Career Building Secrets: Based on a Fortune 500 Company

We are back with another exciting video hosted by Coach Africa’s Irene Mphatso earlier this week. 

Irene conducted an great interview featuring Dayo Macaulay which gives you insights into powerful career building secrets! 

Dayo was in the hot seat as she shares her life journey of building her career in Nigeria and her subsequent crossover to working with a fortune 500 company (Aegon NV) as a financial reporting analyst in the Netherlands. Below we will highlight these secrets so that Coach Africa can help you build the career of your dreams. Let’s not wait to achieve our aspirations and goals!

For starters, Dayo was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, where she completed her tertiary education. She began her journey as a chartered accountant, where she worked as an auditor for 5 years in a company located in Nigeria. However, she started to feel like it was time to move on, time to chase and achieve her goals and so she proceeded to do her Masters in Business Administration in France, and subsequently found a job in the Netherlands after graduating. 

It was no easy task as Dayo was completing her undergraduate degree concurrently alongside the qualification under the Institute of chartered accountants of Nigeria. How did she do it you may think? In this she expressed her admiration for her mum, whereby she inspired Dayo to complete the certification for her future since it was seemingly difficult in Nigeria. Dayo also expressed in the interview that she was scared, as finance was not really up her alley at the time, however she persevered and 4 years later she completed everything showing us how important it is not to give up even if things seem difficult at first

Here are the key traits Dayo listed as important for chasing your career:

1. Discipline

This was one of the fundamental traits mentioned, Dayo expressed that she needed to make sure she really knew herself in terms of what worked best for her. In her case, it was essential to have a time table which scheduled studying as well as rest time so that it is easy to stay on track, especially during exam periods. As this can also come into play when you start working. However, as Dayo mentioned discipline also means knowing when to have fun, as it is extremely essential to keep a good balance for your own well-being.

 2. Grit

Never give up! Believing in yourself and being proud of the amount of effort you have put into your work, as Dayo said “You cannot go back, you can only move forward.” Especially after you have come so far, do not let yourself back track and feel as though you cannot do it. 

3. Self Awareness

In terms of self awareness, Dayo used the context of her exams where she took 25 papers in her time studying, and failed two. To be self aware was to make sure you are aware of what you possibly have done wrong as well as what you could have done differently in order to create a better outcome. Assess yourself, be aware of your possible mistakes and make sure you come prepared for any situation.

The interview also brought on an interesting perspective in terms of knowing when to make a change. Irene asked Dayo how she knew it was time to leave her auditing company in Nigeria after building such a reliable reputation overall. “Why did you disrupt your life, and what were the lessons you learnt?” In this she mentioned that she had been privileged throughout her life with having a strong support system which influenced her heavily in regards to her career but at some point she felt the need to discover more, however the risk was entirely calculated as all options were considered. Dayo also mentioned that she arrived in Europe with 400 euros and 50% of her tuition fees were not paid yet, however she had a plan and the discipline to make it work. 

Sometimes people will tell you to wait, and you keep waiting until you can no longer achieve your dreams. The fundamentals of your decision should come from you, when you want to do something and you have assessed all the possible risks and it is still worth it. Push yourself, reflect and do all of the research you possibly can and make the best decision for you. “Although it is very possible to fail, accept it and learn from it.”

Another important note made was that Dayo made use of networking and broadening her horizons in order to get by in a foreign country. 3 years into living in the Netherlands working for Aegon, she explained that she is living the experience that she was able to read in books, and she is extremely humbled and grateful to be able to do this. Also, it is extremely important to ensure that your mindset continues growing throughout experiences, both experiences in Nigeria and the Netherlands have given her the opportunity to continue learning. 

Most of all, let’s continue to learn, prosper, together we can! 

Catch the video live on our Facebook page, here