Here is how some jobs slip through our fingers

I secured an interview for a young person last week. Let’s call this candidate YP - short for young person. The Employer, a very busy lady, proposed that they meet at a restaurant. So I liaised with the two parties.

The Employer was going to phone YP a day before to confirm the place and time of the meeting. So I imagined that this was going to be an easy-going session, over some delicious things stacked on the plates, who knows what opportunities await your hungry self when you meet Employer at the restaurant, at the end of the month? 

The interview did not happen. It was the Employer who informed me about this on Monday when I was doing follow up. ‘I called YP several times but she did not take my calls,’ said the Employer.
In my moment of embarrassment, and anxiety, I hurried to phone YP.

‘YP, how did it go on Friday? I enquired.
‘Yoh Mr. Fusi I am so sorry, I saw the miss calls from Employer but I did not have airtime to call back to explain that I don’t have money for transport,’ she pleaded.

YP had agreed to meet the employer anywhere around West/ South of Joburg, which was an attempt, on the part of the employer, to meet her candidate closer to Soweto (employer was coming from Ekurhuleni.)

‘So why did you not let me know? I did not receive your Please Call Me, at least.’ I retorted.

‘I am very sorry,’ she pleaded again.

‘So what must we do, YP? Do you want the job or not?’ I nudged her willpower.

‘Yes, I am serious about the job.’ She replied.

The Employer has lost interest in this interview. She wants to interview other candidates.

Obviously there are glaring challenges in this story.

1. Many young people, because of their unemployment status, are even struggling to search for the jobs because the money is not there.

2. A young person who can afford to have expensive items (clothing, gadgets, etc.), yet cannot afford to deal with the expenses of job search, needs to examine his/ her priorities.

3. The education of a young person does not have a built-in curriculum to prepare him/ her for the job market by way of empowering them with the requisite skills to search, to research, to articulate and to sell their skills to the employers. These things get to be learned by trial and error, sometimes the experience comes at a costly price to one’s image and the relationships they forge along the way.