Osemhen’s Note: One question I often get from younger women is, “Is it really possible to be a woman with a great job and a mother?” It’s a question that’s guaranteed to get me on my soapbox because it’s often asked with a self-defeating sigh. It speaks to the fact that while young women somewhat appreciate the challenges ahead of them as potential working mothers, they usually don’t know that they can mitigate some of those challenges with their work performance early in their career.
And so for this Balance interview, we took a different turn. Bodam isn’t a mom yet but she’s a high-flying top performer who made the abrupt career transition from electrical engineer to marketing manager! And how many women do you know who’ve been headhunted by multiple blue-chip companies? To us, she represents what early career women could do to set up for the best possible future in corporate Nigeria. It’s a pretty long interview, so we’re going to publish it in two parts. Enjoy!
My name is Bodam Taiwo, I live in Lagos and I work as the Premium Spirits Trade Marketing Manager at Nigerian Bottling Company. When I’m not at work, you can find me planning events and weddings at Events By Bodam – the planning company I own, coordinating two prayer ministries for women, having heart conversations over cocktails and long meals, enjoying spa sessions, reading or watching movies on Netflix / the cinema!
You’re an Electronic Engineer by training (with an MSc. to boot). But now you’re a marketing manager. How did you make that switch?
I always knew I didn’t want to practice as an engineer – I have a very creative side and I wanted to experience different things and bring different ideas to life. Shortly after I finished my Masters degree in Mobile & Satellite Communications, I got a job as a Business Development Manager in a company called Fun Mobile. After a year and a half, I transitioned to become the Business Manager for the music department (which was the biggest revenue generating department at the time).
I worked there for about 4 years and in this space, I explored the concepts of marketing – creating marketing campaigns for different seasons across our portfolio, creating different strategies to appeal to our target audience, measuring the success of different campaigns and tweaking the campaigns based on how they were performing versus our KPIs. I did that for two and a half years, and then in 2014, I got the job in Guinness as a Customer Marketing Manager and the rest is history!
Referrals, headhunting or active applications? How have you gotten your jobs?
My career journey really is one of favour! My sister practically got me my NYSC posting. I was still in the U.K, and I identified Huawei as a company I wanted to work in. She walked in and asked to see the HR manager. She told them about me and got me an interview. I came back, sent my CV to them, was interviewed and got the job as an Assistant Commercial Engineer. My first salary was N50,000! I worked with Huawei for about 4 years before I moved on. At a friend’s home one evening, I met a young gentleman. We had a great conversation about work and professional knowledge etc. and he ended up offering me a job (Networking!). I worked with him for a year, and then I went back to the U.K for my Masters degree.
2011 was when I really applied for jobs. To be honest, I’m a bit unsure how my CV got to them (I was throwing it everywhere!), but a recruitment agency eventually reached out to me. I did a couple of interviews with them and got the role with FunMobile. After four years, a recruitment manager at Guinness sent me a message on LinkedIn. I was with Guinness for 5 years, and then a recruitment manager from NBC reached out to me on LinkedIn after a previous line manager recommended me for a role. So it’s been a mix of referrals, headhunting, networking and some active applications.
What do you look for in companies you apply to? How do you determine if they’re a good fit?
Corporate culture is very important to me. I want to work for an organization that truly values its employees, not just on paper, but practically, and this has also informed some career decisions I’ve made in the past. It’s also very important to me to work for an organization that markets its products ethically and is conscious of its responsibility to its consumers and the environment in which we operate. Flexible working patterns are also important to me as I grow in my career. And of course, being compensated fairly for the work that I do.
What are the transferable skills that headline your CV? What advice would you give someone looking to make a career/job switch mid-way?
In whatever you do, be someone that delivers results. A lot of women shy away from difficult positions because we have the tendency to second guess ourselves. Don’t let that be you! Say yes loudly, then figure out how to sort it out later. Time management is critical – being able to meet deadlines. Analytical thinking and problem solving are skills you’d always need, so draw on those as well.
Be well rounded – volunteer for different positions and take on extra tasks in the office if you’re looking to develop a skill. Look for those skills that you need in your new role (find job profiles online!). Then look through your experience to see ways you can develop and/or demonstrate these skills within your current role. Be ready to unlearn, re-learn and learn some more – things keep changing, there’s always something new to learn. Keep an open mind. If you’re the most intelligent person in the room, leave the room and move to a different one.
What are your top tips for a winning CV and for acing interviews?
Highlight your experiences. Don’t copy and paste the same CV for different roles. Don’t just say what your job role was – write what you achieved within that job role as well. Showcase results you’ve achieved in the roles you’re putting up. It can be something as simple as “simplified filing system which reduced customer feedback times”. This shows you’re someone who has a track record of delivering and can be trusted to deliver in the future. Don’t include things like sex or religion in your CV – that information isn’t useful to a recruiter. For interviews – do some research. What are their values and culture? What are their brands? (you won’t believe how often I’d ask what brands we produce in an interview and the interviewee is stammering!)
Google interview questions for the role you are applying for and spend some time practicing those questions out loud. Check intonation, clarity and brevity of answers. Check our answers to see if they align with the STAR methodology.
S: Situation – describe the context in which you performed the challenge.
T: Task – describe your own responsibility in that situation.
A: Action – describe the actual action steps you took to complete the task. If it was a group effort, be sure to highlight what you did individually.
R: Result – what did you achieve. Was it a success or failure?
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