Why Look For a Job When You Can Hire Yourself?

For most job seekers, hiring oneself is not an option. We are pretty certain we don’t have what it takes to start a business and hire ourselves, rather than “I beg to apply”. I used to feel that way too.

Living life on your terms can be a very scary proposition, despite the fact that it is what we really yearn for. Deep in the soul of every man is the desire for freedom. Nations fight and shed blood to gain independence, but when it gets down to the individual level, we give up, grab the best available job and roll with the punches life throws at us. We kiss our dreams goodbye and cling to jobs in an economy where job security has gone with the wind.

Life can be very funny. More than 90% of workers hate their jobs and would want out, only that they are not man (or woman) enough to walk. How will I feed, and pay my rent and my kid’s school fees? I want to do this BUT…

On the other side of the fence, the job seeker would give an arm or leg to get the job you are pissed off about. Some actually do. In some instances, sleeping with applicants is a part of the interview process, and one of the perks that go to the men on the panel, for those so inclined. The degree you slaved for, went through hell in the hands of lecturers, and hands out including (moonlighting of different kinds) do not matter anymore in the face of looming unemployment. For the job seeker, their gate to heaven is the elusive employment letter.

Why look for a job when you can hire yourself? Gulp. Well, you see, I have no money, I don’t know what business to go into, bla bla bla…

Do you have no money? What happened to your NYSC allowance and allowance from your employer? (as a matter of fact, Lagos NYSC has decreed that employers must pay corpers N20K minimum), in addition to their monthly allowance making it two salaries no matter how humble. A smart corper on two salaries will opt to live on one salary, and bank the second one. While serving, (or while in the university), he can develop a plan, scale it down to his projected savings, and start small.

There are three groups of corpers coming out of the service year.

1. The majority, who come out armed with their CVs looking for jobs
2. A much smaller group who have secured employment while in service (got retained etc)
3. The smallest group is made up of entrepreneurs, who have hired themselves and may be looking to hire more hands

Belonging to group C is by choice. If you missed the chance to save and ate up your savings, you are in a tighter spot. You can still wriggle out with the help of friends and family. Where there is a will, there is a way.

The most important factor is your mindset. If you believe you can’t, it’s a done deal. You cannot.

Before you put yourself in a can, and remain frozen until a job shows up, wake up and smell the coffee.

More companies are laying off than hiring. Available jobs are shrinking while universities worldwide are churning out employees to be with bewildering rapidity. The world is in dire need of entrepreneurs. People who create jobs rather than look for one.

Entrepreneurs are made, not born. You have it in you if you believe long enough to look inside to find what you have to offer your community and the world. You are a contributor, not a consumer.

The school system taught you to work alone (not in teams), get good grades, and get a good-paying job with excellent benefits and pensions. That world no longer exists. You were being made ready for an age long gone, with the advent of the information age and the age of entrepreneurs.

This is the time for entrepreneurs. You have to trust that you have what it takes to give what you came to this world to give.

While job hunting, stop to ponder on why you are looking for a job when you can hire yourself. Why build someone’s dream at the expense of yours?