I still get confused over the concept of passion in relations to money. If I consider Maslow’s Law, my conscience will not permit me to advise a fresh graduate in Nigeria without a job to follow his passion; his passion at this time is different from what we generally regard to as passion. I guess I love teaching as you can see in the picture above; the two previous Saturdays were dedicated to teaching RCCG youths – the more I think about my decision to take up the offer from After School Graduate Executives to teach on the two previous Saturdays rather than complete projects that may give me far better pay – the more I realized that I have to evaluate my earlier teachings on Passion vs. Money.
I am passionate about teaching (why else will I have a blog? Why else will I travel the whole state of Nigeria to teach Christian Corpers? Why else will I dedicate five years to write JOBFinder? And the list goes on). My keen interest in teaching is not something that was conscious to me until I had to make the decision to teach over money. Rewind to 10 years back; will I have been able to make this decision? I guess not. This is why passion itself is not absolute; when a youth says I am passionate about singing and ends up working in a bank. Though this may not be his first choice but he unconsciously knows that he needs to satisfy a passion (the passion of making money to be independent, to marry, to clothe, and to acquire shelter).
Common sense, right? Wrong! This goes against the Personal Development advice of some experts1 who say “follow your passion and your money will follow”. According to the bible, Jesus fed 5, 000 individuals with 5 loaves and 2 fishes. There are so many lessons and reasons that can be drawn from this story but the one written in plain black and white is that 5,000 individuals were hungry and needed to be fed. The immediate concern was not for them to hear the good news but for them to be fed. At this hunger point, their passion is defined. No matter how much they love Jesus, if they were not fed, they were not going to listen to him. The same analysis can be drawn for job seekers; feed them and it will be easier to maximize their talent.
This is the vacuum JOBMag hopes to fill in the economic space in Nigeria – feeding fresh graduates and experienced hands with job opportunities and empowering them with the requisite skills to ace any recruitment process of any Nigerian company. They are situated at the heart of Yaba at 254 Herbert Macaulay Way, very close to Sterling and Zenith Bank. It is an ideal place for all job seekers to come to; the atmosphere is superb for learning. When I entered into the place, it reminded me immediately of British Council. JOBMag will be launching its headquarters this Saturday, 17th July, 2010. There are so many things lined up for fresh graduates and job seekers alike; if you are interested, it is important you get there very early for registration or you may lose a seat.
This is the JOBMag brand image that may be in the consciousness on Nigerians for time to come. Highlight for the launch event include job opportunities, free registration, free training, free internet access and lots more. There will be seasoned speakers including myself to grace the occasion. Also included in the launch is a 25% discount on all JOBFinder’s Manual purchased at the launch. I encourage those who see themselves leaving their present job to a better place to attend this launch and get FREE registration to their database. Please, come with your CVs; it’s FREE CV check and there are bound to be recruiters. You may book for a seat by clicking HERE. This is an awesome event that must not be missed by those seriously looking for plush jobs. Have a lovely day!
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July 13, 2010 at 6:56 am (UTC 1)
I simply do not see the correlation between Jesus feeding 5,000 hungry souls and JOBFinder “feeding” graduates with jobs so they can follow their passion. That is quite contradictory to me, as I think someone who takes up full-time corporate employment is less likely to follow his passion for singing or fashion-designing or what not. I also don’t agree with your statement that “…making money to be independent, to marry, to clothe, and to acquire shelter” is a passion…I daresay this is a NEED – a basic one which all men have for that matter. A passion is more likely to be unique, or at least different amongst people – one person’s passion may be for singing while another’s is for dancing. However, all men have the need to make money to survive.
So to tie it all together, I am saying that, in relation to the attempted bible analogy, it would have been more appropriate if you had said that the Jobfinder thing is designed to feed young graduates’ basic needs in order to free them to pursue their passions in life. That brings me to my ultimate point, which is that I don’t think this is something that Jobfinder is able to achieve unless they plan to house and feed these graduates while they are busy pursuing a singing career, etc.
You see, the reason why these sort of things are possible in developed societies (which we’re trying to emulate) is that they have the right economic environment which can allow a school leaver to work in McDonald’s for a meagre salary and still be able to meet his/her basic needs while pursuing his dream. Not so for our own environment where a job in some banks may not even be able to sustain a graduate’s desired quality of life let alone one in Mr Bigg’s. Add to this our unreasonable societal expectations and over-materialistic values which place so much pressure on graduates to buy a car, rent a 3-bd apartment, get married, etc all within a year or two of graduation. So to really free our youths today, we need a wholistic societal and economic change in the country. I hope I have not rambled too much in making these points.
July 13, 2010 at 7:59 am (UTC 1)
@ Jaja
I believe you are making great points here and you are definitely not rambling.
First things first, the correlation between the feeding 5000 individuals and JOB Seekers. A need or want can become a passion. See the way Encarta describes Passion:
1. intense emotion: intense or overpowering emotion such as love, joy, hatred, or anger
Try and play it with a little more passion.
2. strong sexual desire: strong sexual desire and excitement
3. outburst of emotion: a sudden outburst of an emotion such as rage, hatred, or jealousy
He flew into a passion.
4. intense enthusiasm for something: a keen interest in a particular subject or activity
a passion for music
5. object of enthusiasm: the object of somebody’s intense interest or enthusiasm
Now supposing we dwell on Number 4. Based on societal pressure, fresh graduates are more passionate about satisfying their economic needs as oppose to any talent they may seem to have. The need becomes a passion. Until this passion is fueled, there is no way they can concentrate on what they believe they are good at. They will always be double minded. Imagine Ade, who believe he can sing – practicing everyday and learning the ropes. After 3 years, he has not gotten the break he desires; he sees his former classmate in a brand new Honda City who happens to be in paid employment.
If he feels bad about his situation, that feeling only indicates that his heart was not in the music business. It does not mean he does not have talent for it but his heart is not there. If he is passionate about Music at that time, there will be no iota of pain in seeing his former classmate.
Sex and food are similar because of their temporal nature but most times sex is associated with passion. The concept of passion has to do with what the physical body wants.
The 5000 individual did not come to eat; they came to listen to Jesus but they were tired and hungry. At that dispensation, their passion lies in feeding. Nigeria society is what it is; change comes with baby step. If Nigerians need a whole economic overhaul, they need to get fed first before the orientation can take place.
If needs are not satisfied, they simply become unconscious passion.
Finally, it is JOBMag that is accomplishing this great initiative not JOBFinder.
Thanx for the comment….
July 23, 2010 at 4:51 pm (UTC 1)
great one dipo, so proud of you for the immense contribution to youth development. seem jaja has
a point but your elucidation was something else
balogun