I see people going to work every morning on my way to school. Most times, we board the same vehicle when we are going towards the same destination. Colleagues from the same office discuss their boss in the car. Some bosses are bad while some are good. I've heard different conversations about what happens in places of work. My uncles and aunts too talk about their encounters at work. Putting all these together, I asked myself if I was ready to take up any job after school
First job is always freaky. You enter a new place where people with different talents converge daily to display their skills. You feel like a stranger. You look different and you seem not to understand how things work there. You even ask yourself whether you can handle the work allotted to you. This is not because you are not capable, but the fact that it's your first time makes you a little nervous, however, it takes a few days to blend into the system
The very first job I ever did
The time I was eager to work was when I completed my high school. I was always at home doing nothing and I saw that as a waste,so I decided to take up a job. When my dad heard about it, he turned it down. He didn't allow me to do what I wanted and it's not that he gives me pocket money to sustain myself. I wasn't happy with his decision, but I couldn't go against his order. But there's always time for everything. When the right time arrived, he couldn't oppose me. It was time for my industrial training and that was the opportunity I used to take up my first job
The very first job I ever did was with intercontinental bank, where I worked as a bank teller. I lobbied as an IT student, and I was employed after writing entrance exams and passing the interviews. That was the very first time I mixed and worked with people of high caliber. The first day I resumed work,I was oriented in various ways. Since I would be dealing with money, they needed to make sure I'm ready for the job. The cash officer took me to the vault, and opened it
He showed me different currencies stacked and arranged over another. He asked me what they were, and I replied "money". He said, they are papers to him, not money, because they don't belong to him, which means I must also see it as paper. He said the day I begin to see it as money is the day I will start having problems and be tempted to misbehave. His sermon entered through my right ear and went directly into my brain. The head of operation also told me stories of people who had worked with the bank, and been caught in various acts of misconduct. I was later introduced to others at the meeting and I joined my trainer for training
When I was introduced at the meeting, I was nervous. The banking hall had more than 70 staff on seat at the meeting (all in suit). Seeing different faces looking at me at the same time with a powerful gaze, as my mind pictured it melts my courage. I nearly bit my tongue when I was told to introduce myself
Training with Balkis was like hell. She wanted me to get everything in one day. She was nice but not easy to deal with. The speed with which she handled things helped me, though she pieced me off most times with her swift anger at things. I was able to learn fast and was given my cubicle in less than a week of training
I thought it was an easy ride when I was given my cubicle to work on my own until it was time to balance my account and I had an overage of #15,700. I was confused, because I knew I didn't over-collect from customers. I checked my account several times and the overage kept showing. I rushed to Balkis to help me look into it, and the same overage surfaced when she did the balancing. I discovered that she wasn't as tense as I was. She took my tellers from our merchant teller and cross checked with what I had in my cash register, and found the error. I recorded lesser amount in my book, that's why the overage of #15,700 reflected. I was glad that the account balanced
The bank doesn't joke with overages and shortages. You must always find a way to balance your account before the close of the day. If you have overage, you must fish out the error, and if you have a shortage, you must make it up with your own cash to balance the account. So, as a teller, you need to be extra careful when dealing with customers. To say the fact, the job went well for me. It was a stepping stone to another level in my life. I gained more experiences and learned a lot during the period I worked there
Why I left
I wasn't employed as a permanent staff member. It was on contract. My industrial training was for one year, and after the completion, it's a must I leave. But something happened. When I completed my one year, I was told to stay for another one month. It didn't happen to those that were before me. After one month elapsed, I was told to stay for another month. During that period, I had an accident on my way from the stadium, and that was what made me stop the job. So if you ask me why I stopped, I would say it was due to the accident
Lesson learnt from my first job
The first lesson I learned was customer service relation. Every business needs it. I learned how to nurture relationships with customers. Relationship with customers patronizing your business is a tie to the financial well being of the business or organization. With good customer relation, you know the mind of the customers, and it helps in serving them better, and also helps in the way of developing products that would help the customers and also generate revenue for the business
My first job also built my courage. I talk at the meeting almost all the time to contribute my quota. When I was made the head of IT, I read reports every week. My first job really prepared me ahead of time for other white collar jobs, and it helped me when I worked with Airtel Nigeria, which happened to be my second job
Would I go back if there's any chance
Honestly, I would love to. The experience I gathered and the love we shared together would always make me want be in that environment again. But, that is no more possible because Intercontinental bank is no more. Access bank acquired it in 2012, and the team were dissolved. First job, first experience. It was fun all the way.
Thanks for reading
This is ckole the laughing gas
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