One afternoon at work, I had witnessed something very painful to my heart. The company I worked at had recently made a position available for a debtor’s clerk after a very committed employee left unexpectedly to move to greener pastures.

Exactly the week before, a vacancy was advertised and right on the same day people have been in and out submitting their applications. I had not known what was happening until the next day in the morning when I asked a colleague whether we had a vacant position, and she unpredictably said yes. After lunch, I decided to sit around the front desk. As I set there, I was looking at people coming in and submitting their CV’s with so much hope that they would get the position. About 5 people walked in, in just 30 minutes while I set there.

Now as they walked in, I received and checked through their CV’s if all was in order and I helped those who did not submit their documents correctly. I was looking at the submissions of fully qualified people who I knew might not even be considered as we only needed one person and about 300 CV’s were submitted in just 2 days. After a while, a colleague of mine walked in and I asked her about the applications and she said, so many people have applied. In just one day we have received about 200 applications. We have already selected who will be coming for the interviews and those that are still bringing in might not even be looked at because I mean we went through over 200 applications already. We had found at least 30 candidates who could have been successful, went through them and chose at least four from them. We only needed 1 candidate, so we thought why still go through another batch. It was really sad to hear that. I was looking at more people coming in as I heard that we selected the potential candidate already. Some of them looked so hopeful and so happy to see their applications being received. Some people brought in CV’s for their loved ones, a father brought in their CV, some ladies came in a few minutes before five and I was thinking to myself, somewhere someone is at an internet cafe typing their CV, praying not to be late just to come hand over their CV before end of the business day. Somewhere someone was using their last penny to print and come hand in their CV before end of the business day not knowing that it won’t even be considered. It was devastating.

The unemployment rate is very high and its sad that there aren’t enough opportunities to cater for all these unemployed people. I am no HR guru but there are a few things I have picked during my time of sitting there:

• Hand in your CV on the first day the vacancy comes out so that at least you are part of the first batch received. HR people receive thousands of applications, there is no way they will go above 100 to 200 to select one person.
• Your certified documents should not be older than 3 months.
• Dress presentable. People will address you exactly how you present yourself especially depending on what you are applying for.
• Make sure you meet the requirements. No matter how desperate you are, you cannot have a certificate, diploma or degree in management as a major but apply for an accounting position with the requirements of an Accounting degree or diploma as a major clearly stated in the post. It is pointless because sadly some companies if not all pay very much attention to those details. It is a waste of money and time to push buttons that won’t open. Sometimes trying your luck doesn’t really work!
• Make sure your application looks neat and organized. No HR person will pay attention to your incomplete CV of untidy documents. It presents you in your absence, make sure it presents you well.

The youth is doing great by being innovative and doing their own things. I have a strong belief that in the next 5 to 10 years our local market would have grown and we would not need to import some basic goods anymore from foreign countries. Hopefully through innovation and establishments being created by our youth we can tackle the unemployment rate of our country together with other economic issues we face.

Namibia has got so many talented people, especially the youth. So much talent in different sectors it would take me a decade to name what we have achieved. I believe if we keep the same energy we have now, we would be great in a few years to come.

Julia Martins