Being a flight attendant became her big break

Big break. Semakula never imagined that she would be a flight attendant. courtesy PHOTO

Every person has a dream of what they want to become when they grow up. We were always asked what we wanted to be when we grow up and the biggest number always said they wanted to either be doctors, engineers, or, pilots. Molly Ssemakula, a wife and mother, fondly known as Mimi, was no exception. She too, had dreams, such as becoming a lawyer. Even though she never got the chance to fulfill her dream, she was able to punch above her weight when she landed on a flight attendant job with one of the world’s top airlines.

How her journey started
Having graduated in Journalism and Mass Communication at UMCAT in 2008, Semakula, just like most graduates, was not sure of what was next after school. With the high rate of unemployment in the country, one is never sure when their luck will strike. Semakula decided to try out her luck in the UK. She got all her savings and travelled, hoping to find a safe haven there. A year down the road, Semakula had not got the career big break she had hoped for. She worked as a volunteer in a nursing home in the UK, looking after the elderly.
“After school, I thought travelling abroad would be the best option for me as I had always thought working in the UK meant someone had ‘arrived’ regardless of the job they are doing. I was in for a surprise. Not that being a volunteer is bad but it wasn’t what I had expected and that is why I spent there only one year,” Semakula shares.
On getting back to reality
But Semakula was lucky to get a shot on NTV where she presented Hot Steps Season 3. This was in line with what she wanted to do after school. Just as she did when travelling to the UK, Semakula believed this would be her big break. Again, she was in for a surprise as she was disappointed by how much she was earning.
“When I returned to Uganda in 2010, I auditioned to be the next presenter of Hot Steps and luckily, I got the job. But after a few months, I realised that it wasn’t worth it for me to be getting Shs150,000 every time I appeared on TV, which was once a week. I didn’t like the fact that I would be building a name while I was broke.”
After the Hot Steps season ended, Semakula stayed on and did internship with the company, working with different producers and different shows hoping she would be taken on as a full-time employee or be given another show. This did not happen. She left after about eight months.

The hustle time
With the NTV job not working out, Semakula used her little savings and a loan from friends to start up her own business. She believed it was the best option.
“I started the boutique because I have a passion for fashion and design,” she says adding that she also wanted to be her own boss.
“I had done some research about boutique business when I was still at NTV and when I left, I just used the little money I had, plus some from friends to start up my own business on Makerere Hill Road near LDC [Law Development Centre] selling women stuff such as shoes, bags, clothes, and jewellery.”
The beginning was not very bad as her celebrity friends helped her market the business. They also often bought from her boutique. It is at this point that she got pregnant and had her son.
Semakula says having a child came with responsibilities. Unfortunately, her business started deteriorating. “My boutique was a small scale business in a little roadside container yet KCCA levied a really high tax for such shops regardless of how much we earned, she says, adding that after more than a year, KCCA instructed her to remove her container from the premises when it was demolishing roadside businesses.
“KCCA banned containers along the streets so I needed to find a way to earn something before planning on where to transfer my little shop. I closed for some time before moving the small container to Kansanga making sure it was not on a road reserve, but things were not the same.”
The new location had more than 10 other boutiques selling similar goods. She realised she stood no chance and instead of sitting in the boutique the whole day waiting for clients, Semakula decided to start searching for a job again. Meanwhile, she got a friend to help her run the boutique.
With no money coming in from the boutique and an unstable relationship with the father of her child, Semakula was desperate to find a source of income to look after her child. Desperation forced her to ask a friend who works at the airport for a job despite not having experience and qualifications for any of the jobs at the airport.
“I looked for jobs and couldn’t find any. I asked friends around but they were not helpful but this friend of mine, who was working at the airport, came to my rescue. I asked him if there was any job I could do at the airport, or any other place. I didn’t mind whether it was at the reception or anything,” Semakula shares, adding: “My friend knew people hence I believed he had contacts that could help me find a side income. I asked for his help because things were becoming tight.”

After about a month, he asked her to send her academic papers. Two days later, he tagged her in a link on a Facebook page that had an airline crew job advert.
“When I opened it, I laughed and immediately called to tell him he was kidding me. This wasn’t a job for me.”
He told her it was the only available opportunity and he wanted her to give it a shot because he believed in her, and was already envisioning her as a flight attendant. “He encouraged me to try it out. He believed in me and this is what drove me to read through the requirements.”

The breakthrough
It was the Easter weekend of 2014 when the interviews were carried out at Kampala Serena Hotel. The whole process took two days and on the opening day, they were just asking for copies of academic documents and giving tokens to the few they selected for interviews to return the next day. Semakula says she had never seen Serena hotel packed to capacity.
“There were applicants everywhere – inside, out, the parking lot and the street, too, was full of people.”
More than 3,000 applicants were waiting on this job. Semakula waited for her turn, which came at 6pm. She had been waiting since 7am. Luckily, she was among those invited for an interview the next day.
Seizing it
“I remember the lady telling me that I had a nice smile and handed me an envelope that she asked me to open alone.
“I rushed to the toilet and boom.... the good news was that I had gotten the job. I had forgotten that I hadn’t eaten anything the whole day but I didn’t care,” she shares.
“What is not possible to man, is more than possible to God. I think it’s every little girls dream to be a flight attendant but it’s one of those bizarre dreams you think are too good to be true so it’s until I got the job that I learnt never to give up on my dreams no matter how big they might seem, they are achievable,” says the flight attendant.

The job
Four years down the road, Semakula’s journey has been all about dedication, resilience and hard work and that is precisely why her contract has always been renewed automatically.
Some of her responsibilities include ensuring safety and security of passengers on board, helping in allocating their seats, serving drinks, snacks, and everything else passengers are entitled to.

The privileges
Semakula could not disclose her salary, but says she is paid handsomely and is very comfortable with what she earns. Besides salary, she also gets bonuses and several other benefits. She has also had the opportunity to travel to several countries, including the United States of America, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Australia, Indonesia and China.
“As crew, we enjoy a number of privileges for example highly discounted tickets, a full fare ticket to any destination of our choice every year, discounted family tickets, fully covered medical insurance, being able to travel on staff tickets with other airlines too,” she adds.
Challenges
Just like any other job of course there are challenges. Hailing from a hot country, she says travelling in bad weather especially winter, affects her. She adds that flights can be really turbulent sometimes.
“Customers throw up and get scared, having to deal with people falling sick on board as trained fast aiders, jet lag because of the different time zones and a confused body clock. Sometimes their bodies fail to adopt to the different weather conditions thus making it hard to have a good sleep and also developing certain diseases.” she shares.
Semakula adds that sometimes they fly for a whole week without a day off but that is compensated with two or three days-off depending on their roster.
Despite the challenges, Semakula says she loves her job and works hard at it.