How a simple hairstyle got me on the spotlight for a job.

10 comments

I was born and raised in Kaduna state in northern Nigeria. I grew up there but occasionally traveled to visit family members who lived in other states including the FCT (Abuja, Nigeria)

I went to Kaduna state University where I studied for a degree in economics. In the course of my study, I failed a course and had to sit for it, meaning I had an extra year to spend in the university. This is called a “spill”.

While I was attending my extra year, we had a break in the middle of the semester and I decided to take a train ride from Kaduna to Abuja. I wanted to spend time with my aunt who lives there. My younger sister was also in the same university, so we traveled together. I booked our tickets the day before and we took the evening train. The ride was a smooth and fun one.

While in Abuja, we had so much fun because our aunt took us to see a lot of interesting stuff. One week went by so fast and the break came to an end, so we had to return to Kaduna. That day we took the 6pm train which was to arrive at 8pm.

I wore a gown, which was my favorite red dress at the time and had my hair packed in two cornrows with the tips ruffled at the back like afro. Our aunty dropped us at the train station and we went onboard.

The ride was going smooth as usual when someone walked up to us and introduced himself. He was holding a large document in his hand. He said he needed to get away and have time to go through the document.

As an economist, I was interested in what he was reading, so I borrowed a copy of the document from the office library

Anyways, we got talking and he asked what my occupation was. I told him I was a student, and everything about my extra year in school. He was excited when I told him I was studying economics, and even more excited when I mentioned my final year project research topic to him. When we arrived at Kaduna, we exchanged numbers and he offered to drop us off at school cos we stayed in the hostel.

However, because in the whole of the semester I only had one course to attend to, I had a lot of time that I felt was wasted so one day while I was on the phone with my train friend, his name is Sanusi by the way. While I was speaking with Sanusi on the phone, I told him I needed a job to stay busy since I had a lot of extra time. There and then he told me to meet him at the office, where he asked me a few questions, more like an informal interview and he told me I had the job. He has a startup firm and he was recruiting data analysts.

Furthermore, he told me that when he saw us on the train, it was my hairstyle that first drew his attention and attracted him to us. He said he was wondering how a lady would travel all the way with such a simple hairstyle, which by the way, he thought it looked good on me.

I had to create a rough sample of the hairstyle for this post. Hope I tried guys?

I got the job and the salary was very good. It was also very flexible, so I had time to attend my lectures and whenever I needed to take time off work for a fixed lecture or to study for a test, I could do that without stressing.

Also, he paid our salaries in good time and once in a while he gives the staff an in-office treat. He also made sure that all staff were comfortable. There's a lot of details that I don't want to go into here, but Sanusi was a very good boss. I had to move from Kaduna to another city, still job hunting and I pray to meet a boss like him on my next job.

I still speak on the phone with Sanusi and we're still good friends.