Choosing & Building The Right & Successful Career Elikem Nutifafa Kuenyehia Corporate Lawyer & Management Consultant Adjunct Lecturer, GIMPA

Objectives of this session To assist you in making decisions about career choices Give you confidence to make those decisions Convince you that its OK if you don’t have an answer now. Give you an opportunity to ask questions

My Agenda Housekeeping & Preliminaries Putting It In Perspective Setting the Context Choosing….. A Personal Journey About You …..A Bit About Building A Plan to make it happen

Housekeeping & Preliminaries 45 minutes? Can’t exhaust topic… …..Rather provoke thought Interactive….. …..BUT ONE conversation only Ask….No Question is dumb

Quiz Where do most people aged between 26 and 55 spend the most time? AT WORK!!!!!!

Putting It In Perspective It is a jungle out there Not enough put in career development “Figuring out” some of the Questions gives you an edge Saves a lot of heartache later

Trends in University Enrolment ( )

Getting On One Page Choosing vs. Building Right Career vs. Successful Career Career vs. Job

Choosing

Factors influencing Choice Ability Money/Perks Status Challenge Location/Travel Family Desire to serve Personal Development Potential

Factors influencing Choice Job Security Competition Opportunity (Apparent) Lack of Options

Choice Implies Options Best time to be Ghanaian? New opportunities & Career Options Employers Market?

Is there a right career? Different Strokes For Different Folk

A Personal Journey Pilot, Entrepreneur, Doctor, Below Average student. But Science? Being blown along Eureka….and Standing up Falling in love Success? Law. Not Law. Then Law Again But when I grow up?

So? Corporate Lawyer Management Consultant Lecturer in GIMPA Entrepreneur & Investor Awarded Millennium Excellence/Newmont Ghana ‘Young Professional of the Year 2006” Co-author, Fortcoming book on entreperneurship Non-Executive Director – Metropolitan Insurance, Chase Petroleum, CreativeHub, Advisory Board – SYOBL,PaceSetters Mentor – Google Begin Believe Become

So? Confused? Should I have been a doctor instead? What do YOU think?

My Golden Rules It is YOUR DECISION Without Passion don’t even think of it Play to your strengths Excellence Must Come As Standard –Be the best that you can be. At WHATEVER you decide to do. There isn’t a ‘correct or right’ way It’s a journey. Not a race…… ……AND its OK to change your mind

Typical Story? Or Just Plain Mad? More Typical than Mad 1960 : 6 companies over working life Today : Over 10 companies over working life Tomorrow?

A young person entering the workforce in 2000…has almost no chance of working for the same company even a decade hence. – Peter Drucker Tomorrow’s typical career will be neither linear nor continous, nor will it always be upwards. Instead, one’s life will take more of a zig-zag course – Tom Horton

YOU?

About You Understand your strengths & Play to them Determine your weaknesses Figure out your interests & passions –Extra-curricular activities give clue –Passions, Interests, Causes –Past experiences

About You Ask yourself some key questions What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? How do I perform? How do I like to work? What are my values? What do I like/dislike? Where do I belong? What is important to me? What motivates me?

The Long Range Plan Preparation should start long in advance. Focus on getting the best grades that you can. Participate in extra curricular activities/Hold leadership positions. Network and tap into your social contacts. Based on “You” analysis, research jobs or industries you may/may not be suitable for. Start wide: Get as much understanding as you can of different professions, jobs and industries.

The Medium Range Plan Speak to as many people as possible –Set up informational interviews –different companies/industries & different functional managers. Get some work experience (even unpaid) during your long vacation. –Use opportunity to learn about relevant industry and job opportunities. Leverage the internet Read & Ask Questions

The Short term plan Begin to narrow down the jobs/industries/companies you are interested in. Set up informational interviews in the company or companies you are interested in. Attend recruiting events. Read newspapers especially Graphic and look in job sections.

The Common Denominator Evidence of achievement. Ability to get along with people. Creativity. Initiative. Communication skills – written and oral. Humility. Integrity. Interpersonal skills. ‘FIT’

Cannot Predict The Future But you can prepare for it –Making the most of university –Excellence (or the best that you can be) as standard –Constant Learning & Renewal –Grabbing All The Opportunities you can get

Building Long term focused Incremental experiences Kiss many frogs before your prince Really, there is no rush Foundation is most key Set a career goal No substitute for Hard work…Never Killed anyone ‘On the Job” Experiences Courses? Managers/Line Supervisors? Mentors? Books/Internet

Something called FIT Strengths Passions People Long term focused

Some Tools….. Personal Brand Equity Personal Board of Directors Plan-On-A-Page And A Good Dose of Common Sense

Tom Peter’s Words 1.Mastery! (Best/Absurdly Good at Something!) 2.“Manage” to Legacy (All Work = “Memorable”/“Braggable” WOW Projects!) 3. A “USP”/Unique Selling Proposition 4. Rolodex Obsession 5. Entrepreneurial Instinct (A sleepless … Eye for Opportunity! 7. Play a dozen parts simultaneously, from Chief Strategist to Chief Cleaner) 8. Sense of Humor 9. Comfortable with Your Skin (Bring “interesting you” to work!) 10. Intense Appetite for Technology 12. Passion for Renewal, Learning & Development 13. Execution Excellence! From Tom Peters New Workplace survival rules

Putting it simply Passion Self awareness and confidence Relationships & Participation in the wider community Knowledge & Continuous Growth A Plan Integrity & Humility

Closing Thoughts …The choice should come from your heart. Ultimately, you are the one who has to get up every morning and enjoy what you are doing, so make sure it matters to you - Dave Thomas. Founder of Wendy’s

The End Questions?

Follow Up Questions May follow up questions to: