When most people leave the country to study abroad, they usually do so with the hopes that it would make finding a job once they return much easier.
And so, armed with their certificates, some of them from world’s highly regarded universities, they return home, as one of them put it, eager to hit the job market hard.
Only, as Rose Odhiambo Brown who has lived in the UK for the last 15 years will tell you, it is not as easy as having degree from a world class university or the ideals of repatriating the best skill and knowledge to your home country. Not even a promise by the president that employment is guaranteed for those coming home from the diaspora is enough.
She returned September last year with the conviction that she would find work, like many others who have streaming back, she pinned her hopes on the promise of Kenya’s unrivalled growth in the region. Odhiambo walked through the doors of Nation Centre last week bearing a list of her comrades, all of them returnees from London who listened to the president’s plea and took action.
According to the returnees, who talked to Jobs on phone, President Uhuru Kenyatta, during a meeting with Kenyans living in the UK in May 2013, gave an aspirational speech in which he spoke to them about reverse brain-drain and asked them to return to Kenya and work here so they could better the country.
EXISTENTIAL BIAS
“He said we’d be guaranteed jobs as long as we were qualified. We came back but what’s happened? We have been moving from door to door, and still nothing. We can’t even access these politicians who accompanied him in persuading us to come home.”
Odhiambo was confident her graduate degree in mental health acquired in 2010 was marketable enough in a country sorely in need of mental health professionals.
Now she says she has been to the nursing council where in spite of having copies of degree certificates and transcripts she has been told she will be required to present all university transcripts. She has even tried the counties but nothing.
“That ideal we had coming back that we want the best for our country and would like to grow our own, boomeranged on us when we got here and ten months down the road couldn’t find work after months of searching,” the nurse who has been in the hunt for a job for the last one year, says.
A mental health graduate from the Buckinghamshire New University, Odhiambo worked for Ealing Hospital a district general National Health Service hospital in West London, for five years as a psychiatric nurse, before her decision to return home. She earned half a million shillings each month she says.
“And the reasoning was that even though the pay might not be as good as abroad, Kenya needs our skills and when you are close to your family it’s better than more money elsewhere, and that is why we came back.”
Now this lot say they feel there is an existential bias against them by recruiters and bosses who feel threatened by their exposure and skill level.
“We are not sure whether people are intimidated by us or what is happening,” says the nurse who has been to various hospitals and the Ministry of Health in search of a job but to no avail.
“We are stereotyped, I think society already has a formed opinion of us. That because we worked abroad if we have to be assigned work in less disadvantaged communities like Kibra we won’t like it, but I can do anything, this is my country. Anything I can do to make a contribution in making it better, I will do. We have a lot to give to the society but some people have refused to give us the chance to do it,” she added.
At this point she says she is still holding onto her UK PIN. “Should anything not come up soon then I am thinking I’ll need to go back to London for work,” says the mother of two, “because you know with nursing if you don’t practice you lose your skills. I studied for five years only to come back here to suffer.”
IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS
“Being out of work over a year most of us are having to rely on friends and family for upkeep,” she says and reveals that she has had her brother pay her rent thrice already and she has now resorted to looking for small tendering jobs from government to keep her going. “Sometimes I go to bed and I cry. I ask God, did I do something wrong by coming back home?” she adds.
In the meantime, she is helping whichever mentally ill people she can find get better and pondering over a decision by the cornered group to go see the President and remind him of the promise he made to them back in London. Except according to her it has been hard accessing State House.
Her message to the people back in the diaspora? “They need to know the truth about these politicians who come and tell people to come back home that there are jobs for them. Instead they should ensure they have attained the job by the time of relocating or come back prepared to join the job search tumult just as everybody else. Many of us, especially those with families are struggling to make ends meet.”
Jack Bwana graduated with a distinction in Master’s of Science in International Logistics in Cambridge—Anglia Ruskin University and thought with such impressive credits it would be a whizz getting a job back home.
But all he has heard since he started looking for work was that he was overqualified for the jobs he has tried for. He says most advertised positions lack transparency at the stage of hiring.
“Advertisement of jobs in Kenya seems to be a mere formality. It seems they have already filled the position prior to the hiring exercise and only advertise because there’s a requirement to do so. People I know are tired of applying for the jobs and have now resorted to doing business or starting their own consultancies,” said the man who is now gone into consultancy.
Isaa Jelimo, a Masters graduate of Coventry University, has ended up helping with the family’s small business after her seven-month-long hunt for the elusive marketing job with a Multinational Corporation she was hoping to nail once back.
Esther Mwende Masika who went to the same university to study for a Masters in Strategic Marketing has had to go back to ground zero working as an intern after applying and learning that most of the jobs were just fraudulent job advertisements.
“It’s a bit scary. I had wanted to further my studies to an even higher level but I am wondering if I’d done that then what would have happened?” she marvels.
Peris Muriithi has an MBA from Conventry University too, and has been looking for marketing, economics and trade kind of jobs, but she says wherever she has been if she is not knocked off the list because she is over qualified, then she suspects it is because organizations are afraid of the amounts of money she might ask in salary.
The returnees agree on one thing. That the recruiters in the country need to be more courteous to job seekers by sending feedback upon disqualification for a position, so they understand why they are not getting through. Apparently it is discouraging and frustrating when they do not hear back from the organisations they have applied to.
– Nation.co.ke
who chops nowadays abroad
who chops nowadays abroad with hopes of returning to Nairobi to look for a job?? It’s either you find a job in Nairobi while still abroad, or you set up your own investments in Kenya so that you don’t starve in that country. I mean is anyone that naive to believe visiting Kenyan politicians? kuweni wa-serious
I figured as much; these jobs
I figured as much; these jobs maybe legit however I always suspected that there was someone already lined up for it. Nilitarmark kiasi even with a UON degree. Putting out the add and the application then vetting process is for “show” both in the public and private realm. WHAT’S NEW?
Rose Odhiambo Brown pole
Rose Odhiambo Brown pole sana; watuhurudi wamejipanga na chappaa, ploti na nini nini…..WEWE UNARUDI NA KARATASI??? I suspect when they asked you for transcripts wewe ndiye hukuelewa….wanamaanisha tran$cript$ / chai/ kitu kidogo. I think ulienda ulaya ukiwa mchangaa sana. Unaamini Unye?
KENYAN GOING BACK HOME FOR
KENYAN GOING BACK HOME FOR JOBS.
I would thank all of you who have gone back home to look for Jobs. The most chaleging in our life is just to ask ouself did we go to school & get the highest level of education to be hired ??? If we think a little bit we should hire ourselves than to be hired. This way we can create jobs for those who did not get to be educated in uk or America or any ather foreign countries. I believe even if we open a kiosk we can put it at a better orgernised way than that of a non-educated person. What we need is a small capital to start a small kiosk as we look for the job we want. This way we will stop fingerpointing the president & his fellow politicians who are never tired of talking false promises. Let us build our country by starting small jobs to keep us busy. These small jobs will grow to big industries, nothing started big. Keep up brothers & sisters we come home, fail come back but are we going to stay like this ? let us hope we get courage to start in Kenya.
Diaspora Kenyans,hata
Diaspora Kenyans,hata nyinyi…why are you listening to Uhuru?Hakuna jobs Kenya.mjisort majuu.
Hata ndio mimi nauliza. Why…
Hata ndio mimi nauliza. Why they believe in a system that has failed them year after year. Forget them! Do your thing, achana nao. Siasa ndio Mingi na kupiga mdomo. Sijue Wanafaidisha Wananchi kivipi.
Tigoni u have spoken like 20
Tigoni u have spoken like 20 kikuyu men enjoying murattina.mrs odiambo has mentioned she was earning half a million in UK n his brother has bin helping her to pay rent??Sorry to ask for 5 yrs wat was she doing with her money??She could have atleast bot a plot n build her own Hse with those 5 yrs,that’s 30million in 5 yrs alipeleka hio pesa wapi?????I have said it here to the diaspora pple who want to return,make sure u have ur own house n if u can njenga like 10 units n leave in one of them so u can b collecting like 150k in other 9 units if u build in a ok place.Personally pple who have studied in Kenyan urniversities should get 1st priorities than Diaspora pple because they invested their school fees in the Kenyan economy.Also for folks who want to return think of investing 1st kidogo so even if u Tarmac for years without getting a job ur life will go on Kama kawaida but hii mambo ya kurudi tu na degree only will not help you at all in most cases naukiteseka blame yrself not gover juu akili ni zako.
Are you serious asking where…
Are you serious asking where all that money went? Do you think she was just earning that money and squandering it? Life in UK is very expensive and there is no short cut to bribe anything. Bills have to be paid…. don’t be so naive.
Always leave the foreign
Always leave the foreign country in good terms kwa sababu mambo yakileta noma Jamhuri pack you baggage and go back to UK/USA etc
I wish @Peter Kahura told us
I wish @Peter Kahura told us his story when he returned home and opened a spare parts store in his home area,Gachie/Wangige.And why does Miss Odhiambo & Co think they are so important to have jobs waiting for them in a country where 60% are jobless?RUNDINI UINGEREZA,HAKUNA MTU ANATAKA HUNDUMA ZENU KENYA.THESE PEOPLE WERE STILL ALIVE WHEN YOU WERE AWAY.
Kenya that’s true don’t break
Kenya that’s true don’t break yr bridges but rem this west countries can go down too juu God Ni God n we have seen it happening in Europe.Even in usa I saw many Americans moving to dubai,Switzerland n Africa 6 yrs ago in search of beta opportunities when economy started going dwn.So Africans we have beta chances than any other continent to grow coz 10 countries in the world 9 which r leading economically n they will continue doing so in the next 15 yrs are all from Africa n am happy kenya is one of them.So returning home is always a good idea but kama umeplan poa n trust me if u have planned poa u don’t need ever ever think of going back to that slaverly working like donkey life in this west countries.So plan poa unless umedipotiwa.I have usa papers n after returning I have never ever thot of even visitng for the last 2.5 yrs n I know so many who returned 5-7yrs back from usa,uk,Australia n tell them to go back,my Fred they can even curse you thou wote wail plan poa n r doing fine.
hey mkenya, i whole heartedly
hey mkenya, i whole heartedly agree with your comment. Hey man, i should have met you when I returned to Kenya and set up some farming ventures in rironi near limuru, only for my greenhouses ku-decide ziote jua. Mieen, that was a trip. But life back home is really cool.
nusu million kila
nusu million kila mwezi….that is not true at all……been a nurse here……people should speak the truth
Yes.We are in Jamuhuri(and we
Yes.We are in Jamuhuri(and we are not looking for a job.Nor do we want one).Why would a diasporan come to Kenya to seek for a job??Give others who have not had that chance to travel at least to get a job.Create a job for yourself and other Kenyans,otherwise board BA 064 back to Heathrow.
I am not a spokesman of
I am not a spokesman of Kenya’s useless president but were kina Odhiambo deported then waanze kuwadanganya/kuwahadhaa waKenya wanjinga of jobs reserved for them by Uhuru?Are they just ODM agents with their usual pesa nane politics?
Some people in diaspora just
Some people in diaspora just assume since i have degrees from the so called universities jobs will be lined up for you.Coz you left kenya in the 90s kenya has changed a lot very educated young people hunting for jobs alafu ukuje na hio mentality ya majuu things can be very frustrating.
The other thing is when you live abroad for like 10 yrs and just assume utarudi home and people should worship you those days are gone be ready to start small and work your way up !
@shiko, nusu million kila
@shiko, nusu million kila mwezi is $5,000 per month. That is equivalent to $60,000 per year. People makes more than 60K per year if you have a professional job
If there were just a few or
If there were just a few or no vacancies even in 2000 when Odhiambo left,why didn’t she not stop at @Mkenya Halisi’s home in Tigoni,Limuru and buy a NDIGIRI(to employ herself) instead of traveling to London-6500 miles away and wasting her 15 years to acquire/buy a DEGREE like Sonko which added nothing her brains?Did she challenge Uhuru to give the reasons why his useless administration could not employ the thousands unemployed graduates in Kenya?
Moving back to Kenya is not
Moving back to Kenya is not for everybody. In my opinion, if you are planning to go back to Kenya to work:
-Either be a fresh graduate from university here with little to no work experience, family commitments, kids etc or be a senior level executive who can get placements into senior company positions through connections. These two groups of people in my experience usually succeed because new graduates going back to Kenya have lower expectations than people who have years of work experience…they are in most multinationals in Kenya. They love new graduates with foreign degrees….
-If you are a nurse abroad and are planning to go back to Kenya, please have reasonable investments that will give you a steady income or remain in diaspora because nurses are paid crap in Kenya!
-Do not expect to get paid what you got in the diaspora unless you are a senior level executive with huge amounts of experience under the belt…Utalipwa market rate.
Otherwise, knowing people who have gone back….Kenya is a good country. In fact most returnees do not ever wish to come back and work endless long shifts with very little social life…Hio hapana. Therefore, depending with your definition of success, chose where you will be the most happy
@lovanox…..half baked
@lovanox…..half baked degrees na chemuchaa ndio ‘many educated’ looking for jobs??…diaspora kenyans bring to the table education and work experience a kenyan who has never left kenya can compete with.Hakuna siku you can compare a nurse in Kenya or do
been a nurse in the UK
been a nurse in the UK …………..i still insist she is not telling the truth. we dont make nusu million shillings working 4 the NHS here…..ama ni NHS ya wapi hio? Its important 4 people back home to learn the truth…..am a nurse with a degree but i dont make that much……even my manager does not
@shiko, RN in usa makes more
@shiko, RN in usa makes more than $75,000 per year depending on the number of hours you work. Come to the states.
“Personally pple who have
“Personally pple who have studied in Kenyan urniversities should get 1st priorities”…. Such statements to low IQ folks are what start Xenophobia . Boss
Shiko – you are either not
Shiko – you are either not telling the truth or you are talking for yourself. Most BSN or RNs make at least 30 dollars any hour. That translates to 60,000 dollars a year. Now, these RNs can work two jobs or overtime. Overtime is getting paid 1.5 times your hourly rate. Do the math: $30 /hr. 30 * 8 =240 a day. 240X5= 1200 a week. 1200X52 = 62400. Depending on what type of nurse, this is the bottom pay. Nurses who work in Acute care, Emergencies etc make upwards of 60 dollars an hour….that translates to 120 thousand a yr. Need more proof? My wife is a nurse.
The notion that studying
The notion that studying abroad is a guarantee for a ready job waiting for you in Kenya is nothing but a mirage.Times have changed, Kenyans back home have become more learned, more knowledgeable, more educated, more competitive, more advanced, more sophisticated, more civilized, and even more complicated thanks to social media.My take on this just like others have commented is that equip yourself with knowledge and don’t peg your hope on politicians or even president Kenyatta himself, do your research thoroughly before making a decision to go back home for your degree is no special than the one she/he got from USIU, JKUA, Nairobi or any other university as a matter of fact these Kenyans Back home are more likely prepared for Kenyan jobs than those in the Diaspora unless equipped with some job experience its actually almost becoming impossible to compete with Kenyans back home in so many areas. Train yourself while abroad to becoming that an match-able entrepreneur and i guarantee you that you will be on a road map to becoming an employer as opposed to being an employee.Dream to become an entrepreneur.
Guest right on some people
Guest right on some people have been here too long without ku visit jamhuri just Don’t assume things do your research before packing
Am telling the honest truth.
Am telling the honest truth. I dont make 500,000 KENYAN shillings every month like the lady wrote. I dont take home that much. Am only speaking about UK . I dont know how much people in USA make. I dont do overtime. Am talking about working in the NHS in England only.
A politician is only after
A politician is only after one thing — your vote. Act carefully before believing them.
2. Before repatriating, take a long leave without leaving your current job because you never know.
3. invest overseas while working
4. back to point no. 1. Never believe the govt, it’s relying on you to spread a bigger lie.
Going abroad to study for a
Going abroad to study for a first, second or third degree imagining that you will have a competitive edge against graduates from local home based universities is just hot air in a balloon. As an employer, I would be more at ease absorbing a local graduate with a masters degree than taking a PhD graduate who has only been moving between a class and an exam room and has no working experience at all in a relevant field. Most of these ‘been-to’ graduates have acquired irrelevant experiences in nursing homes and home care jobs, dishing fries and tanks of soda at McDonald fast foods or fitting customers with shoes and pairs of pants and suites. That’s not real work experience for business strategy MBA or an Engineering diploma expecting to secure a professional job position in Kenya these days. So, think again and again before you craft a plot to rush out of the country for degrees we are producing young and talented Kenyans for right here in the country for much less.
What you are having is “…
What you are having is “”makasiriko”” it’s either you were denied a visa or you gat your own issues, CBK said that people in diaspora sent money to the tune of 215 billion Kenya shillings, did you transmit that huge amount with your m-pesa? Those doing those jobs that you highlighted contributed more to the economy than you did and than you will ever do. with such type of archaic reasoning you’ll just do more harm than good to the economy. Don’t ever think that getting those degrees is a walk in the park those kids with whom you are busy criticizing that they do shoddy jobs , most of them end up becoming people of integrity and getting good jobs in their respective countries in the long run, That’s why they will send money back home help their families and invest a lot ,otherwise numbers don’t lie.so rise up think and get a life.
Just a quick question to you…
Just a quick question to you with all due respect. Have you ever worked, lived or attended any college abroad? I ask because this is the attitude of most Kenyans I have interacted with and they are damn wrong. There is something so crutial to any developing country in any part of the world and Kenya is no exception and is SKILLS and Diversity. Skills are aquired, mostly by doing after training. That is Kenya and Africa so desperately needs. These two are the reason why US offers 50,000 green cards every year to foreign nationals to become their citizens to bring those skills that they, despite being a developed country acknowledge that they need to remain competitive. It is this same reason that we, a poor third country, go for engineers in China to construct our roads despite our own Universities producing engineers every year. Africa needs those critical international standards skills almost as they oxygen and definitely more than loans. Because we are competing in the world market place against the best out their.
But we have a problem and the problem is stupid patriotism and that is the garbage our politicians has fed us for years. We think patriotism alone will build a country. Cuba is one of the most patriotic country on earth and one of the poorest and they will tell you their county is the greatest that has ever existed. That’s the power of believing
I dont believe one bit that…
I dont believe one bit that Kenya is producing talented kenyans, thats why the rich dont even educate their kids in Kenya, then to make it worse there is barely any jobs, people living in diaspora commonly hear how so many “learned” kenyans can barely find a job, so how do you compare a diasporan who is slightly experienced to a new grad?? Secondly with that fast paced education system Kenya has going on in universities such as Nairobi Uni I have heard of students leaving University undercooked and not ready for the market. So yes, most definately diaspora graduates do have a competitive edge against majority of the locals.
Let’s just start with the…
Let’s just start with the assumption that you are NOT an employer as you claim to be, because anyone with half a pea brain doesn’t reason like you. You need to do more research on what Kenyans do abroad. Your cliched claims are tiring. Obviously you suffer from lack of exposure.
I am one of those PhD’s who …
I am one of those PhD’s who , in your words been moving “between a class and an exam room and has no working experience at all but a relevant field!!!”
Wow. Yours is quite a statement when it comes to PhDs. I have not met one, and I mean one PhD candidate who is bursting their butt burning the midnight in some of the leading university labs in the world. I know this for a fact because a program like the one I graduated fro attracts the best brains from around the world – even from other first world countries – because they are second to none. And yes, some Nobel laureates work in some of these buildings!! I challenge you to apply to get into a PhD program anywhere in the US because it is a breeze (as compared to getting one in Kenya). I challenge you to show me a PhD who graduates from a US university without being published scholar as a requisite for graduation!!
As an aside, as a graduate student working to earn an MSc and then PhD, I did extensive stint doing odd jobs to earn my keep: furniture delivery, crew at Tim Hortons, and yes, manning the counter at McDonalds!!! And tell you what, at one time I had a hard working coworker who happened to be the son of the provost ( like academic registrar). Good for you that you can look down at some of these jobs!! Here, that is a positive in your vita.
Anyway. Enough said.
I think you need to
I think you need to reevaluate your observation. Think again or have first hand information about your McDonald’s and Nursing homes mentality before you comment. Because of employers like you, even the local graduates you’re talking about have no jobs. I can’t give you no further stick for the wrong conception you have but I ask you to dig deeper and come out with such comment.
This kind of employers are…
This kind of employers are insecure,that you are more qualified, knowledgeable than them and think outside the box,and feel that you will sweep their job away from them.
I think we have set our minds
I think we have set our minds on a bubble of only healthcare jobs and most comparisons are on that. Truth is people in the US do more than nursing, don’t get me wrong, nursing is great and the make a killing but it is not the only path. I know people in other professions working for multinational companies who make over $7000 a month so 5K net after tax and don’t do over time (standard 40 Hr week), so plenty of time for a social life and family and still banking enough cash stress free.
Also I have been here 5 yrs only and I have noticed that some of the people here came decades ago and think Kenya has been at a stand still just waiting for them to go back, shock on you. These are the people going back with a superiority complex thinking jobs are saved for them. I say stay were you are or go with a concrete plan, I advocate investments rather than job hunting though.
And for goodness sake we cant all be the same thing for those out here let people take different career paths and diversify the professions that Kenyans venture into.
As a foot note: Success can be had anywhere in diaspora or in Kenya, we all have different paths so don’t take another persons path and shake a fist at God if it does not work out.
You sound bitter! Were you
You sound bitter! Were you denied a visa or something?
Most people who take those jobs at McDee and nursing home do so to support themselves through school. If I had an option between someone who had their fees paid and one of these people, I’d pick the person who did these jobs that you despise. That person has some kind of work ethic and they do not take that degree lightly as doing these jobs really needs someone with perseverance.
It is this kind of blatant
It is this kind of blatant ignorance that keeps Kenya behind.Most of the people who graduate from US universities usually have relevant industry experience that lacks in Kenya.President Kibaki was a wise president who encouraged the recruitment of Diaspora educated folks and you can see the milestones Kenya achieved during that administration.I mean right now Kenya is in very many ways very similar to the US of course if your take away the chronic tribalism in employment and business opportunities,the stealing of public money.
so unko uncle, your drivel i so ignorant that i doubt you had any meaningful post secondary education.It has not been formed by reliable first hand experience or research but by night club noise.
All those examples you have mentioned constitute the pillar of American business exceptionalism and working there can give someone business managment skills, customer service skills that are so lacking in this country.
So i hope i have given you a tuition free education.
Travel the world and learn.
All good arguments
All good arguments
Kenya has enough unemployed…
Kenya has enough unemployed graduates already, and that’s why the government is going the technical courses way.
If you have any transferable skills you need not worry,just apply them here and help ease the unemployment
crisis leading our youth to depression and suicides.
Otherwise, it’s never too late to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Sincerely,
A fellow diaspora graduate.
I assume all these people…
I assume all these people commenting here are educated. Where is empathy? Before you criticize show a little empathy to your ” brethren/ sisteren”
I wonder who still listens…
I wonder who still listens to Uhuru. It is good to go back home, but you must have a back up plan should you fail to secure employment.
Looking for a farm manager…
Looking for a farm manager with international agronomy experience.
First of all she is lying to…
First of all she is lying to us atibwe listened to Uhuru na tukarudi? If she actually listened to Uhuru then she is not qualified to be hired anywhere in Kenya. Ati we got paid 500k a month..with those qualifications and atleast 10yrs of experience?? Then she came home with no plan A or B? Kenya is where Doctors can be grounded for months…what makes her think she is special? Nobody cares about your awesome papers or experience- nobody in Kenya. Ok ok life in UK is expensive and taking a huge pay cut is understandable but this is Kenya!! Go back be4 you loose your license.
We are all proud to be…
We are all proud to be Kenyans, regardless of whether we are in diaspora or not. Our country with all its beauty and resources has not provided all the up and coming with opportunities to grow, thrive or develop a career. Why? Let’s start with nepotism, corruption, tribal politics. That’s why people leave in searc of better opportunities. That’s why people are sacred to come back. We want to come back and bring unique skill sets, outlook and resources. But Kenya systems makes it challenging against its own best interests. When we do come back, sadly it’s with fear and angst , as many have noted – how much sense does it make for a university graduate to tarmac for years on the streets of Nairobi? Kenyans on average are highly educated , a good place to start is root out the corruption especially in the corridors of power