Must Read: Caught In A Web - Season 1 - Episode 4

7 years ago

Must Read: Caught In A Web - Season 1 - Episode 4

Happy Sunday friends

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I got to the venue for the interview an hour and thirty minutes after the time stated on my invitation mail. When I got into the environment, it blew me out of my sense. The large compound looked neatly kept with cars of prestige part accordingly. As I dragged my foot skeptically, floored by the rich environment which I have found myself in, I saw a group of guys smartly dressed sitting together in a corner discussing in low tunes. At another end was a group of about ten ladies looking all beautiful and classy seated and engaged in a low tune discussion.
“It can only get worse” I muttered under my breath walking up to the guys. I excused one of them to spare me a moment. He looked me over like something dragged in by the cart before stepping away from the rest. The other guys all looked at me like I was a masquerade of some sort. Well, I don’t blame them because I actually looked like a masquerade soaked in my own sweat and emitting some wired scent.
“Sorry for disturbing you,” I started, “Are you guys here for the interview?”
“Yes” he replied, looking at me questionably.
“Oh! Ok, have they started yet?” I continued.
“Yes. The first round is over so we are waiting to be called for the second round.” He explained.
“Damn!!” I cursed looking around.
“Sorry, is there a problem?” he asked breaking into my thoughts.
“Yes….. no …. Not really,” I stammered. “I am one of the invitees for the interview.”

He looked at me like a lost soul with pity. I could only but imagine what was going through his mind. One look at me definitely would explain everything because if I looked a mess when I left my house, I looked terribly ‘messier’ when I got to VI. I guess he didn’t have any words to offer as he stepped away from me back to his group who once again turned their eyes on me.

I didn’t know which to fight that moment; the tears pushing hard behind my eyes or the sweat oozing from every part of my body.

I swallowed hard again suppressing the lump stuck on my throat while I thought of the next action to take.

I was still with my thoughts when a beautiful yong lady stepped out from the building with a piece of paper. She had an air of superiority and emitted this dominance courage which could be felt from a distance.

As they saw her step through the door, the two groups hushed their tunes and converged a little away from where she stood. I stood at the back like a lost soul which I was at that moment watching the flawless beauty address the little crowed.

Despite her dominance appearance, she had the voice of a baby which sounded more like she is singing when she talks in a pure American assent. She gave a little smile before addressing them.

After making a little introduction, she went ahead to praise their comport and qualifications, but, not without stating clearly that the company only wanted five out of the twenty candidates that were there. She went further to encourage those who wouldn’t make it to the second and final round not to relent or feel depressed as their own time would definitely come.

Afterwards, she called out ten names of those that qualified for the next round. After dishing out instructions as pertaining to the procedure for the next round, she asked if anybody had a question.
“Excuse me” I started raising my hand from where I stood at the back. The forty-two eyes simultaneously turned to me snatching away the last courage I had left.
“Yes? Young man step closer and ask your question.” She said her voice piecing through the silence which hung in the air.

I dragged my steps closer trying very hard to avoid their cutting gazes.
“Umm!” I started, “Please ma, I am one of those invited for this interview but I couldn’t make it on time due to some circumstances above my control. I don’t know if I still stand a chance to get an interview.” I concluded more like a question trying to still keep my eyes straight and clear of tears.
“Sorry young man. We have passed the first round of the interview and about to commence the second. We regret the inconveniences but there is nothing the company can do about it.” She said.

I mustered the last strength in me to force the tears back and the lump on my throat down as I watched her walk back through the door. While the lucky candidates prepared themselves, the unlucky ones, some crying, made their way out while the pitiable me walked dejectedly home.

******

Immediately I got home, on entering my room, I opened the flood gates and allowed it to rain and heavily it rained. I sat backed up on the door and cried till I had no tears to shed anymore.
“Why me?” I kept asking amidst tears. “What did I do wrong? Where did I get it wrong?” That was making it the 10th interview I was going for one year after my NYSC.
This particular interview had looked promising.

I prayed and fasted just to get an invite for the job because I was running out of patience and gradually going insane with the whole fruitless job searching.

When I saw the job advert, a multinational company paying six digits salary coupled with other allowances for entry level, I had gone for a complete CV re-evaluation and reconstruction. I added all the relevant experiences I had gathered over the past few years and also took my time to write a catchy application which had earned me an interview invite. I had put my all in preparing for this interview that just turned out the worst nightmare for me.

When the line of tears started drying on my face, I dragged myself up and headed to the room where I threw myself to the bed and allowed the after effect of the woeful day to consume me.

******* ******** *******

My name is Toby, A graduate of mass communication from one of the prestigious indigenous universities in Nigeria. Before I completed my NYSC one year ago, I had high hopes that I was going to be retained by the company I worked for but towards the ending of my service year a great financial burden befall the company which saw many staff relieved dashing my hope of been retained.

At the end of my service year, I parked my luggage with shattered hope home to join the association of job hunters. Worst been that all the uncles that kept singing to my ears not to fail to contact them with my CV immediately after service year seemed to have all gone into oblivion.

The first three months afterwards seemed hopeful as every job advert looked promising. I kept throwing my CV out to any job opening which had little or no relationship with my field of study hoping to land anything salary worthy.

Life after the first couple of months was becoming miserable as I kept pushing out countless CV’s everyday to different hiring companies without any feedback.

The hustle for job was becoming a nightmare to me. Most nights I stayed up thinking of the dimension my future was heading to. I was growing lean, eating less and thinking more everyday despite the little support and encouragement I was getting from my parents and siblings.

My first job interview came like a miracle. I had two days to prepare for the interview which was in Lagos. As I read the invite, I couldn’t remember when or how I applied for the job but the most important thing was that I got invited and I was going for it. That night, I packed few cloths after informing my parents of my journey the following day. They were surprised and skeptical but knew that nothing they say or do was going to stop me from making the journey. That same night, I called my friend, Uche, and informed him about my coming. He was more than happy that finally I was coming over to Lagos.

The next day saw me enroute Lagos. While on my way, I check up the company and read anything and everything about them. I also browsed on every available interview questions and how to answer them. When I finally got to Lagos, Uche was already at the park to escort me home.

I couldn’t blink an eye through the night in anticipation of the following day. When I finally got to the venue for the interview the following day, I was ushered into the predicament of every job hunter as we were about 50 candidates gathered for the same interview.

Before the commencement of the interview, they stated categorically clear that if you don’t have five years post NYSC experience in the particular field they were hiring for that you weren’t qualified. I’d wanted to challenge them out of anger and frustration but realized that it would be futile as majority of the invitees were already heading to the gate.

I made my way home to bem0an my predicament and prepare to head back to my state the following day or next. When I got home, I had a chat with Uche who advised me to stay in Lagos and with him as Lagos presented a better opportunity than my state.

After giving it a thought, I decided to give it a trail.

Uche is a friend I met in my first year during our registration. When we met at café, he was stranded. He’d approached me after I finished my meal and asked if I could help him out with a place to lay his head till the next morning as he had nowhere to go and just lost his phone and wallet. At the end, he stayed with me till he completed his registration and spent another couple of days before going back to Lagos where his parents based. That had brought us so close that we became family.

Two months after I came to Lagos, Uche got admission to further his studies abroad. Before he left, he handed over the ownership of the mini flat (one bedroom flat) to me. I was skeptic of taking over from him but he paid two years rent upward for me after introducing me to the landlord. While leaving, the only thing he took away from the house was few of his cloths leaving every other property for me. It was just too much for me to believe.

After Uche left, I traveled to my State to pack my cloths and enough food stuff to support my little saving pending when I will land a job.