Finding you the right job that suits your skills and talent is his duty

Perminus Wainaina (left), receives an award at a past event. Whereas colleges and universities continue to enroll students, no survey has been done to determine the true manpower needs of the country. [PHOTO: COLLINS MABINDA/STANDARD]

Nairobi; Kenya: Perminus Wainaina can make you one promise. He will find you a job that suits your skills, talents, and passion. Mr Wainaina is the founder of Corporate Staffing Services that handles recruitment and staffing for companies.

A few years ago, the company merged with CareerPoint Kenya to provide job listings and advice to job seekers. For the last six years, he has helped job seekers find the right jobs to suit their skills and talents, while also helping employers fill their vacancies and meet their manpower needs.

Mr Wainaina believes that HR recruitment outsourcing is a growing field with more companies now entrusting third parties to handle their recruitment needs. Starting the business wasn’t easy, and he relied on savings and referrals to grow.

“As such, it was always a case of reinvesting the profits from the business to grow the company, which has turned out to be one of the leading recruitment firms for entry to mid-level managerial jobs. To this end, the company is able to staff businesses with the right talent,” he says.

Mr Wainaina promises a success rate of 95 per cent. The business has had the most success with family businesses that want to professionalise their operations.

Family enterprises

He says that previously, many family owned enterprises gave jobs to family members who were oftentimes unqualified, but thanks to recruitment companies such as his, this is beginning to change.

“In Kenya, almost all the jobs created are in the SME sector, and it would be imperative that job seekers understand this fact even as they apply for these jobs,” he notes.

He says that too often, job seekers have relied on academic papers alone, but that these days it’s all about value addition and what you bring to the table. He further mentions that most employers these days want someone that can hit the ground running, and so, even as one looks for additional papers, they had better augment it with some experience and practical skills.

How does he stand out in this crowded market? The trick has been to use the social media and Internet to let job seekers know of his services. “Our website, Careerpoint Kenya acts as a marketing platform as it lists jobs and also offers up to the minute career advice for job seekers,” he notes. “The company also holds regular seminars, which help connect employers and potential job seekers, and in the process, to reduce the unemployment rate in the country.”

Mr Wainaina notes that the notion that there are no jobs in Kenya is a fallacy, adding that “as long as you know what you are looking for, then there are very many job opportunities in the country’.

“The only thing one must avoid is having unreasonable expectations that may result in one being too choosy when in actual fact, the jobs that one could do are many and varied.” He says that for “one to get a job, they must convince an employer that they have been busy, as employers simply wouldn’t want someone who has been out of a job for too long, or is doing nothing so to speak.”

Get depressed

He says that college and university graduates who stay without jobs for too long soon find themselves out of the market, with some even ending up depressed.

Some of the services the company offers include HR advisory services, determining the market rates for specific jobs and crafting job descriptions for clients. The company also does background checks.

Wainaina advises employers not to place the HR role on the backburner, but rather, to retool the HR function. These days, its talent and human capital that is essential for the success of a business and not money or machines, important as they are.

He notes however, that there is a disconnect between actual work experience and what graduates are taught in school. For instance, he notes that whereas various colleges and universities continue to enroll students in various courses, there has been no survey to determine the true manpower needs of the country.

He observes that most job seekers lack soft skills, wishing that more universities would important this set of skills.