how well I did. I got at least a credit in all important courses. However, except in the one I claimed to love the most, Economics. I think it was a D7.

That’s quite interesting. What was your reaction? How did it feel?
It was quite surprising at first. My friends and even my Economics teacher were shocked to say the least. Funny thing was, the subject areas I didn’t think I’d do well -e.g. government which I disliked because of the many tales and story-telling, advantages and disadvantages kinda thing- I passed.

Well, when I thought back to how the exam went and what I wrote, I immediately recognised where I’d flunked it. It was not a poor marking; it was me doing the wrong thing. It was my fault and I took responsibility.
Anyway, I sat for the May/June WAEC where I passed all my subjects and was good to pursue my dreams to study Economics and hopefully become the CBN governor when I grow up.

So, did you go on to Study Economics?
Sigh… I actually did at the end of the day. I didn’t have my first UTME result released for obvious reasons.

Sorry bro, the reasons are not obvious. What happened?
It was just a month or so before I wrote my WAEC exam. My parents had registered me at a special centre and the whole special centre thing was strange. I got into the exam hall late because I was waiting for answers. Even when I got to my sit and was given my question paper and shading sheet (OMR form). It all seemed weird. The invigilators eyes seemed to be affixed on me and I practically didn’t know what I was doing. I was a naïve brat thrown into a pool of cheating. I think my paper was ceased for the bulk of the exam period before it was given back about 20 minutes before the exam ended. I think I cried all through the evening on getting home. I made up my mind that was the last time such was going to happen to me.

Hmmm, I’m sure a lot of persons can relate to that. So, what next?
I wrote the UTME the following year, applying to study Economics at the University of Ibadan. I think I did pretty well. Not certain of the score now but it was around 256. I started the admission process and provided my WAEC result to be scored alongside. Overall, my score wasn’t high enough to be considered for economics. I had to switch to Geography to make it through.

However, I wrote another UTME where I got the chance to study Economics and Statistics at the University of Benin. I didn’t graduate top of my class, although I came out in the Second Class Upper Division. I was beaming with energy and excitement. Ready to take over the world. Or did I?

****Continued****
How did the Job search after school go, what were you looking out for?

I knew what I wanted to do when I left the university. But I wasn’t sure of how I was going to get to it. I didn’t have much of a mentor in my school days. So everything I wanted to be spanned from what I thought, experienced and my relationship with friends. I never wanted to be like my lecturers who took up lecturing from day 1 but I believed I’d lecture someday. After I have applied myself in the real world, after haven understood the reality of the workings of the economy, after I have been able to put theories to test and influenced one or two factors in the economy. I believed I’d be more confident when I talk economics or teach economics if I experienced or influenced it actively.

The closest thing people talk about after school was getting professional qualifications. All I heard mostly about was how ICAN (accounting professionals) was hot cake and the way to go. But I knew I didn’t want to be much of an accountant. A role as an economic or financial analyst would best set me off. So I thought of the stock market, working in an investment banking firm. That was how I enrolled with the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers just before I went for the National Youth Service in 2012. With 2 level exams to write, I came out with the best result in the Level 1 examination and was best in a course in the level 2 exams. By October 2014 I was a qualified member and by October 2015, I became an Associate Chartered Stockbroker.


Impressive, I’m sure a lot of stockbroking firms and investment banks would have been attracted to your feat?
Hmmm. My brother. It’s been one year since I became a Chartered Stockbroker. Recall you earlier asked what I do for a living.

Yes, you mentioned you sell milk and yogurt? Well that’s fascinating. How did that come by?
Truth is, I wasn’t the very confident person. I was timid/shy and didn’t seem like someone who was sure of himself. I did not do so well to impress a lot of interviewers. It got to a point that I started thinking if there was something wrong with me. I started thinking I wasn’t good enough. I certainly realised that knowing the stuff wasn’t all that mattered. Showing it confidently was. In fact, I thought confidence was all that mattered. What one knew was secondary.

I remember the very first company I applied for as a graduate trainee, I think. It was around February and March 2012, Renaissance Capital. This was just the perfect organisation I needed to start my career in. I wrote my first aptitude test and unsurprisingly, I failed it. I was very disappointed. I did my home-work afterwards, studied GMAT questions and answers. That would be the only aptitude test I think I have flunked till date. I went onto interview stages with KPMG, PWC and Grant Thortern (Audit firms), Access Bank, Nestle, UAC foods, Diageo to name a few. Well, a couple I missed out on due to time constraint while other online interviews I flunked big time.
And you know what, in every moment I advanced through the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, I was updating my Resume and sending it to mail addresses of every Stockbroking firm and investment bank I knew. In the 3 years between 2012 and 2015, I never got an invite. I was too timid to take my Resume by hand. I assumed it wouldn't change anything (Don't ASS-U-ME). Oh, sorry. I got one invite on the day I was to resume a new role at my current organisation,.....

Hmmm. How long have you been working with .....?

Hmmm. How long have you been working with them?
I have been working for 3 years. I Joined her in August 2013. I can say a lot about my stay in this firm. Even before it. I had just gotten a regret mail from PWC for a graduate trainee role. Regret mails are the most devastating mails any fresh graduate will find hard to comprehend. I got a text message from them saying they were recruiting Retail Development Managers. I googled to find out exactly what the role was about. My dear, it was about selling. I who couldn’t sell myself to finance people in the last year, how do I sell myself to sales people.

I just pepped myself to go do the test, with some encouragement from my elder sister (i also had an elder brother and a younger sister) and see if i can improve myself through interview sessions. By this time, I had become over-confident in test matters, interviews were the big walls. All of a sudden, I became a bit motivated during the interview session. I wasn't scared this time that I would do poorly. Somehow, because I wasn't interested much in the job, I felt I had nothing to lose. I was just bent on trying to sell to sales people. If I could sell myself to these guys, then I could sell myself to anybody, I told myself. I could just do anything? Shy and Timid Emmanuel Hawke.

On my interview deck, I didn’t still think I sold myself well. Up until then, I had never actively sold anything to anyone. Selling was the last thing I ever thought I’d do in my life. In fact, selling did not make the list. And when the list was being read about those who qualified, I was damn shocked that my name was mentioned. But you know what; it was all I needed to do at that point. Learn how to sell, build confidence. That would be the beginning of my career in the sales world. Selling milk and yogurt.

Note: Of the three panelists, there was only one person who believed I stood a chance and I still tend to think that person gave me this chance I got. (You need 2 humans to believe in you- You and 1 person on the panel.)

How were you able to cope, there sure must have been some Nostalgic feeling, given the massive drift?
If you know what i mean? From introvert to by force extrovert. From waiting for people to start conversations to initiating conversations? Seriously, how did it all go? As it seems you have survived 3 years selling milk and yogurt.

Pls I need kpmg past questions urgently....someone should pls help me out. Send to my mail... oyinlola.owolabi@yahoo.com