Work for Experience!

A lot of times when I tell my story, I leave out a part that seems to surprise a lot of people. Some think that I came up from a privileged up bringing or inherited a whole lot of money. I had a rich and wonderful upbringing, the kind of riches one can lament on not the money kind lol. After completing my diploma in Aeronautical engineering at college, I had no experience in the aviation sector and had sort of lost interest in aviation after NASA refused my eligibility to work there.
However my interest in biofuels had already peaked and I had decided in 2006 that it was my destiny. Using my knowldege of engineering principals, I started to research biofuels and biofuel technologies. At a certain point in my research, I realised that I didn't have the expertise to lead an engineering or production unit and I didn't have any money to pursue my dream. So I decided to join the 'tamanga' industry, street hustling, peddling imported goods. I did it for a few months, and was good at it, but there was a void I felt constantly, I felt that it was beneath me to join the simple business of trading, I had become a mere sales man, running after customers to nuy what some genius is making in his own comfort, it just didn't feel right. This made me work harder to realise my dream, so I started to invest in my goals with whatever profit I had made, which eventually led to my first back yard biodiesel production.
I had the technical side of biodiesel production down to science and was happy to sell it to a few mates who were brave enough to throw it in the fuel tanks. But something was still missing, I didn't know how an engineering production line worked. One day in 2007, I saw an ad in the newspaper, the local Airline was recruiting aircraft technicians. I had no experience but all the right paper work, so I dusted off my blank CV, and wrote an application letter. The application was denied, I had no experience, luckily I was granted an audience with the technical director, he was a really negative fellow, short and skinny behind his desk of magnificence and power. In that moment, I remembered my college instructors words 'doesn't matter at what level you enter the industry, as long as you're in'. I looked at the TD and said ' I'll work for free!'. That was an unexpected twist, simply because, our generation feels deserving of the good life, without knowing the value of work we want to reap the benefits.
I worked for 3 months without pay, only lunch in the company canteen. Most young people who hear this exclaim at the impossibility of working for free, and I get it I mean, we were brought up to believe that hard work is meant for poor people who have no option because of lack of education. But I was privileged to have gone to college in the UK, where hard work takes precedence over endless doctorates and wealthy backgrounds. Granted that these attributes help a lot when it comes to gaining access to certain privileges, but starting from the bottom is one of the most powerful assets anyone can have. In the 3 months I worked for free, I had a chance to work with a wide array of gifted technicians, met brilliant accountants one of whom became a shareholder in my business, made contacts through working with other professionals, learned admin systems that I still use to date. So many benefits but no monetary gain.
In whatever you do, look for the #silverlining.
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851