Alchemy for Careers

By Concepta Merry

Alchemy is the ancient art of attempting to transmute base metals into silver and gold and is considered to be part of a general striving of all things towards perfection. Watching young professionals and particularly doctors manage their careers one could be forgiven for thinking that they were deliberating attempting reverse alchemy. Despite feverish attention to educational progression, career management is seen as an unnecessary soft skill and these people often effectively make themselves unemployable. Third level institutions rarely emphasise basic career literacy skills such as preparation of a CV, interview techniques, career planning, time management and effective presentation and communication skills.

Much attention is focused internationally on the brain drain of professionals from resource poor countries to the developed world but little attention is focused on the far worse reality of professionals from resource poor countries who move to the developed world and fail to secure suitable employment as they have limited career management skills and poor understanding of cultural differences. Sadly many of these young hopefuls end up as security guards, gas station attendants, valets in their new country and I have worked with many of these individuals in the USA, Europe and South Africa over the past five years. There is also the loss to the productive workforce of professionals who enroll in serial overlapping courses in a misguided attempt to secure better employment.

This book on career alchemy is written with examples from the world I know best and the world where inefficiencies in career management can have the most devastating impact-the world of the African doctor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Oct 2, 2007
• ISBN: 9781490730677

Concepta Merry

Dr Merry is an Irish physician specializing in infectious diseases and pharmacology who divides her time working on research projects between Uganda, South Africa and Ireland. She has been actively involved in mentoring young professionals from Africa, Asia, Europe and the USA in career literacy and believes that providing career management support for young people world wide is an essential component of creating a better world.

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© Copyright 2006 Concepta Merry.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Note for Librarians: A cataloguing record for this book is available from Library and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

ISBN:

978-1-4251-0905-9 (sc)

ISBN:

978-1-4907-3067-7 (e)

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Contents

Chapter One - Dr Obinna Applies For Jobs

Chapter Two - Prof Maher Rips Up Obinnas CV

Chapter Three - Dr Obinna meets Prof Maher

Chapter Four - Dr Obinna presents to Prof Maher

Chapter Five - Dr Obinna plans his career

Chapter Six - Dr Obinna starts his new job

Chapter One

Dr Obinna Applies For Jobs.

Dr Obinna is a thirty year old Nigerian doctor who studied medicine at the University of Ibadan. He is currently working in a hospital in a rural area close to Enugu town in south-eastern Nigeria. Despite the long hours and delays in receiving payment, Obinna really loves practicing medicine. He particularly enjoys caring for children and dreams of one day becoming a paediatrician but really doubts that this will ever happen. In fact, Obinna is very worried about his future career. Worse still, Obinna cannot talk about his worries as his family are so very proud of his achievements and depend on him for financial support.

Obinna is the third born of a family of ten. His family have a small farm in a village in Enugu State. His parents believed strongly that a good education is the key to a better life and security. They actively encouraged the children to study hard and made many sacrifices to ensure that the children could go to school. The last few years have been very difficult for Obinna. His father passed away from diabetes when Obinna was in fourth year in medical school. Obinna is now paying the school fees for his younger brothers