 Welcome back. This is still why in the morning, and of course if Fatulia is just joining us. My name is Ram Agukul. It's a pleasure being with you. Welcome to the next discussion of the day. It's all about matters concerning your career. And today on Career Talk, we'll talk about career mapping. What is career mapping? How can you place yourself or put yourself on a pedestal where you are better placed in terms of progressing your career? This is why in the morning, we're coming to you live from the broadcasting house in Nairobi, Kenya. We're also streaming live through our website. That's at www.kabc.co.ke4 slash y254. Even as we talk about career mapping, ask your questions. The hashtag is why in the morning. Tag me at Ram Agukul. My handle is on all social media platforms as Ram Agukul and Y254Channel, which is the official station handle. And of course to help us in this particular discussion, this fine Monday morning, I am with Joanne Thuo, who is a career coach. Karibusata Joanne. Thank you so much, Joanne. How are you feeling? I'm good. Thank you so much for having me here. It's my first time at KBC. Thank you. You're welcome. It's an honor to have you. It's an honor to have you. And even as we start, let's get straight to it. What is career mapping? All right. So every person needs to have a conversation with themselves in regards to the direction in which they want to steer their career. And I know it's very common to think that you can only start having this conversation after college. When you have a degree, there are people who, just because they have a diploma, they will not think about the direction in which they want to steer their career. But my personal view is that you need to start having this conversation as soon as you're in high school. High school? Yes. You know the people who say that man is a two from four, to taonga badae. Yeah. Which is wrong because you see also in high school we pick subjects. So you can start having that conversation and start to think in future what do I want to be and which subjects do I want to specialize in. After high school or even during high school, there's usually the time when kids normally close school. It's a perfect time to even get an internship. I know the norm is that you need to wait until college but nothing is stopping someone from going, for example, you want to be a doctor. Even if you're in from two, from three, nothing is stopping you from going to a hospital and just observing the work environment to see whether it's a good thing. It's allowed? It is allowed. Even if I want to be a journalist, for example, and I'm still maybe in from three or from four, I can come to KBC and say, hey, my name is Fuenso, I'm in this high school and I'm thinking of becoming a journalist. Can I shadow you for a week? I'm sure if someone came and asked you, I don't think you'd mind or even just have a cup of coffee with them to just walk them through. Yeah, I don't think I would. I would have mind. In fact, we'd be excited. Yes, yes. It's just that we don't have those conversations. So we don't have those conversations and we wait until it's too late because there are so many people who finish from four end up doing degrees that they're not passionate about, so that then two years in, you're not happy with the degree and you change. And you see it's a waste of money, it's a waste of time and you end up feeling very drained. So what we are trying to say is, career mapping is you having that conversation with yourself first to try and see which direction do I want to steer my career. And then number two, doing a little bit of research about that direction. So do you want to become a doctor? Do you want to become like Ram? Do you want to be a journalist? Do you want to become like John, a career coach? Do you want to become someone in marketing? And when you do your research, you're trying to find out what skills and attributes are needed for that particular job and why have them. So that then if you're saying you want to be a doctor, I remember in high school, I actually wanted to do medicine, but I fear blood, even my own blood. I mean. I don't understand the concept of someone telling their own blood, but many do. Yeah, and wounds. So there's absolutely no way, even if I had the grades for it, that I'd be a doctor. So you have to change? I have to change. I could say that I'm very passionate about something like law and I'm extremely introverted. So you see again, that's a problem. So things even like personality. I don't know if you've ever done like the personality test. I don't know if you're asking. Several. Kolarik, sanguin, melancholy or phlegmatic? Ah, I did. I did this kolarik. I don't know. Sanguin, I think. Sanguin, there's kolarik sanguin and a few phlegmatic. So I would guess maybe a kolarik sanguin probably. So you see, that personality is perfect for TV, what you're doing now. I think if someone is, let's say, very introverted, they'd probably struggle like being on national television, for example. So your personality also would determine the kind of jobs that you take. Like for example, I'm a kolarik but then I'm also a melancholy. So I like keeping to myself. And for those who have no idea what you're talking about, kolarik, melancholy, phlegmatic, sanguin, these are things that you can do on your own. Yes. Find out your personality. Yes. Now, even let's talk about this. Now, I'm drawn back to a Kenyan household. Common one inch. Yes. Here we're looking at these student or pupil who is being asked by a parent what do you want to be when you grow up. And they say, I want to be a doctor, I want to be this, I want to be this. And the parent says, no, I want you to be a lawyer. I want you to be a pilot. The parent chooses a career for this child. And does that affect career mapping? That's a very good question Ram. And I think it's also very common in the Kenyan households. Many, many times parents are the ones who they'll come home with their degree and tell you this is the degree that you're going to do. And I believe sometimes out of wanting the best for their child. So one of the things that I would say if maybe your parent came and said you will go and do medicine you want to do your own research so that by the time you're saying no ma'am, I don't want to do medicine I think I want to do this other degree because of one to three. That nothing is stopping you from also doing your research and finding out like what skills and attributes am I currently possessed and I think I'm going to thrive in this particular degree. So that then you're not also telling your parent no, I don't want to do that with nothing backing you up. So get the information. Get the information. Go with research. Talk to them. What if they refuse and they say in our family my father was a teacher I am a teacher my grandfather was a teacher you will be a teacher. Yes, yes. And so I also think then we also need to sensitize parents because truth of the matter is the job market in 2022 is completely different from during our time. I mean in 2022 a career like digital marketing is so marketable. It would be one of the most marketable skills in 2022 across the world. And so you might be forcing your child to do medicine or law or journalism because then if your child gets an A they must I don't know why we are so conditioned to think if someone gets an A they must do either medicine, law, a pilot or a journalist. Anything else is not good. And you see that's not accurate because things have really changed especially even after COVID things have really changed there are certain skills that are needed and so that we are finding the job market very diverse. In fact you could have someone who finished from 4 they quickly learn photography videography you see and then on social media they are probably earning more than the lawyer and the doctor because then it's a needed skill. So exactly and it has grown and it's continuing to grow. So as you're forcing your child to do this law and medicine which they don't love and you're going to spend so much time and money and even they are going to spend their time they end up doing the medicine and then after they've graduated they can even come back and tell you here's your degree now I'm going to do my videography or I'm going to do my literature. Is that the right move because I've been in many many fora where that is discussed and a career coach someone like you says if a parent tells you to do this course do it let them pay the school fees you do it but when you're done take that certificate of that diploma of that degree return it to them give it to them say that dad they anyway fine as I was saying anyway fine is that the right path. Okay so the first thing I'd want to say of course for now I'm coming from there's no degree that would be wasted it's not that I think we need to sensitize parents and you see when you're having that career conversation that parents are sensitized to want to have the career conversations with their child but then you're not going and deciding I want my child to do medicine when you're going to see a career coach I would advise that they come both of them the parent and the child so that then both of them are aligned as far as the child's career is concerned but and saying that my child needs to do XYZ it's completely wrong because also parents could be misguided because things have changed and they are probably thinking what worked 10 years ago is working in 2022 which is not accurate. Alright and of course I want us to take a short break and then we'll be back and after this break we want to talk about how an individual can go through this whole process do we have tools that somebody can use to help them in career mapping yeah yeah and of course we shall be doing that in a bit keep talking to us that's why in the morning we're taking a short break we'll be back with more in a bit these tools just briefly what are these tools that a Kenyan youth can use to help them in terms of facilitating their career mapping alright so one low hanging fruit would be try and have conversations with people in the careers that you want to go into so that then if I want to become a journalist is it possible to get Ram nowadays it's very easy to get people even on social media but as much as possible if you're able to have a conversation so that then when I'm sitting down with Ram and I want to become a journalist I'm asking you questions like which degree did you do how is it so far how are you able to get your job what are some of the challenges you encountered are there certain things that you learnt that you can tell me so that then I avoid the same pitfalls so having those trying to have the one-on-one conversations with people who are in the careers that you want to go into would be something very important if you're able to get an internship and what I'm saying is don't wait until you're in college nothing is stopping someone who is still in Form 2, Form 3 from doing even if it's a shadowing program go into those organizations and say hey my name is so and so I'm in Form 2 I'm very passionate about journalism I'm very passionate about marketing and I would want a one week internship or a one week shadowing someone I'm very good with my administration skills I can do one to three to expose myself and try and find out whether this career path is going to be good for me and of course at this point you're not asking for any money you just want to get the experience you want to get the exposure so that is going to really inform you but the time you're going to campus to do that degree you're very sure that it's the right one because then you have been exposed to that kind of environment the other thing of course when your career mapping is you want to do your research about that particular field like now for example at a degree like psychology I did industrial psychology there's so many branches of psychology there's industrial psychology there's counseling psychology there's sports psychology there are different types of psychology so which type of psychology would you want to do if it's medicine there are different areas that you can go into so doing your research is going to help you narrow down it's going to help you even realize about the specific schools that you want to go into and the last thing is you want to do an assessment nowadays these assessments are actually free online so do a personality assessment to try and see am I a choleric phlegmatic melanconi what is my personality and which careers fit my personality do a career assessment to try and check do you currently possess natural abilities that would make you successful in the area that you want to go into are you a people's person are you someone who is adaptable are you versatile do you work very well within a team are you someone who is good in math in which careers are in line with your aptitudes and your strengths alright and even for some people confused in terms of which career path to take you want to be this you don't know between this and this which is the best way to do you are saying do research on both fields right do the research yes if you are able to expose yourself also try and expose yourself so that then if you are saying you want to be a journalist or you want to become a baker or you want to become a stylist or you want to become a marketer can you get into that organization and can you get even if it's just one week I know of rent programs with people actually in high school and we just expose them to the work environment to try and see where are they best fitted and we need to start having those conversations early let's not wait until someone has finished from 4 because then sometimes people wait and then now it's too late and someone gets confused exactly and they get advice from different relatives who tell them you know I did this I mean this field Maliza will let us certificate exactly and truth of the match is nowadays there's someone who finished from 4 they did photography videography and they are earning so much probably more than someone who's finished a degree course speaking of earning something we were talking about a bit earlier on many you say akuna kazi they are not jobs they are not jobs how you're saying that career mapping is very important yes let's talk about that particular angle are there those things that generally can help people to grow in their career and put them at a better place right so yes and the first thing I would want to talk about is personal branding because let me tell you Ram as a recruiter in this country and I'm sure not just me many hiring managers and recruiters are going to tell you the CVs we get pathetic oh my so like for example I want to become like I want an internship at Y in the morning and I send you my CV and the first thing you read is instead of curriculum vitae curriculum vitamin now how do we proceed please tell me vitamin how do we proceed or 0722 90732 that number cannot be called it's incomplete I cannot reach you on phone so maybe the CV is good but I cannot reach you on phone so the simple things grammatical errors you get a CV it's half a page you've requested for CVs people have sent someone has forwarded the CV but the email does not have a subject does not have anything they've just forwarded an email but John I'm concerned about this you two saying I've not done anything I've just finished campers I don't have any work experience so my CV is just going to be a page back to what we were talking about before there is so much that you can do that can fill up your CV even if you're in high school are you in any club are you the president of any club are you a prefect do you love math why do you love math which subjects in math did you enjoy when you do the research about even at the point when you're informed for if you do research about the direction in which you want to steer your career you can be able to pick some attributes and skills that you currently possess that prepare you for that degree course there is so much you can do even if you are a FOMFOR student you can have a CV at the point when you're in FOMFOR at the point when you're a first year, second year that you don't have a degree or that I'm still in high school that I'm still in college should not be an excuse as to why you don't have a CV you can even put the books that you're reading you can put some of the soft skills things like I'm a team player I'm versatile I'm adaptable I'm creative I'm innovative what have you innovated there's so much that you can put on the CV let's go back to the general thing so you're saying improve on your CV yes and I'm calling that personal branding personal branding so we have CV the second thing that we have is the LinkedIn profile the LinkedIn profile in 2022 is so important I would dare say it's as important as your CV because nowadays after I receive your CV I'm going to go and check your online presence so do you have a LinkedIn profile because then there are so many people who don't even know there's something called a LinkedIn profile that exists and what happened is after COVID many recruiters many hiring managers across the world started looking out for people on LinkedIn so you're doing yourself at the service if you don't have a LinkedIn profile if you're a job seeker in 2022 because every day there are people who are getting hired there are people who are getting remote jobs in different parts of the world on LinkedIn get a LinkedIn profile you must now even as talk about this particular platform I'm drawn to Facebook to other social media platforms do they play a role in terms of affecting someone's career that's a very good question so I think what I want to say is in 2022 your personal brand it shouldn't be limited to LinkedIn only these other platforms are also important Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube so I think it depends on the career which you are at and you having a strategy as to how you want to brand yourself so that then Ram as a journalist for example you'd say that this is how I want to brand myself and the brand is going to align on Facebook on Instagram on YouTube on TikTok like all these platforms but if you're a professional of course you want to start with the LinkedIn account a platform like Facebook most people normally use it for like friends and socializing so I think it's up to an individual so that then you're saying you want to create a professional brand on Facebook now I don't want to come to Facebook and see you in a bikini or I don't want to come on Facebook and I'm seeing images that would not put you in a very good light professionally so I think first decide this is the brand I'm trying to create and I want to create it in all these platforms and then adjust accordingly so should it be same brand, all platforms if that is what you choose okay any other tip as we wrap it up okay so the other thing of course when it comes to the personal brand would be the cover letter because many hiring managers are going to ask you to do a cover letter and I feel many job seekers struggle writing a good cover letter probably they struggle more with the cover letter than they do the CV so you want to draft something before because another mistake people make is until Ram asks you please say there's this opening please send me your CV that's the time you're rushing to do the CV but you want to make sure that you've done your CV way in advance so that then when you ask for the CV you can quickly submit alright thanks so much Don I want us to bring this conversation to a close and give you time to have a final word speak to that Kenyan youth watching you today that's your camera what's your parting shot alright so if you're a job seeker in 2022 the first thing I would advise you to do is you really need to get serious about your personal branding tools as we've discussed and that is your CV your LinkedIn profile and your cover letter remember the purpose of a CV is to land you an interview the CV is never going to land you a job so you want to do everything within your power to ensure when a hiring manager or a recruiter gets your CV they are calling you for an interview also remember that most recruiter most hiring managers are going to spend at most 6 seconds on your CV whether they want to read more so you want to ensure that you're capturing their attention within 6 seconds you must have a good LinkedIn profile in 2022 it's criminal not to have a LinkedIn profile because hiring managers and recruiters are spending a lot of time hiring talent on LinkedIn and the last thing is you need to also prepare yourself for interviews as I said earlier the purpose of a CV is to land you an interview the purpose of an interview is to land you the job offer so you could have the perfect CV but then if you go for the interview and you cannot answer simple questions like tell us a little bit about yourself what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses what is your salary expectation even having a good CV will not have served its purpose so have a good CV have a good LinkedIn profile but then also spend some time preparing for interviews to ensure that the interviews that you go into translate into job offers thank you so much John I really appreciate it wow, wow too much wisdom we shall have you again and maybe next time we talk about how to write a CV in this cover letter because I believe that's also a very important thing as you've just said thank you so much for coming thank you so much for having me I'm honored it's my first time at KBC thank you and of course that was just to the end of this discussion today on why in the morning we still have much more coming up you always still and of course keep it locked engage with us keep telling us where you're watching us from we value your feedback let's take a short break we'll be back in a bit thank you so much thank you so much thank you