'All about my first job and what it taught me'

The first experience of anything is often the one you remember the most vividly. Do you remember your first job? The joys, frustrations and lessons from it?

Saturday Magazine sought out three career women to share the inspirational journeys of their first jobs, and the lessons ingrained in them. Each started at the bottom, working their way up, simply fuelled by passion, hard work and determination to succeed

in building exceptional careers. 

THE NEWS ANCHOR AND ENTREPRENEUR

Terryanne Chebet, 36, is a senior news anchor with Citizen TV, founder of Keyara Organics, a natural skin and hair care line, and communications firm Scarlet Digital. Keyara Organics began as a solution for her daughter’s eczema.

Education: She holds a diploma in TV and radio production and has also studied public relations and advertising. She is currently pursuing a degree in international business administration - marketing at the United States International University -Africa.

First job: Her first job was an internship position at KBC TV when she was 24 years old. She was later contracted as a junior producer, making Sh12,000 a month, where she worked for two years before being employed as a part-time production assistant,

making Sh25,000 per month.

 “It was enough until I was expecting my baby, and I knew I needed to get another job or pay rise but a pay rise was not in the works, so I applied for other jobs. I landed a spot at Express DDB, an advertising company, as an account executive.

The salary was still Sh25,000. I worked there Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm, and Saturday, 9am-1pm, and went to KBC in the evenings. That was one of the toughest periods in my life, as I had just separated from my daughter’s father when she was about

eight months old, and juggling that, plus two jobs to make ends meet was exhausting; but I needed that as a new single parent, raising a child alone,” she adds.

Her first “real” job was in 2004, when she got a news anchoring job with KBC where she started off reading the 1pm news and eventually moved to business news on the 9pm bulletin and finally crossing over to CNBC Africa.

Lessons learned along the way

On greener pastures: “I have learnt not to just jump ship because of a bigger cheque. I do regret some of the decisions I made, because the corporate culture I had known before was very different.”

On work ethic: “My first job taught me about work values. I learned that hard work pays, networking always opens doors, and to never burn bridges. The journalism field is tough terrain but it is also very close knit.”

On education: “I should have gone back to school earlier. I’d have loved to be doing my PhD right now. I think studying really opens up our world view. I would advise anyone who’s working to take on further studies.”

On working for free: “Young people shouldn’t fear working for free to gain experience and build networks.”

On following your passion: “Take a job that’s close to what you want to do; if not, take what’s available and work towards your dream by going to school to build your knowledge, network with prospective employers or contacts, or dare to start your

own business.”

THE ADVERTISING GURU

Grace Waweru Gathui, 34, is a deputy managing partner at Ogilvy & Mather Africa and executive director, communication for development for the government and public sector practice at WPP.

On a typical day, she works on several advertising projects for multinationals simultaneously. “I get to work on campaigns that are not only effective and deliver against the client’s business objectives but also win awards.” She has been at her current role for six months.

Education: Grace is a graduate of Daystar University with a degree in communication (advertising) and is pursuing her Global Executive MBA at the United States International University - Africa.

First job: In 2004, at 23 years old, Grace started her first job as an intern at a small advertising agency called Communications Concepts Limited (CCL) where she earned Sh8,000 per month.

“I thought I was going to spend my whole day on set shooting glamorous TV commercials or on photo shoots, travelling a lot and basically just having fun but how wrong I was! My roles included filing and booking cars for clients.” She graduated to “real”

work in 2005 when she joined Ogilvy where she gained both pan-African and global experience, gaining the relevant experience for her current role.

Grace cites Gil Kemami, the former MD of Ogilvy, as one of her greatest mentors who not only encouraged her to be a risk-taker but also to love the numbers side of the business.

Lessons learned along the way

On instant gratification: “Young people often want to graduate and become instantly successful, success for them being defined as monetary gain, without putting in the hard work or the time. I would advise them to be patient, get mentors early that they

can learn from and ensure that they are not only good but great at what they do. In these times good is no longer enough and mediocrity has no place.”

On hard work: “I have come to understand like with any other career, being in advertising means loads of hard work, some late nights, heartbreak when you develop a campaign you thought was an award winner and it does not win, or present a concept to

a client that you are passionate about and it is rejected. But it is also a lot of fun, partnering with great clients to not only develop creative campaigns but also effective campaigns that help them solve their business problems and grow their business.

On working for free and internship: “My one piece of advice would be, be very clear about what you want to do. A lot of people are graduating with degrees in fields that that they are not really passionate about. Do not be afraid to start at the bottom.

Identify the organisation that you want to ultimately work for and approach them for an internship opportunity. This will not only allow you to gain some work experience but also learn the culture of that organisation.

It will also give you an added advantage when an opportunity for a permanent position arises.”

On making mistakes: “I have made many mistakes along the way over the last 10 years and the one thing I would tell someone starting out is, do not be afraid to make the mistakes. The key is to learn from those mistakes, move on and ensure that the

mistake is not repeated.”

On mentorship: “Get a mentor early in your career. I would have avoided some of the mistakes I made, had I had someone to advise me. The one thing that I regret not doing early enough in my career is getting a mentor. And I would advise anyone that is

starting out to do that.”

On education: “I would recommend that instead of doing MBAs immediately after your undergraduate studies, get some work experience first and then progress. This way you can practically apply what you are learning to real life situations at work so that

it does not become a theoretical exercise.”

On learning on the job: “I did not really have a very good induction into the organisation; I was “thrown into the proverbial deep end” and had to learn very fast. It is critical for any new member joining an organisation to go through a thorough orientation.

It will take time at the beginning, but will set a foundation for success in the future.”

THE LICENSING SALES SPECIALIST

Emily Otieno, in her early 30s, is a senior licensing sales specialist at Microsoft East and Southern Africa.

“I clarify the Intellectual Property (IP) terms and conditions and the legal ownership rights that arise from acquiring the software. Most customers assume when they pay for the software that they own it. However, the customer actually pays for the rights

to access and use the software; Microsoft retains the ownership of the license. I would like to think of myself as a connector between Microsoft and the customer by translating customer needs into Microsoft requirements, and vice versa.”

Education: Emily is currently pursuing her distance learning MBA at the University of London and is a graduate of the University of London law school. She also holds various professional and academic certifications - Microsoft Certified Licensing

Professional, Diploma in Law, Project Management, Business Management & Administration, and A1 Certificate in French.

Career journey: “My career at Microsoft spans close to nine years. I started in administration where I supported the office manager, finance and country manager. I also executed the role of office manager and later moved into sales where I was an

account manager. I transitioned to licensing sales specialist and was later was promoted to senior licensing specialist in March 2013.”

First job: Her first job was as an interviewer / researcher at Ipsos Kenya (formerly Steadman Group), when she was in her early 20s, which she was referred to by her lecturer when she was studying for her diploma in law.

“As a researcher and interviewer I identified prospective interviewees such as MPs and notable civil society members to get their views on the referendum. I was paid Sh500 for every interview that met the criteria set by the research firm.

The final pay was determined by how much effort you put which was based on the number of interviews conducted.” The highlight of the job was meeting the late Nobel Laureate Prof Wangari Maathai.

“The interview took place at the Green Belt Movement offices. I remember being very nervous but she was humble, very easygoing and down-to-earth. A few years later, during one of the CSR tree planting activities at Microsoft, I met Prof Maathai and

was further struck by the fact that she remembered me interviewing her.”

Lessons learned along the way

On hard work: “Nothing comes easy or overnight. I also became aware that to succeed, one must be open to whatever opportunity comes her way instead of being fixed on a single job or career.”

On work opportunities: “Each job contributed to the competences and skills that led me to my current role. I also had an opportunity to meet many great people who positively impacted my career.”

On defining your own success: “I believe that there is a lot of opportunity in the world and if one is not handed to you, come up with one. We should not focus on what some may perceive as challenges, e.g. I am a woman therefore I cannot be this and

that or achieve success. Define what success is to you.”

On giving back: “I try to live by these words – ‘wherever you are in your life, whatever the status, we are all able to give back. Use your life for a force bigger than yourself. That is what true humanity is. Give based on what you are passionate about and

how you have been given. (Oprah Winfrey).”

On using social networks: “Young people today have more opportunities to get information from media and social networks to make career and life choices. This is in contrast to our generation who had less access to information and mainly had to depend

on the adults around us and less accessible sources of information such as books.”