How I Got a Job With a Top Kenyan NGO, My Salary, Experience & Advice To Job Seekers

By Jane Okoth,

The new perception with job seekers nowadays is that working in an N.G.O. is one of the best career experiences you will ever have.

Funny enough every one tends to think that every N.G.O is just another UN or a USAID.

Career point recently interviewed a former employee of a Lea Toto Community Outreach, an organization owned by Nyumbani children’s home and here is her story.

How did you get the job?
Immediately after I completed school, I joined the organization on internship basis for four months.

One of the senior employees informed me of the vacancy and encouraged me to apply since it was a wonderful opportunity.

How was the interview process?
It was quite challenging for me since this was my first interview. I was interviewed by a panel of five individuals who work in the organization in senior positions. It was me against some volunteers who had worked in the organization for many years but I was the one who eventually passed.

What was your job description?
I was employed as a Nutritionist to advice mothers who had children suffering from malnutrition. I was based in Kawangware slum where I would give nutritional advice to clients and also those suffering from HIV AIDS.

The organization also offered relief aid to the poor in communities so I was also involved in supervising the distribution of food supplies.

What kind of organization would you describe the organization?
It is a good opportunity for students who have just completed school because it fully prepares them fully for more challenging careers.

Also it gives its employees a chance to grow because all of its former employees are now in well paying careers.

How would you describe your working environment?
It was very demanding and overwhelming considering that I had to deal with people of different backgrounds.

It was also very challenging and the job required a lot of patience because one was dealing with HIV patients so you needed caution handling them.

Would you recommend someone to work at the organization?
Yes I would. Not because of the salary but the challenging working experience would boost their CV.

What was the salary range for your position?
My salary was from 28,000 to 33,000.

What was the most challenging part of your job?
It was dealing with unsatisfied clients. No matter how hard you try to do your best they just won’t appreciate your efforts. I remember one client who was HIV positive who claimed that I discriminated her because she had the disease. That was totally untrue!

Over time when you worked at the organization, what helped you perform well?
My bold attitude towards the job and my dedication made me a better employee.

There was a lot of negative energy some from my colleagues but I did not let that deter me from performing my duties.

What did you not like about the organization?
The fact that apart from dealing with rude clients, I also had to brush shoulders with some colleagues who for some strange reason would be on your neck.

Do you have any advice for the senior management in the company?
I would like them to listen to the grievances of their employees. They need to seek audience with them because some had even had to quit their jobs because of frustration.

Due to privacy reasons, the name of the interviewee remains anonymous.

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