How to Stay Employed

If you were fortunate enough to get a job as soon as you wanted one, because we all agree that no one wants a job as their graduation gift at the bottom of their heart, or to move to a job that you truly wanted, that is but the beginning of the journey. When I get a job, I only have one objective, to do the job so well that the company can’t do without me.

May be it’s my ‘wanting to feel loved nature’, but a part of me wants the organization to fall apart if I am not around. Dammit, I just want to be called all the time when I am on leave. Granted it can be annoying but what it says to me is that we (the company) are dead without you. Obviously there is a chance this can happen if you submitted a useless handover report, but I am not one of those people, so in my case, it means that the company is indeed dying because I am away. Basically, it is paradise.

The employment situation in Uganda is complicated at best and sketchy at worst so you need to deliberately ensure that you not only get a job, but are relevant in your work place, to keep it that way. Most people are not looking to get fired from their workplace, regardless of the situation, and so here are a few pointers to ensure that you don’t;

1. Exceed Expectations: This can be done by doing the most while at work. Whether it is arriving at work first, leaving last, finishing assignments before deadlines, asking for work outside your job description, whatever it is, you should do it. Make sure that your boss feels helpless without you.
2. Make sure the hours that you put in count: Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of jobs in Uganda have an 8-5 system which many employees have mastered the art of following. A sure way of not getting fired is through ensuring that you get your work done within the hours that you are at the work place.
3. Respect: Whether it is the office messenger or CEO or janitor or supervisor in a work place, they all deserve respect. The last thing you need is getting fired because you ill treated someone that you don’t think affects your job. At the end of the day, titles can easily change and whoever you disrespected might be in a position that determines whether or not you keep your job.
4. Networking is important: A lot of the time, people don’t want to socialize at work events or even attend them in the first place. Having friends in the work place is important as they can give you information that only someone that has been working with a company for a longer time would have. This avoids unnecessary conflicts and gives you better insight on how to behavior in a particular work place.

We are in the first quarter of the year, which means the year has just started, how about we try not to get fired? If for nothing else, then for the opportunities that having a job gives us. What systems do you have in place to keep you at the job?

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