By Chibuzo Ihegboro
Maureen Iyasele’s five-year stint in the oil and gas industry was interesting and gratifying. At Exxon Mobil, one of the world’s leading oil companies, she was a Lead Design (Process) engineer who worked with teams of experts to execute multi-billion dollar projects. But Iyasele soon found out her passion was somewhere else. She felt the urge to contribute her quota to the good of the society by providing guidance for the nation’s teeming youth wallowing in unemployment and directing them towards opportunities. Resigning from her good-paying job at Exxon Mobil, she established JobMag, a contemporary job resource and capacity development centre. Ten years after its establishment, Jobmag has blossomed and has been instrumental to thousands of youths finding life direction and dream jobs.
In this encounter with this interaction, Iyasele among other things gives an insight into the motivation behind, principles and process of Jobmag as well as some cogent advice for young Nigerians.
What was your motivation for starting Jobmag?
I grew up a science student. I loved Mathematics and calculations. I started life as an engineer in an oil industry where I worked for over five years. There was just something missing from the equation. There was something that I was not fulfilled about, and that was helping other people. I enjoyed myself in the oil and gas industry. I made money but the fact that I could not help people created a vacuum in my life so I decided to look into it and do something about it.
The vision of Jobmag came about when I realized that I had a lot of people around me that were searching for white collar jobs. The sad part of it was that they didn’t know what they should be doing to get the job. They were not proactive about it. After some research, I came to the conclusion that these youths are really clueless about what they should be doing to make their lives better. That was what led me into setting up Jobmag, a job/resource/career centre where young people can walk in and get advice on how to move forward in life. The centre also helps those interested in entrepreneurship to start their own enterprise.
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What are the initial challenges you faced as a startup?
When we started in late 2009, one of the challenges we had on our hand was the difficulty of getting accurate data. We did a considerable amount of research but the daunting challenge I faced personally was that there wasn’t anybody doing this kind of business the way we wanted it done, so it was difficult trying to really get a model that we could follow here in Nigeria. Our plans at the beginning were based on trial and error. In the process, a lot of resources were wasted.
We also had a challenge in understanding the way young people think. It is one thing to say they appreciate something and it is another thing to say they would pay for it. It took us a while before we could figure out who our consumers were.
What are your success stories?
We have had some triumphs and we have beaten the odds. We are still beating the odds in terms of we started a business and we have not failed. Many businesses fail in the first two years but we have come this far and we are still waxing strong. We have been growing organically and gradually, that is something we are very happy about. We gained a lot of recognition even among our peers. We have been celebrated, though I still think we have a lot more to accomplish. In our fifth year alone, we helped over 5,000 youths in getting jobs and training and helping them with their businesses. And each successive year, we have been able to raise the bar.
Has the business been lucrative?
If you do not have a passion for giving value, then this is not the business for you. You will meet all sorts of young people, including some who are clueless and some who think they know it all, and it is your duty to re-educate and change their orientation. However, because we are in the business of helping people, it is not as profitable as one thinks. One needs to be creative, innovative and find ways to augment one’s revenue and ways to make it profitable. It’s a bit of a challenge but it is doable. However, it has lots of prospects as long as more youths are graduating and there are loads of job seekers.
What are your tips for starting a recruitment agency?
First, you need to understand the market niche. If you are interested in training service, ask yourself: what kind of training? And who would be your target audience? You need to understand what problems they want to solve. Once you are sure and you understand that it is your passion, it is important that you start very small. You don’t need to get a centre straight off, because the overhead of running a centre can be consuming. Instead, you may rent a training place in the beginning or on an ad-hoc basis as the need arises.
Importantly, document properly anything that you do for that is the way to build structures in your business as you grow. Structures are not the four corners of the wall, but rather the processes and systems that you put into your business. So it is important to start small. Secondly, revolve your client requirements around your business. Every decision you make in your business should be revolved around how the way your customers and clients would feel about it.
How does Jobmag work with job seekers and entrepreneurs?
One thing employers look for is young individuals with the right mindset. One of the things we do a lot is assessment. We assess applicants, train them and place them on a job. Though free of charge initially, we would, at the end of the day, be charging them for our services.
For those with an entrepreneurial mindset, we have partnered with some vocational trainers where they can learn a skill set. We help to impart on them the business acumen. We expose them to SME training. Most have a one-on-one mentorship programme. What it means is that anybody can walk into the centre and have a one-on-one mentorship programme with invited specialists on subject matters.
What are some of the lessons you have learnt about entrepreneurship?
I have learnt a whole lot of business lessons. Some of them I wish I had learnt from the very beginning. I have had the privilege of having a few mentors who have helped me in the way, but generally, experience has taught me some valuable lessons.
First of all, I wish I understood the LEAN startup model from the beginning. Sometimes when we develop our product and services, we do not get enough feedback from our clients, we assume that they would just automatically like it. I have learnt that feedback is extremely important. Feedback should not just be a one-time thing; it should be a continuous feedback module until you perfect it.
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Secondly, I learnt that when we start our businesses, a lot of us think that we can run about six or seven different products and services, trying to make ourselves jack-of-all-trade and master of none. I urge people to learn the art of focus. When you are focused and have perfected and augmented the art and process of that product or service to the market, you can then do brand extension or product extension, where you now decide on the next product or service you want to develop.
One of my role models and mentors is Tonye Okoh. She told me that we have to learn how to build relationships and understand who our stakeholders are. Stakeholders are not just customers or those people who have invested in your businesses. They are also people who can make life really difficult for you as a business owner. This includes local government task officers who would come and disturb for tenement rates and others. You need to learn how to build relationships with all forms of people that would make your business grow easily or make life difficult for you.
And your advice to job seekers and potential entrepreneurs?
Job seekers must have the mindset of a goal-getter, a problem solver or a solution provider. Many job seekers feel it is their right to be employed by any employer. They need to understand that it is the value they bring to the table that would be paid for. They must not leave themselves stagnant; they need to constantly re-educate themselves, gain more knowledge or acquire more skills. Most job seekers today cannot even use Microsoft Word package properly. They still believe that Word is a package you only use to type and I tell people if that is only what it is then there would be no need to get rid of a typewriter. The skills you have, nobody can ever take it away from you, you would only use it to help yourself someday.
For entrepreneurs, they should get used to the idea that they need to start small. They might have heard it a couple of times but it is very important they start small. If they can draw a business model canvass, then they need to do one, which will give them an idea of what they should be doing in their business. They should also get feedback from their clients; they should ensure that they have excellence and integrity as their watchword. If possible too, they should find a mentor, somebody that has been there and could help them overcome challenges. Equally important, they should learn to prioritize too.
