Today Client told me she’s applying for a position in the private sector even though she is from the public sector..

Client: I’m applying for this job but I have mixed feelings.. They are asking in the application why I’m interested in that position…I have no idea what to say..
Me: why are you applying for this job?
Client: I find it quite interesting..
Me: What about it do you find interesting?
Client: I think the private sector also plays an important role.

*question evaded*

Me: So why do you want this job? I can put you in touch with some people, although I’m not sure this is what you want, because I understand you want to work with policies and projects for the country e.g. working for the government or a multilateral organization.

*silence*

Are you applying for just any job you can find?
Sometimes it can get stressful when we’re not getting anywhere with what we want at the first place..
We get sidetracked, and start looking for other possibilities.
In the end, we may end up just wasting our time, because we’ll find it hard to explain why the company should hire us, since we don’t really want it, we won’t be able to get through the first screening, if it’s not what we want at the first place!

And if we decide to branch out, we should be clear about why.

First, be clear about what we want, instead of browsing for what’s available.

Focus on 1 goal, be clear about why and what, then we can think about how to get it, whether it’s applying for vacancies, networking to know where the opportunity is, or maybe even creating the role if it doesn’t exist!

Find what the problem is, then think about ways to solve it! Not running around like a headless chicken different tools when we aren’t clear about what we need the tools for at the first place!

Take driver’s seat of your career now!