The first job is the hardest to get

There is this boy about 25 who has never worked. Now his father is going around asking all his contacts to give his son a job. When I met him I spent over an hour with him, trying to ascertain what he could do, what he wanted to do and what he would like to do if he did not have his father breathing down his neck.

My impression is that he has a very domineering father who thinks he knows what is best for the son, without even spending ten minutes to talk to the guy. As a result the father and son do not have any relationship at all and when I told the father that after my chat with him, I think he would like to be apprenticed to a motor repair shop, it threw him out!

The father must realize that it is hard when one is looking for his first job at the age of 25 to place him in any good job. He has to first prove that he can hold any job even as a cleaner for one year before people can have confidence in his ability to turn up for work on time and then be able to work throughout the day. This basic is lost on the father. I pity the son and I told him to walk ten minutes out of his house and go to the 100 or so companies dotted all around his home and ask them if there are jobs he can do rather than be reliant on his father to get a job. After all if he has to leave that job within a few weeks, who will help find him a job? If I found him a job by asking someone I know, then next time how can I ask for another job, because my recommendation proved futile!! Sadly this father cannot comprehend this fact, that we can only help those who can help themselves, something I cannot guarantee for him.

If this is an indication to our youth, I would caution the following: please try and get any job, even working in the counter of a shop in your local area from time to time and give relief to the mudalali. It will improve your skills at interacting with people, a skill our school system does not teach. It is sad to see so many young people have no idea of how to start their search for a job, and rely on others to get them one that is most unsuitable for them anyway, with a troublesome employer!!

So please take my advice and learn your life skills in any type of work, even volunteering. It is important that first you know how to interact with people in society. You can then communicate with them with confidence, which leads to your being able to find the right job that suits you. Do it!