First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
The CV world is just like the mating season in the peacock empire. Colourful feathers are displayed with an air of arrogance in this competitive battle of the plumage. It is all exciting to behold both for participants and human observers but soon the mating is over and life continues. Once the excitement is over, the mundane routines take over. Happy or unhappy ever after, that is the question.
Those who own written CVs know the drill. They write about how good they are and give addresses of others who think the same and are willing to put it in writing.
Schools are mentioned, sporting teams, volunteering work and all the nice things done by the CV owner are mentioned. At the end of reading a well-written CV, the prospective employer is convinced they have the candidate of a lifetime.
Everyone puts their best foot forward when walking to the interview when shortlisted. Clean clothes, nice watch and a matching smile.
It was Elvis who asked “why can’t everyday be like Christmas?” Well, why can’t people live a life as sweet smelling as their CV?
He who pays the piper gets the best tunes they say. It seems that pipers play all the tunes on their CVs and arrive home tuneless and exhausted. Those at home who actually live with the piper are almost in shock whenever they meet the paymasters and hear what an astonishing employee he is.
Many years go into achieving the impressive resume and it is all to impress a potential employer who has the ability to dole out a pay cheque every month without fail. After a few years of working for that cheque, there is a tendency to only reserve strength for the paymaster’s work and ignore anything else that does not bring in a cheque.
That is why some are never as well-dressed when you meet them like they were at their interview.
I once heard a story of a comedian who was successful in making everyone laugh but was miserable in private and was successful in making those around him miserable. It appears that after the CV has been lived up to in the place of work and all contractual obligations satisfied, the real life starts.
Real life is where the family exists. Friends, parents, neighbours and the people we come across almost daily in the places we visit outside work. We could step into character at work like an actor but once the scenes for the day are done we step out into ourselves and our issues. Perhaps, that is why the post-work drink is popular among many. Stepping out of the role for which we are trained might usher us into the roles we have no clue how to handle hence, the need for some kind of escapism.
The irony of life is that while many years and great effort are spent in training and subsequently working on a job, at the death of an individual, no one reads out a CV as a eulogy.
The family are called upon to say a few words, not management. Things not on the CV are spoken of, character, love, courage, fortitude contribution to society and pleasure in the simple things of life. People recall kind words, discreet gifts, hugs, messages of encouragement received in times of despair; those sort of things. Here, the word legacy springs to mind.
Being a model employee and living a sad unenjoyable life is short-changing oneself. Better to put that hard CV graft into one’s personal life and live a balanced existence.
