Long ago, careers were distributed only by gender. Boys got toy cars and girls dolls to play with as they grew up in the child-care centers of yesteryear; all this contributed greatly towards shaping our children into certain types of people who like doing one job or another based on their biological sex at birth!
But now those days are gone forever because any girl, as well as a boy child, can pursue a career without fear that they won’t be able to succeed – I mean really excel–in whatever endeavor comes their way!
In this article I will be concentrating on the “how” and will be using myself as an example where it is relevant. I will be talking about the “Five How” a girl child can succeed in any career. I will also keep it very open because it is applicable to both genders, either a boy or a girl.
1. Mindset
The first thing you will need is to believe that there is no career made for a woman or a man. You need to believe deep down that you can be all you want to be.
When I was growing up, I decided to become an Engineer like my next-door neighbor. I was able to believe that I could become an Engineer even when the field was male dominated because of my father. My father has always told me “you can do it” time over time. He has made me understand that I can be all I can be if I want to. He entrusted tasks that normally would have been assigned to my brothers to me.
So I grew up in an environment that shaped my mind to believe that I can be anything I choose to become. So I could easily conceive the idea of becoming an engineer and ended up becoming one of the few female mechanics in Africa and the very first Female Mechanic from Northern Nigeria and also set up the first female-owned mechanic workshop in Northern Nigeria.
To succeed in any career you need the right mindset and need to believe that you can succeed in that career field.
2. Passion
You might have heard this several times before and even argue with it or make gest of it. Well, I forgive you. But the truth still remains that you can never succeed in any career you are not passionate about. You may eventually make a lot of money from that career but you will still end up sad.
“Find your passion and work on it then you won’t have to go to work for the rest of your life”. If whenever you wake up in the money and you feel sad about going about your work then you are in the wrong career and you will end up sad. I will advise you to find your passion, something you can do for free without being sad and turn it into a career.
The most successful career people anywhere found their passion and turned it into a career. What this did for them was that it kept them going on that career part when there was no money and when they had challenges. And there is no way you will build a successful career without having these challenges.
Last year 2020, my workshop was pulled down and torn apart. That particular day, I lost everything I spent more than 10 years building. Of course, I cried and even decided to give up on running a mechanic garage. However, I wasn’t okay about it. The passion and love for what I was doing kept troubling me. I started thinking of my many staffs that are jobless because of my decision to quit.
Just then, I felt the energy to continue so I started over again. I worked for months without earning anything. I worked for many months paying depths and loans until I found my feet again. If I did not have the passion for what I do, I would not have been able to do this.
3. Understand the Industry
Successful career people are those who understand the industry they work in and navigate successfully around it. However, the extremely successful ones are those who did not only understand the industry but also the direction the industry is heading in the future. So these ones go ahead of the industry and position themselves for the future. When that future comes, they become “hot cakes”.
When I started as a mechanic, I did a lot of internships and training to understand how things work. Even when I wanted to start up, I started on a franchise with Automedics. This gave me time to grow and be mentored (I will elaborate on mentorship later). I understood the in and out of the industry. During this period also, I understood the need for mechatronics knowledge given the direction of electric vehicles. So leant mechatronics and computer diagnosis and programming to prepare me for the industry. This had made us one of the best and most effective auto mechanic workshops in Abuja and Nigeria at large.
Understanding the industry and the future of the industry will make you extremely successful in that industry and prepare you for the challenges and success that comes with the industry.
4. Build Competence
“Any man who is diligent in his work, he will stand before high calibre and important people, not mere men, and he will be contracted and will do business with the high and mighty of the society and not average men” (my own bible version).
Understanding the I industry is not enough. Knowing the future of the industry is also not enough. You need to position yourself for the breakthrough that will come in this industry or brace yourself for the challenges by skilling and building competence. You need to be among the best to succeed in any career part. You need to learn and keep learning.
Every career is dynamic and it’s always updated year after year. For you to stay relevant in that industry, you need to follow the trend and update yourself to stay relevant.
I remember a client that brought a 2020 Honda car to our company some weeks back. The man was complaining that he has taken the car to more than three professional mechanic workshops, and they said he will have to change the entire gearbox for the car to work.
Many times when someone calls my garage to make a complaint and I pick up the call, I will always get the “give it to the mechanic”. Then I will be like “I am the mechanic”. You will sometimes hear things like, “My car is bad I want to speak to the technician directly”. Sometimes is annoying, I will just ask them what the problem is. After they have explained and I engage them and proffer solutions they always do respect me. Sometimes I go as far as personally fixing the car for them even though I have other managerial work calling my attention or better still make sure that one of my female mechanics do it for them. You will start getting the “wow” expression and they definitely respect you.
Being a woman in a “usual” career, you will always get that. But your competence will speak for you and even give you a preference
5. Get A Mentor
Experience indeed is the best teacher; however, the experience does not need to be your own experience. This is what a mentor helps you with.
The role of mentorship cannot be overemphasized. Getting a mentor is like standing on the shoulder of a giant and seeing beyond where your eyes can reach. I will advise anyone that wants to go into a career to find a mentor in that career.
Mentors have gone that road before and so they understand the challenges of working that part. Engaging will help you leverage their wealth of experience and also avoid pitfalls they made in their time.
Space will fail me to explain in detail where mentorship has saved me from terrible mistakes and how much I suffered before getting a mentor.
Joyce Daser Adams
CEO Autolady Engineering Technology Ltd