7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE MOVING TO THE UK

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

You finally got that visa...yayyy so now you're ready to bolt down to the UK. I was just like you three years ago, flipping through the pages of my passport as I left the embassy. Still looking for the visa page, you needed to have seen the wide grin on my face when I saw the visa on the last page *dancing alanta*. All my antenna was raised as I earnestly prepared my Naija foods, warm clothes, my study documents cos I was going for my post-graduate degree and made sure my passport was safe till my departure date. I was so intrigued with the joy of leaving that I did not equip myself with the knowledge of my intended destination; I did not ask how the UK economy was or their way of live. I only focused on the education and believed that when I get there, everything will fall into place... and yeah they did eventually but looking back at three years ago, I wish I knew then what I know now. I am not where I would have wanted to be but I am happy for how far I have come despite my ignorance of my environment at that time. 

So if you have plans of coming to the UK -whether for studies or for work and you intend to stay for a long time; these are few of the things you need to know before making your trip. 

1) Prepare your mind: The most important thing is to first prepare your mindset for the new environment and decide to embrace it with enthusiasm. Forget any negative stories you've heard and decide to create your own beautiful story. Focus on your goal, your ability to fix your eyes on the reason you came will help you not get distracted or influenced.

2) UK's culture of individualism - Individualism as defined in the dictionary is a belief in the primary importance of the individual and in the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence. Unlike Nigeria, (collectivist country) it is believed that you are O.Y.O (on your own) and 90% of the time you must learn to D.I.Y (do it yourself). In Nigeria, we practice collectivism which stresses the importance of cohesion in groups eg family ties - uncles & aunties who were not born by your grand parents but still part of the family. We love being in groups and create bonds that are not easily broken, so don't expect too much from anyone cos they expect you to be independent. However, God will always place the right people in your path to help you but you need to be aware of the culture. 

3) Working in the UK: As soon as you come in - first thing is to get your National Insurance (NI) number and begin your search. You're at a better advantage if you have a previous UK experience prior to your job search. If you don't... God dey, you can start by taking professional courses to improve yourself. It is also wise to do a volunteer job or internship for few months and then hit the job market. As a student, your school will always have  a career department; they'll be very helpful. Also, register free with Sponsors for Educational Opportunity http://www.seo-london.com/ to help maximize your opportunity for career success. Apply for summer/spring internships to boost your CV and give you that UK experience; before you graduate you'll get job offers from big multinationals and kick-start your dream career. Visit SEO and read testimonials for more inspiration. #wishiknewaboutSEOin2011

4) Accommodation: Students you may not have any problem with this if your accommodation has been provided by the school. If you're not, or if you're here to work - I'll advise you go for a house that is "bills inclusive". So that if anything goes wrong e.g. slow internet, no heating (during winter), no water, electricity goes off; all you need to do is call your landlord and he/she fixes it. If your accommodation is without bills, more work for you cos you have to do the duties yourself. You shall become electrician by force (D.I.Y thingz). It's best to make things easier for you when you're still fresh in the system and when you get used to the environment you can take responsibility of topping up. 

5) Stop the currency conversion: I see most people who come for vacation and convert the price of every item before they buy it. PLS STOP IT if you're here to stay for a long time cos you'll just vex and not buy anything. If you used to be extravagant, learn to be prudent and not buy everything you see. The economy here is different and you cannot expect it to reflect what you were used to back home. Just re-adjust and gradually get used to it. Yes, things are expensive (especially if you live in London) but this is why you should learn to buy the things you need not impulsive buying. If not, your N1,000,000.00 that you thought was big money when you came will vanish in 30 days. 

6) Networking: Some people have been in UK for over 9 years and the only friends they have are Nigerians. Haba... why na? Networking helps in many ways especially if you're thinking of going very far here so mix up and make friends with people from all backgrounds, race, colour, religion. Employers need to know that you have a good interpersonal skills. 

7) PUSH: You must learn to push your way through. Surprisingly, there are still some parts of the UK where racism is still high; you need to stand firm and not sulk at every unkind word spoken to you cos of your skin colour. Never see yourself as disadvantaged or limited; just keep pushing your way through. 

Lastly SHINE YA EYES... There are lot's of opportunities if you keep yourself informed at all times. Ask as many questions as you can; there will be people willing to answer you. If not Google is your best friend, ask google. 

PS: There is no "owambe" here, where you get invited for a party to chop free rice, chicken, pomo, shaki etc; so if you're invited for a party or any outing, better carry your money cos you're in an individualistic country so ain't nobody paying for your food. O.Y.O #oyolowa

Hope this was helpful...

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WHEN GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION

Friday, October 4, 2013

It was 4:05 pm when my manager came to my desk; he looked at me and said "well-done Lynda, you've done your best and we (the team) can all see from the excel spreadsheet that you've really put in effort in trying to hit your target this week". He continued by saying, "I'm happy with what you've done, thank you for this week's achievement, I'm sure next week will be better". While he was speaking, my head was down and I was just not happy at all cos I always meet target and last week my team produced the highest result in our division; I felt really bad that I would let the team down this week. After my manager spoke I tilted my head upwards to look at him and I was surprised to see him still smiling, encouraging me not to feel bad about meeting my target. At this moment, ladies and gentlemen... I felt I had disappointed him. The day was almost over and I had two options, give up on meeting my targets (after all I have always met target & exceeded some times) or keep trying to get a workable case and help the team achieve our goal for the week. I was on the verge of going with the first option, but I remembered the look my manager had on his face when he looked at the scores - I went back into the pool and started fishing for cases. Have you ever said you've done your best and someone says your best isn't good enough? I told myself that I have tried but, at this point this best isn't good enough; I made up my mind to keep searching and updating the spreadsheet until it was 5pm, so giving up was just not an option for me. I was going to fight till the end.

During the early hours of the day I had whined, grumbled, moaned, complained cos my eyes were aching from non-stop staring into the computer screen. I actually forgot to have lunch so you can imagine a hungry stomach, aching eyes, head and no cases to work. At exactly 4:12, I miraculously stumbled unto a workable case...at first I didn't want to jinx it so I just told my manager I think I may have found one. I stressed the "MAY HAVE" so it doesn't end up like the other two I rejoiced about but still found out couldn't be completed. But guess what? This one was workable and so sweet mehhnnn....Now I began to smile from ear to ear but there was one more huddle to cross. Can I assess this case and finish it before 5pm??? It could take up to an hour to work a single case, different steps/processes to follow, spotting relevant information, making sure they're absolutely accurate, extra attention to details etc. How on earth was I going to get this done in less than 30 mins? At this point, I just want to shout it loud and clear that "I HAVE THE BEST TEAM-MATES EVER"...I love my team - A good manager makes a good team. Thanks Nick

You know how you add "a good team player" as one of the skills on your CV, this was exemplified and perfectly played out today. I was so amazed...Kristina split the checks into two bits and started doing some work on it wile I checked the second part; after that she printed out the main information I needed to complete my assessment to speed up the process. In no time, I was through with the assessment and Liz came to the rescue with her great quality/house style checks. After that, Kristina was already standing by the printer waiting for my documents to come out, she stapled it quickly and I signed the documents - Yayyy, case completed!!!

This post is not just another story but I'll point out some very important things:

• When you get to the point of giving up and it is evident to everyone that you have really tried your best - please don't give up. Just one last try...you never know what happens... you may be one step to hitting jackpot. Success doesn't come to those who never failed but to those who failed so many times and never gave up. Even when you think you've done your best - Just keep at it till you get a result.
  
  
  
• Appreciate the people around you - God places people around you for your good so no matter what happens - stick together in love. They may annoy you, get on your nerves but we need them to spice up our lives. Life will be boring if we all acted the same, so be grateful for having them. If I haven't said it before(I've definitely said it) - I love you Y103 team.

• Be a team player - no man is an island. The acronym TEAM means Together Each Achieve More. I had my team in mind and I wanted the team target to be achieved so I kept on trying and when I found what I needed, they came through and we all worked together.

• Leadership - A good leader is one who brings out the best in the people he/she is leading. As a leader, constant motivation and encouragement helps to bring out the best in your followers; your attitude and actions towards them could lift them up or push them down. Even when I had performed below expectation, my manager still said "thank you" and told me I was doing a great job. Appreciate and speak positive words to the people you lead despite their shortcomings; you may have someone who's slow in your team, don't tell them how slow and backwards they are. Instead say words like - I know you can do it, give it your best shot and if you ever need help on anything,  you can come to me. Words have motivating effect on people and the more you speak positive words to that person, gradually they change and become better. To know a good leader, check his followers, from my story I guess you already know what kind of leader I have - The best of the best. 

• For more inspiration on not giving up, read my article titled - QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION HERE.

A big shout out to my team members Nick (manager), Hitesh, Ben, Liz, Kristina, Martin, Trushen, Suganya, Rumayna, Giash, and Jihat. Thanks for being so sweeeeet and creating a lovely ambience, happy work environment and for filling the goodie box with lots of chocolate, crisps, biscuits, candy lolll.

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HELP!!! I'M ERGOPHOBIC

Friday, November 23, 2012

Hey lovelies, hope you're all doing great; and hope y'all enjoyed thanksgiving for those in The States. 

Moment of truth, if you hate Mondays and love Fridays raise up your hand...don't lie oh Godiswatchingyou. So it's nice to meet ya, fellow ergophobic sista n bruva, "you're not alone" (in Michael Jackson's voice). Some days mehnn you just get tired of sitting in front of a computer with pen and paper, to-do-list, reminders on your computer, client this, client that, meetings every now and then, deadlines to meet etc. The pressure just keeps building up and BOOM it blows up in your head, you've reached your elastic limit and then you go off the hook. Yeah, that was me on Tuesday as a result of accumulated issues from Monday. The picture above explains it all. I dropped my pen and closed my book, hit ctrl+alt+del and locked my system. AYAM TAYAD. And then started imagining all sorts of fun jobs I could do and still get paid well like acting (if my papa catch me), I thought about being an image consultant (as I like fashion), thought about modelling (will i be able to bare some parts when d time comes), thought about being a TV presenter/radio host (I kuku like to talk). All these while, my colleague who sits opposite me was just wondering if I was ok. When I told him my mind, he quickly started telling me how his partner can hook me up with his cousin who's a movie producer except I'll have to move to California...oyibo pple sha. Anyways, after all my fantasies, I decided to step away from my desk for a while and naughty me...I was taking pictures (at least it helped to take clear my head a lil bit) cos all work and no play....you know the rest. 

I am grateful to God that I have a job-a source of income, but I want to do something I really have passion for. In the mean time....I'll put in my best in this job and acquire all the knowledge I can. It's one thing to know what you want and another thing to go for it; but first you have to be fully equipped to embark on that journey after you've stepped out of your comfort zone. Watch out for this diva...she's going to do big things. See some of my ergophobia pictures below. Errmm...the pictures are not so sharp, better image quality soon. Christmas wishes - Canon HDR Camera. God send santa-claus my way..heheee

(Ergophohobia, derived from the Greek "ergon" (work) & "phobos" fear:  fear of work)
Lynn's definition - fear of work when it wants to blow out your medula oblongata.

Another day of ergophobia...

Btw, I'm loving my new hair. Everyone's been asking what hair it is, Mongolian  Cambodian, Malaysian ..etc even hair I didnt know existed. lolll....So its a WIG. I just style it to look like it's fixed.  Got bored of long wavy hair and wanted a new look.

DISCLAIMER: Don't get it twisted, I'm a good employee with 100% performance rating, yels yels. But...there is a BUT, some days you just need to take a break and breathe. Don't  go and start slacking in your job oh or giving excuses that you're ergophobic. I no tell u dat one. 

Have a lovely weekend sweeties

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