My Journey into the Corporate World as a TEF Graduate Trainee
“A career in a well-structured organization is a lifetime achievement,” I said to myself after a year and six months of doing “what my hands found to do”. At this point, I was thirsty for growth, and it was clear to me that I needed to define the career path I wanted to tread. This marked the Genesis of a trailblazing career journey.
The search began and I applied for a lot of Graduate Trainee roles towards the end of 2021. In January 2022, I got a couple of emails, including one from Heirs Holdings, inviting me to participate in several computer-based tests. And to be honest, it was a ray of hope for me as I knew in my heart that “one of these jobs must click.”
It got more exciting as I began to hear back from these different companies to proceed to the next stage. Unfortunately, I could not cross to the next stage in about two of these companies but thankfully, Heirs Holdings came through and I was invited to the last phase of the interview which comprised of a competency-based interview, PowerPoint presentation and a discussion with other applicants.
After the interview, I could tell that I had a slim chance due to the substantial number of applicants involved which made me realise that this was a highly competitive programme, one that would make me feel accomplished if I ever got a chance to get into the fold (HH). I began to console myself as time passed by and I still had not heard from the HH recruiters on whether I would be part of this year’s Graduate programme. Then BOOM, I got a mail asking me to upload my documents.
Wow! I could not contain my joy as I could see my dream coming true. But not long after, another round of suspense that ensued after sending in my credentials drowned out my excitement.
About 3 weeks later, I got another mail congratulating me for emerging successful and stating that I proceed for Medicals. “Finally, I landed myself a job” was the first thought that came rushing to my mind.
After crossing the hurdle of getting to Lagos from Abuja, the Heirs Holdings Graduate Trainee Programme officially began on the 9th of March with the launch of the Heirs Academy.
Guess what?
I got to see Tony O. Elumelu (TOE) and other CEOs of various investee companies. It got more exciting when the Graduate Trainees were asked to meet with the different CEOs at a cocktail party hosted to commemorate the launch.
“Omo, you be big girl ooo,” was the thought that followed me around throughout the event. Earlier on, during the launch, the HR Director Modupe Adesunloye had mentioned that 18,000 graduates applied for the programme and just 60 of us were selected. So, that highlighted how major this opportunity is for me.
The Programme commenced properly with a 3-week intensive classroom training session. We had a lot of CEOs take us on their journey to the top while providing insight into what their companies do. That was the highlight of the training for me and it was a time that convinced me that I have found a place where I cannot just grow but make significant progress.
“Which organization pays so much attention to its employees like this, Abi na scam?” I wondered.
All the facilitators who addressed us had one thing in common and it was the way they articulated the organisation’s core values of Excellence, Enterprise, and Execution. This ignited a desire in me to ensure that I portray these values whether or not I am in the organization.
Afterwards, I was scheduled for my first functional rotation at Africa Prudential Plc, a leading digital technology solutions provider helping African businesses simplify their processes and customer experience using technology. This lasted for three weeks, and it was mind-blowing. To tell the truth, I was amazed at how much I could learn in the Digital/I.T space in such a brief period. At first, it was a feeling of uncertainty and how well I would fit into such an environment. However, as I journeyed, I got to understand the system and at the end of the three weeks, I was able to learn about product management, scrum methodology, Business/Product requirement document, User flow chart, innovation & design thinking.
Now unto my next functional rotation placement, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF). I was assigned to work with the Marketing & Corporate Communication (MCC) unit of the Foundation. It’s only been a few days since I started, and I am already super excited to be trying something entirely new. I have met young minds who exhume so much knowledge in their field and are ready to impart their knowledge into the minds of the graduate trainees that work with them.
My personal learning objective for the period of my rotation here is to be able to: create engaging content on various platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram), and use the Canva application to create designs, edit videos properly and broaden my creative skills. I hope that by the end of my stay here, all my expectations will be met.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to sharing more of my experience with you.
~ Author: Fadekemi Ajayi
