I worked for a year without pay

The transitioning phase from the time at university to my current job was not a definite one. While I studied a Diploma in Accounting at MUBS, I sought acquaintance with many practicing accountants and among the many that I established, came the opportunity at the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial Fine Arts, Makerere University.
Early 2007, when I completed my course, I applied and was granted the opportunity to work in the Accounts office as a volunteer.
Working for a full year without a salary cast on me a daunting experience, having to find money to pay my rent, feeding and transport myself yet I worked all day. It was a tough experience.
Thank God I was officially appointed into office the following year. Had it not been for the Dean then, Prof George Kyeyune’s counsels, I would perhaps not have waited patiently through it all. By the time I embarked on the degree programme, I was working.
I got an opportunity to take on studies in Public Finance Management at the University of Pretoria in 2009 and Risk Management under ESAAG in 2011 in South Africa, which my former employer sponsored fully. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.
The other challenging moment was the transition between my former job and where I am now. Definitely, as a young man, I was envisaging and admiring a certain point in my life and I wished to get a family soon. The memory of dropping about three applications every week to different places is still vivid to me. The persistence paid off at last.
My friend forwarded an email of a posted job opening for a credit supervisor. I enthusiastically applied although I did not at the time know anyone closely in the organisation and did not know anything related to credit business.
I believed I was a suitable candidate, ready to learn and perform. As fortune would herald tidings my way, I was shortlisted and subjected to rigorous vetting, going through two sets of interviews. I was successful and then I was appointed a branch accountant, which is my field of training on May 20, 2013 until December 2014.
After sometime, I was taken through rigorous interviews then appointed the acting branch manager and later in September, to full branch manager.

Maintaining the job
I should say it is by the grace of God but also, I value my job and because of that, I ensure that I perform my duties with due diligence, strictly minding the company mission, which has shaped my day to day activities and decisions at work.
The other trick is leveraging my experiences in other informal engagements, hence being versatile within the scope of my assignments. I respect my supervisors and for the other private jobs, delivering beyond clients’ expectations always brings them back to me.

Challenges
Transitioning from one job to another was the most challenging task I faced. I needed a more fulfilling job to sustain myself and strengthen my career path. I was trained in accounting and with all the enthusiasm, I required an Accounts-related job.
With the credit supervisory role, where I was to supervise credit officers who have much higher experiences was very scary. I thought of the insurmountable tasks ahead of me.
While appearing before the panel during the interview, the CEO demanded to know whether I was not trying to divert my career path, having been trained and previously employed in Accounting.
I had to convince him of my suitability for the job but I was confident and had a burning desire for this particular job.