Category: Candidate/recruiter

Despite the numerous measures established by law to make companies that practise it, stop the use of mental harassment, this phenomenon is still tolerated in a lot of businesses in Africa. It is important for employees to be well prepared to deal with this issue. Here are some crucial methods to do so…

1.Keep believing in you

It is important to do our best to not lose faith in ourselves when we are facing a situation of psychological harassment. It is not always easy, but it is possible as long as you have control over your emotions. You must adopt a professional conduct and be serein. This attitude is necessary if you do not want to be affected by the stressful behavior or your employer or superior. Do not let the feeling of guilt get over you head. Just tell yourself that you disagree with someone as you would with anyone else in everyday’s life. Don’t let anything throw you off. Keep doing your job perfectly. Maybe you are mistaking your employer’s behavior for harassment. It might not be it actually…Do not hesitate to engage in an adult conversation. You might just realise that you were wrong and that the signs you thought were proof of harassment were actually not.

2. Go to the next level

You initiated a conversation but it did not pay off at the end. You are now 100% sure that the small occasional attacks that you perceived as harassment were actually it. It is time to adopt a more defensive behavior. Don’t keep it to yourself because it might eat you up. If you work in a company with a HR department for example, you can talk to the superior about it. Technically they should have all the tools to handle that situation. If not, talk to other people who might be able to help you.Share you anxiety, so you can at least get it off your chest.

If you happen to have some colleagues who are going through the same situation like you, talk to them about it. Try your best to collect any proof of that psychological harassment. It is not easy, obviously, because psychological harassment is mainly based on a sneaky and insidious verbal and non-formal behavior. Build a file with as much evidences as possible.: emails, texts, doctor prescriptions, pictures. Carefully keep them in case you have to go to court.

4. Think about yourself, Leave your job if needed…

If things stay the same despite all the efforts you are making, consider leaving your job for the sake of your mental health and future career. This extreme solution is not always easy, but it is however the best. There is no point in staying somewhere where you are leaving a psychological hell, start looking for a new job right now. However, whether it is a resignation or a termination on a mutual agreement, don’t rush into an early departure, take the time to mature.

if for example, your manager has been pushing you to the limit, there might be a chance that he accepts to let you go on a mutual agreement. If not then, consider quitting because it is a matter of your well being and your sanity. Get back on your feet and find joy again in your daily work routine, by all means.

Someone once said live off what you love and you will never have to work again. In other words, when we turn our passion into a career , we have the opportunity to mix pleasure with work, and make money at the same time with little effort. This rather idealistic preconception is actually relevant, considering the fact that a lot of workers find their jobs useless. It is the notorious “bullshit jobs”. There are also a lot of people who are affected by the “bore out” syndrome which consists of suffering from being bored at work.

For that reason, according to Oasys firm associate Isabelle Andrè, a lot of people are trying to find some point into their work environment. ” they want to take control of their lives, get the joy back from doing a job they like. Because of that, turning to your passion might end up being the best decision”. So truly finding a career that matches with  your passion is far from being just an idealistic aspiration but rather a reality that most people are concerned with.

However one must admit that doing that is not an easy task because one will need to have enough courage to get out of his comfort zone. You can’t be afraid of having a lower salary or going through a professional retraining with everything that it would include. If you have always dreamed of being a journalist, a pilote, a surgeon, an architect, a movie maker, a dancer, you must do your best to pursue a career that you are passionate about or in a way, follow your dreams.

Be careful, some realism is however needed to help you find a profession, even though passion is an important element. Delphine Boileau-Terrien tells us that before turning to such a professional project, you must keep in mind that: «  passion only is not enough ». In order for that project to be successful, one must take all aspects into consideration ». Age and personal abilities of anyone should not be taken lightly.

For example, it goes without saying that a person who is passionated about medecine, planes, computer science or anything else since he was a little kid or a teenager is already one step above the others when it comes to chosing a major. Therefore according to professional coach Frédérique Debout, «  young people think that they have that energy that allows them to quickly engage to what they like. They have nothing to lose. People in their thirties or forties and fifties have the advantage of being more mature, something that could help them in a project that includes their passion. But on the other side, there might probably be some financial sacrifices that one will have to accept.

That being said, nothing stops you from following your passion and making a career out of it because a passionated person has motivation as an advantage. His passion is his fuel. It is totally possible to build a project based on your passion under the condition however that you follow some important rules.

The African job market is more and more drawing interest in almost all fields of activity. The Chinese aeronautics have set their eyes on the black continent because they are very much aware of the African potential and they are not that popular in western-based airlines.

Considering the fact that China’s aeronautics is growing at a very fast path, it is under the obligation to acquire new markets. Beijing is on a mission to convince Africa to buy civil and commercial planes, since by the way it looks, the Western world has  turned its back on the country.

The Chinese targeting strategy on the African market seems to have been a success since a lot of African countries have bought some models of its MA60, a turboprop with propellers. Cameroun got 3 of them: one for the Army and the 2 others for the Camair-Co airline. Congo and Zimbabwe also use MA60 with 3 models for their respective airlines Air Congo and Air Zimbabwe.

Those planes have been acquired through a marketing strategy known to be popular (buy 2 get 1 free). Therefore MA60 is the first of a list of products that is getting longer and longer. The Asian giant has indeed built C919 with a capacity of 190 passengers, as a way to have diversify in its offers and compete against Boeing B737 and Airbus A320.

However, despite all the efforts that have been put into creating it, Western countries are not interested in trying those new products. So obviously China is going to turn to Africa hoping to show out its skills in civil aeronautics and find potential buyers.

The African sky business is not that powerful but it is paving its way one step at a time with the expansion of some companies like Ethiopian, Kenya Airways or Royal Air Maroc. Most of the African air carrier are in reality regional airlines, that is what make them the perfect target for the Chinese C919.

Well aware of that situation, the Chinese government has already started the construction of the C929 with the objective of breaking the monopoly of the Boeing 777 and 787 and Airbus A350 and A380. The 929 will have a capacity of between 250 and 350 seats. That will allow African airlines to do long-range flights. Basically, one can say that the Africa and China route will definitely know a reinforcement of their trade exchanges in the upcoming years.

People who are a little bit interested in recruitment processes will probably realise just how much recruitment firms and companies are using personality tests in Africa. It is an assessment tool that is often used by HR specialists to check the compatibility of the candidate with the position offered. Basically, personality tests are used as a way to find out if the candidate meets with the needs of the company.

Today, not only are there plenty of personality tests available on the market, but the recruiter also has the opportunity to ask professionals to specifically design some for him. Even though those tests are very popular among recruiters, one can’t help but wonder just how reliable they really are? Should we take them seriously, in other words?

While we can surely admit how meaningful they are in the hiring process we shouldn’t, nonetheless, give them too much importance. It would be simplistic to say that those tools act as a guarantee of a successful hire. A personality test can indeed be used to supplement the judgement of the recruiter but not at any mean replace it as a reliable basis. Therefore the issue is in the bad usage of a personality test. Some recruiters have a tendency of using it as a tool that would serve to replace the human being. Very often, recruiters don’t properly use it.

Beside, the interest and the reliability of personality tests in the hiring process are constantly questioned. Therefore in 2018, a study revealed that french companies are less and less interested in personality tests because of their sneaky side, particularly with the double-edged questions that are sometimes asked.

In 2018 a lot of tests have been used to know more about the personality of the candidates. However, reality shows that those tests have helped indeed recruiters make a decision but for a lot of them, the choice was already made before they even took the test, as a way to validate a subjective intuition or  simply follow a hiring procedure.

Either way, whether they are reliable or not, personality tests in Africa are part of the essential tools that professionals in human resources use.

It is on. The war of talents have officially started. It is not just some speculation anymore, but a genuine reality, around the world. This last few years, the lack of talents has reached a new peak. Employers have been fighting over getting the best profiles on a daily basis  in order to create added value.

Digital and engineering professions are by far the most concerned by this phenomenon. The 2018 edition of the IESF national enquiry- Engineering and Scientist society of France- shows that in france engineers are paid 17% higher than other executives.

it is urgent for all businesses to look for solutions to attract and keep the rare profiles that are in the job market, because they are an important driver of changes in a business place. But how to really do that? Here are some solutions…

Create a new way of hiring 

The time when candidates had to approach the recruiter is long gone now because nowadays it is the recruiter who is in a position when he has to attract the candidate because of the undergoing issue of lack of talents. There are many ways that exist that allow recruiters to do that by interacting with their potential hires. We have the social media for example and chatbots, online forums, joboards, live chats, to name a few. Recruiters who are seeking talents do not hesitate to go as far as creating contents or appealing events for potential hires, to step out of the formal classic hiring method.

Offer an attractive salary

A good salary compensation is certainly the main factor that would make a candidate choose a company from the get go whatever that company is. However, one can’t help but admit that a high fixed or gross salary doesn’t necessarily mean that it is appealing. Therefore,  considering the fact that there is a big hunt for latents, it would be better for companies to be on the top of their game and highlight all their benefit package which would include the number of day off, reduction in working hours, interest and involvement, the creation of a labor union and of any tax-efficient package allowing you to prepare your future. All those benefits will have your company seem attractive to the talents.

Make your company become a real great place to work

A work environment is very crucial for the worker. We noticed that , armchairs and foosballs are now parts of the  companies and that it thanks to the influence of startups. Even better, private gym clubs for the sole use of workers are being the standard in majority of companies. All those innovations are proof of how important is a nice working environment for future colleagues. It is even more important for the young generation. Basically, if as a business you need to be on top of the game considering the talent’s war, the working environment you offer is not something that should be taken lightly.

in a time where Africa is active and opening up to the world, it is crucial for Human Resources to get all the te required qualifications to adjust to international standings. Young African are very much aware of that. For that reason, they take it upon themselves to go and get the appropriate training to fit with the needs of the international companies settling in the continent in search for opportunities. With that in mind, multinationals have finally realized that it was not that smart to come and move in the black continent with men and bags. If that used to be the true for multinationals companies back then, nowadays it seems like old news.

Local recruitment at all levels of the company…

From middle to top management, multinationals companies that are settled in the African continent are now taking chances on local talents because they know that it is a win win situation. Hiring local talents is beneficial in terms of cost and speed whatever the business line is or the wanted profession. Hiring very expensive expats is no longer the way to go for companies who are increasingly looking to hire locally. Most of the time, there are many costs of different types included in the contract of the expat. Housing, the kids school fees, risk allowance related to the security of the hosting country etc are all included.

The “africanisation” of recruitment for a lesser cost 

This last few years, multinationals have been « africanising » their human resources by recruiting the local talents in an effort to avoid paying for all the expenses that come with hiring expats. When questioned about the reason behind that trend, a lot of human resources specialists felt as it had two goals in mind. The first one being the fact that it allowed to benefit from on site talents and save money from hiring costly expats. The second one being the fact that hiring local talents means hiring people who have a better knowledge of the ground,and the economic and social background. All those advantages are vital for each position related to law, marketing or supply chain. Because they are very much aware of that aspect, multinationals companies tend to increasingly hire local talents instead of international workers. Let’s just say that the times where multinationals companies would come settle in Africa with bags and human resources from abroad are long gone.

The new information and communications technology have made life easier for workers who are now more flexible because they don’t have to be present in the actual office to do the work they are asked to do. This revolutionary opportunity commonly known as teleworking is spreading all over the African continent.

Teleworking specifically refers to a particular work organization where you have a professional activity but you are entirely or partly doing it from a remote place. Thanks to the Information and communications technology (internet, cellphone, fax etc)  the work is done outside of the business premises. It can be done from a home, from a telecentre, a satellite office etc.

With a population of 60% of young people, half of them being unemployed, Africa can now reverse the trend by considerably reducing the unemployment rate thanks to teleworking.

This is at least what one of the International Labour Organization’s report on job in Africa confirmed. This report named “relocation and working conditions in Africa” is the first in depth study conducted on teleworking, and includes “spoken”services on one side, like call centers or customers contact centers and administrative services on the other side like finance and accounting, processing and management of computer data, and human resources development.

According to this report, teleworking generally speaking, which include relocation and externalisation of the services of the developed countries to the developing countries thanks to information technologies, created “relatively decent jobs giving the local practices” in Africa.

However, the report asks for an improvement of the teleworking sector in Africa, so it can offer a real decent job in the continent. This advocacy is even more relevant giving the fact that every year, one out of two graduates from one of the hundreds African universities, can’t seem to have a successful professional integration in his area of expertise, or try his luck in Europe where the country as much as the economy are getting less and less welcoming.

Teleworking intends to be a tool that will allow young Africans to benefit from means that would make them grow and prosper in a job market that is more and more opened and international.

Africa could rise to the top of the world job market and be among the best thanks to the burst of teleworking, especially now considering the fact that the world is dealing with a serious lack of qualified multi tasked workers.

Usually, most job seakers face rejection of their job applications for a job that they were however dreaming about. Getting a negative feedback after a job interview is something that all job seakers have experienced before. There are plenty of consequences whether it is deception or lack of confidence, especially when it is something rather frequent. However nothing is lost. Instead of losing hope you should focus on your failures to move forward. The outcome can only be good. Here are some clues to successfully do that.

Update your CV

You are convinced that this job is yours and that your profile is exactly what they are looking for? However, your application has not been selected. Instead of seeing it as a failure, you should accept it by asking yourself why it didn’t work. If indeed your application has not been selected it is probably because you need to review some things. Take the time to go over the job posting and adjust your CV. If for some reason related to a lack of information or an incoherence you can seem to find the problem, look for the opinion of a third party who might be able to be unbiased and objective. It would help you next time.

Try to find out more about the reasons why you were rejected by questioning the employer…

No matter what the situation we are facing is, we need to understand it in order to better handle it and move forward. Therefore if you have a negative feedback after an interview, try your best to understand what happened. Do not hesitate to have a conversation with the employer in order to ask him specific questions about the reasons why you got rejected. This conduct will benefit you because it will allow you to bring some changes to your future applications. The mistake you have made during your interview was maybe to badly showcase your skills or not tell your work experience with coherence. If you succeed in finding the root to the problem, your won’t loose your motivation and you will put all the chances on your side next time.

Do not rely on just one application…

If you idealize a job position to a point where you only apply for that job, getting rejected by the recruiter could affect you and therefore crush you down. This is why you should double your applications so you have more chances of getting other job interviews. If when you get a negative feedback from an employer you already have other interviews planned, then it won’t affect your mood. Either way always keep in mind this famous quote by Nelson Mandela «  I never lose, I either win or learn ». Let’s just say that a rejected application is at least an additional experience.

Even though pleas have always been made to promote SME in the African continent, they have  rarely given the expected results because of rare financing means and strict conditions on loans acquisitions at traditional banks.

Now, this widely criticized trend seems to be declining in favor of the new opportunities that the rapid growth of the 21 century digital revolution is offering. Thus, if not so long ago it was put on the sideline of economic development policy, the funding of project ideas is starting to gain some interest in the African continent. Innovative project developers are being hired especially among the youngster.

Bilateral, multilateral or private public funding companies have more and more interest in Africa because they are very much aware of all the possibilities that digital can offer like the ability to make incubators be some kind of project development labs.

The desired result are job creations, contribution to national added value and as indirect result reducing the unemployment rate within the young African population.

The promotion of the potential value in the entrepreneurship of young African students has become a reality thanks to the reinforcement of professionalization and research in the continent higher education. The creation of Small and MEdium size Entreprises (SME) which usually represent 80 or 90% of the specific features of companies in African countries, has become marvelously more active. It is because of a more active implication of young African in the conception and building of progects.

Administrations along with international development institutions act as guarantees to allow young entrepreneurs ( startups included) to borrow money which is crucial to the development of their progects.

It is a way of supporting young entrepreneurs by allowing them to overcome the obstacles of funding their progects. We have CTIC as an example in Dakar, Senegal which has the support of public authority, World Bank  and private companies especially mobile phone companies. This Senegalese incubator is also financed by payments from the profits of some fifteen incubated companies. There are incubators in other African countries that practically work the same way as this one, for the greater benefit of young entrepreneurs.