OpEd

I thought that photocopy machine had a bad luck, says a veteran job seeker

Daniel graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of (……..). Before receiving his degree, he spent a year applying for jobs using a transcript but, his applications went fruitless. He thought the employers looked at his transcript as a forged one.

A year later, he received his degree and he felt happy, thinking that he would then get a job. He would apply for any job, including those jobs meant for females only. When asked, he said he was desperate for a job.

He would quarrel with a copyist and shifts to another one, thinking that this would be his last quarrel with a degreeless copyist who has no paper to put into an envelope and drop it in a certain office for job. He would again quarrel with his new copyist and shift to another one.

That time, he was too frustrated to tell the copyist that he was even the cause of his failure to get a job because people with bad luck are also infectious like those with Ebola virus. They quarreled as if they had a 5-year-old enmity but, the truth was that the copyist himself was a graduate in Business Administration who has searched for a job for years but failed to get it and that, he had opened a small computer centre to make him cope with life.

The two were actually veteran job seekers but, they did not know that until Daniel had no money for photocopying and that, he decided to come to his old copyist to apologize and if his apology finds space, he would beg for free photocopying or would photocopy and bring money next time. Both came to know one another and forgave themselves, saying they are people facing a common challenge.

If you are searching for the best place where shoes are repaired, do not hesitate to consult Mr. Daniel. He had taken his shoes for reparation more than 10 times as footing destroyed the soles. Daniel had moved across Juba, checking for advertisements here and there, and that, he might help the government in estimation of the population.

He did this for 6 years and the search continued. He would sometimes think that the employers advertise jobs when they have already secured the employees. Sometimes, he could pass some stages of an interview and that used to give him hope that things would work well this time. But, to his dismay, he received a call that ‘we are sorry to inform you that we have not taken you for the job’ but keep applying.

Daniel is an intellectual who never gives up whatever the case. He was not discouraged by the report that 27% of youth are unemployed and the likelihood of this percentage increasing is high. He kept applying for any job advertised until 2022 when he got a manual job with a construction company. Imagine an economist doing the work of an engineer. It is like a Fire Brigade officer investigating a criminal case.

Though underpaid, Daniel puts food on his table now and rumours have it that he has bought for himself a plot of land. That is amazing. Daniel then realised that it was not a bad luck from the photocopy machine which prevented him from getting a job but, it was the scarcity of jobs and manipulation of a few jobs present.

Employment opportunities are actually too few but, with persistent application, you may secure a job. However, the government should work hard to flatten the plateau of the ever-growing rate of unemployment.

The author is a medical student, University of Juba.

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