Nicole works in a prestigious telecommunications company in Nigeria.
She's a classy lady who likes to tell people where she works. She feels a sense of pride when she sees the look of admiration and respect on their faces. You could almost read their minds as they wonder how many hundreds of Naira she takes home monthly.
But what they don't know is how depressing, demeaning and stagnant it could be at times to work as a secretary, a PA, Executive assistant, confidential assistant or whatever name the company decides to call it. Every P.A. (for the benefit of this blog, I'll just call this position P.A. goes through all these issues as they take out their day to day assignments).
This is a place to let people into the crazy world of being an assistant through the eyes of Nicole. You'll be shocked at what P.As pass through everyday all in the name of getting the job done.
I'll encourage other P.As to share their day to day experiences here and remember to unwind and have a laugh when you're at it.
The Genesis
27 year old Nicole graduated from the marketing dept. in Unilag with a
2nd class upper degree and completed her NYSC about 3 years ago. She
had been job hunting but she hadn't been successful. She's been
wondering if she wasn't good enough for a job or if she's just been
unlucky.
In the meantime, she developed herself in
different ways. She read up all the Gmat books that she could lay her
hands upon in preparation for entrance exams, researched on what to
expect at interviews and how to tackle tough interview questions and
drew up a perfect CV. She also learnt to touch type for the fun of it,
took a diploma degree in a local computer school to gain computer
literacy and generally kept herself busy.
Nicole was
getting tired of the search and the frustration of not getting the jobs
even after she managed to get interviewed but she was still hopeful.
Today,
she's preparing for another job interview, it's an Executive
Assistant/Admin position. The name sounds classy she tells herself as
she looks herself in the full length mirror in the room she shares with
her younger sister.
She looked pretty in her perfectly
ironed light blue shirt and black skirt which clung to her very nice
shape and made her look like the 'executive' she's hoping to be soon.
She put on her nice stiletto heels, pretty black strapped wrist watch to
go with it and minimal make up. She looked taller than her 5'6' height
and she loved the effect of the shoes. She took an anxious glance at her
wrist watch again and said a little prayer.
