Get Wierd

“Average doesn’t win award” – Mavi Isibor, Group C.E.O, Poise Nigeria

In my view, there is no reason to be normal. The problem with being normal is that normal is normal and most of the time, it is average, regular and unremarkable. Sometimes being good enough is not enough, you need to be abnormal. Please let me explain with a personal experience:

‘Tina returned from her interview so excited. It had gone very well, so well in fact, better than she expected. She went over all the questions that the members of the panel had asked her and she knew she answered them well. I can testify to that because I was on the panel, we interviewed about 27 people that day.

Tina knew she answered us well because she downloaded an interview skills manual from the internet and when she cross checked after the interview, she was proud of how close to the manual her answers were. She followed the format perfectly, she used the rights words and so on, “Lucky me!” she thought, she shut down her computer, “I am so sure they will pick me.”

While Tina was reveling in her great performance at home, the other interviewers and I were going over our scoring of all the candidates. We were discussing and trying to decide on which 5 to call back and our conversation sounded a little like this:

Panelist A: “Most of them sounded the same to me. I am looking at the names and the CVs and I am struggling to even remember half of the things they said.” Everyone nodded.

Panelist C: “What about that Emeka guy?”

Panelist A: “Yes! The one that said he ran an NGO while in school.” Everyone smiled, and comments like “I liked him”, “sounds intelligent”, “I recommend him” flowed.

Panelist B: “There was also that girl that spoke so passionately, what was her name?”

Panelist C: “Ah! I cannot forget that one, Bola, she seems to have so much drive. I think she will bring new life to her department if we choose her.”

Panelist A: “She is chosen already, no contest. Let us call those two back add any three of the others that got high scores, just pick any three. Let’s see them next week.”

Panelist C: “Please there was a girl named Chioma, she shouldn’t fall into the others o. She got high scores but her explicit dressing will put people in trouble”

Panelist B :“Yes, but we also have to take that intelligent funny one who said he was selling pure water in school and still came out with a 2:1.”

Panelist A: ”I almost forgot him, great! Add him as well. Does anyone remember any other person that stood out? For good oh! Not the one that wore jeans and was saying he could not remember what the vacancy is for because he sent is CV to so many places.”

.

Everyone roared with laughter and the session ended.

The sad truth is that I do not know Tina. Her name could have been Titi or even Tope. She is a representative of all those who scored high but blended into the crowd because they followed good guidelines to the point of losing their individuality. Though they did well, they were all grouped together as ‘the others’.

‘Get Weird’ is not saying that you should just be weird for the sake of being weird. I am not saying that you should be different just for the sake of being different. Just embrace the things about you that make people say “Why are your own things always different.” When you discover what is different/weird about you and you learn how to sell it, then that is true packaging. Someone could be ashamed of the fact that he sold pure water, recharge cards or even food in school but if he learns how to package it, then it becomes an edge that makes people admire his resilience.

Someone might be a scatter brain who always forgets where they keep things. You just might be chosen as a perfect marketer for a company that sells Key Holders with SIM Cards in them. Whatever it is about you that makes you feel weird:

If it is good: Embrace It

You don’t want to stand out for bad performance so, if it is bad: Overcome It

If it is neither good nor bad: Enhance It

When you are done: Package it

To be abnormal can also mean ABOVE NORMAL. So, in all you do, feel free to follow the guidelines, don’t break the rules but please, embrace your individuality and don’t be afraid to

…GET WEIRD

Your friend

Uki Dare

PS: Please do not throw away your preparatory manuals for interview skills, you only need to learn how to let your personality shine through. I also teach interview skills (with a twist) at Poise’ Graduate Finishing Academy so feel free to stop by if you want some tips. uki@poisenigeria.org

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