I was chatting with a friend recently, when she told me her frustration in job hunting and as we were discussing on how many resume she had sent, it took me back to when I was applying for jobs and one particular interview I did that was like no other, when I reminded her she laughed and told me, “kai Obehi! you have done some ridiculous things sha” and I answered saying ” you call it ridiculous but I call it surviving in Nigeria because the hustle here is real.”

I have to tell you about this my interview but before then let me just tell you where it began… I graduated from university with a good grade and immediately after service year, I went for my Masters, I could pass for an Efico and back in my undergraduate days my classmate called me scholar. After my masters, I came back to Nigeria to join the man of my dreams and in the process get a job…(I also finished masters with a good grade).

I had high hopes and dreams on the job I would get, afterall in my opinion, I was more than qualified. Then I started applying. First feeling so fly, I told myself I will not work in a bank. After the first one month, I adjusted and applied to almost every bank in lagos. The reason I say almost every bank in lagos is because, I can remember one day while Mrpossible and I were taking a drive during our dating days, he started calling different banks and asking if I had applied to them and all he called, I had applied. The only one that called me, you should have been there…. See the queue, my exam ended 5 o’clock and some people were still there waiting to be attended to.. lol

One day, I finally applied for this job in the oil and gas industry and by the time they invited me for an interview, I was four months married and four months pregnant…hehehe. When we read the letter, they asked that we dress in a casual dress, you need to see me and Mrpossible looking through my clothes to find any cloth that will not reveal my pregnancy. We finally had to buy and I looked good in it. A night before the day, Mrpossible taught me how to answer every question on earth, the guy likes to teach sha, you better know that throughout the teaching I was harmed with pen and paper, writing all what he said and silently wishing there was an option to interview the spouse instead of me. After he taught, he would ask me questions and I would have to drop the book to answer…Teacher! I could see him enjoying the moment and finally by 3am we slept.

I had a bath, dressed up, ate and prayed I don’t fall sick. Mrpossible took me for the interview. The things needed for the interview were:

As I got in with my documents and all, I silently hoped for the best and was prepared to blow their minds based on the previous night preparation. They called us in on time and my first surprise was that it was a group interview. As soon as we entered the interview room after introduction, one very bubbly guy said we should dance. I was like is this a test or what? Before I knew it, the two others by my side started dancing and next thing, the guy said we should stop, maybe a song would help us. He picked the razzest Nigerian song “Knack e akpako” and there was a part of the song that went “oya knack am, knack am, knack am” First of all, I was like ‘there is no way I am dancing to this crap’ chai! you need to see how the others were dancing and before I knew it, my hustling mentality kicked in and I rocked mehn! Then the music stopped just when I was getting my groove on and the real interview continued, I was kind of nervous through it all, answered the questions that were directed towards me and just plastered a smile on my face,I knew they could tell I was nervous due to the tone of my voice. After everything I dashed towards the car and my husband welcomed me with a grin and asked how the interview was and I replied “Just drive!” I wanted to run from the place knowing that the interview did not go as planned and the more he tried to pacify me, the more I wanted to cry….loll

I was called for the second interview anyways and this time, the catch was to dress in your traditional attire. chai! These people will know that it is not just overfeeding that is making my tummy protrude through these clothes. In order to cover my tummy, I had to tie wrapper to the interview and dress like a typical Edo girl with my beads and this time there was no one to drop me, so I used a cab man, you could tell the guy was amazed! He stole a glance twice and asked where I was going all beaded up (I used to have a picture but not sure where it is). When I told him I was attending an interview, he kept on asking questions. It was simply ridiculous and when I got there, you need to see Fulanis, Tivs, Yorubas all in their costumes and attires with igele sef. I noticed my tummy was not as hidden as it should be, finally the interview was over and this time, though a great interview, I was not called back.

Tell me about the craziest thing you have done to get a job?