He did not wait for graduation to seek jobs
The journey. Graduating is the start of a long journey that will demand more than skills, discipline and innovations. PHOTO by Desire Mbabaali
What you need to know:
- Getting on the search: Faizo Kasujja has been doing short-term contract jobs. However, now that he has graduated he intends to get a job that he will use a launch pad.
- For the four years he has been studying - Bachelors in Journalism and Communication - he has interfaced with the world he set out achieve, working through several short-term jobs, many of which he accesses through media adverts, networking and friends.
When Faizo Kasujja joined Makerere University four years ago, his dream was one, “get skills, go out and face the world”.
That would be perfect then but now that he is out of the university he might have a different perspective to life all together.
Ideally, Kasujja, just like many others, who go through Uganda’s education system, ended the almost 20-year journey, before venturing into the unknown.
“My focus [after joining university] was to get clear cut knowledge and access to the job market [media environment],” he says, before adding: “Now I am out [of university] it is time to take on the world.”
Kasujja is part of the more than 14,000 graduates that have been released onto the job market from Makerere University.
He is among the several humanities students that will be graduating today, ending the week-long graduation ceremony.
Interface with job realities
For the four years he has been studying - Bachelors in Journalism and Communication - he has interfaced with the world he set out achieve, working through several short-term jobs, many of which he accesses through media adverts, networking and friends.
“I have applied for jobs [while studying]. Most of them are short-term given that I have to find the balance to handle the two [studies and the job]. I have got some and missed out on others because of their demands,” he says.
Unlike many students (fresh graduates), Kasujja has had an opportunity to get exposed to the real challenges of the job market and has rightly exhibited his potential to prospective employers.
“I have interacted with a few individual employers. My principal in life is to do my best every time I am given an opportunity. I should be paid for doing a better job and not for pretending to work,” he says.
Kasujja was born 24 years ago to Hussein Tiliraba and Fauza Nakakawa in Jinja District. He is the eldest in a family of four.
He has worked for a number of companies on short-term contracts including Social Economic Data Centre, Population Services International, Plan Uganda International and Makerere University as a research assistant.
This experience has given him a head start that he plans to leverage on as he heads out to work on his targets in life.
“I will definitely search for a job but my plans are beyond a mere job. The job, if I get any, will be a launch pad to the plans I have set out to achieve in at least the next five years,” he says.
Kasujja’s dream is to start a multimedia company that has a wide perspective in news gathering, documentaries, entertainment, print and design, among others.
To achieve this he has set out a number of plans, which among them, will be to ensure that he gets a job that is closer or related to his targeted investment area.
“My bias has always been media and communications. I want to keep close to that. My preference is public relations and communications, broadcast, digital or print journalism,” he says, emphasising that whereas he does not mind getting into a different setup all together, the above will keep him close to the multimedia company he dreams of.
“I intend to upgrade to achieve this. I would want to get skills in editing and production to develop sufficient skills [to establish a private media company],” he says.
Besides, starting a media company, Kasujja also has focus on agriculture because he believes there is a lot of untapped potential.
His appeal to government is to support upcoming talent and entrepreneurship if new jobs are going to be created as well as expanding the economy beyond the services sector.
Kasujja is also cognizant of the current challenges of the job market where more than 500 graduates chase just one job.
“You have to be exceptionally good to beat the kind of competition [for jobs] in the market today. Just imagine how many people apply for the same job. The people seeking jobs far outstrip what the market can offer. You have got to have plan B,” he says.
FAIZO KASUJJA’S TAKE ON LIFE
1 Motivation
Kasujja draws inspiration from the fact that he, even before he could graduate, has had an opportunity to study the dynamics of the job market. This, he says, has given him an opportunity to interact with a number of potential employers who have given him great insights to life.
2 Challenges
According to Kasujja, while working on his short term contracts, he has had to put up with a lot of mediocrity among some workers, which presents serious challenges to Uganda at large. “Many just do jobs for the sake of it. No passion, no zeal and the will to improve. Everyone is stuck in their zones,” he says.
3 Advice
Kasujja believes if you set out to be the best, you get the benefits by attracting the best employer and the best jobs. This, he says, can only be acheived through a combination of things, key among them discipline, exposure and displaying a high degree of skills.
3 Friends
In his life journey, Kasujja says, he has met a number of people, many of whom have turned into friends, mentors and sources of opportunities. Therefore, he says, how you handle people, especially friends, makes “us better and exposes us to better things”.
