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What first motivated you to move back to Kenya & were your expectations met when you moved back home?

I had been in the UK in 2007/08 for an 8 month work assignment and the exposure and experience  I received led me to want to prolong my stay. I found it fascinating and exciting to work within a diverse multicultural community. Upon successful completion of my assignment  I applied for a UK work permit and gave up a successful and well paying job back in Kenya to get a better taste of the 'global ' workplace.

Sadly, this was at the height of the credit crunch and it was difficult to get an interview due to the high number of redundancies that had resulted. Fortunately through the Chartered Institute of Marketing I started working as a marketing consultant for two not-for-profit organisations  and learnt a lot about a green marketing and even held a press conference at the House of Commons!
By 2010 I started planning to go home and a friend advised me to put in my CV on www.globalcareercompany.com  as they presented the best opportunity for people wanting to move their careers back to Africa.

What types of jobs were you looking for?

I was most interested in strategy roles and although very open as to what this could entail, I did have a bias towards marketing as I've worked in this function for almost 12 years

What was the most helpful part of the Summit & what advice would you give to someone considering applying for Careers in Africa?

I was impressed by the constant communication that Global Career Company kept sending to me, to keep me abreast of what the summit would involve, what interviews I had been invited to and all the preparation that  I should do in order to give myself the highest chances of success.

I found the company presentations that were run during the course of the summit extremely useful.  By attending these sessions I learnt more about the organisations and what was critical for them in the kind of candidates they were looking for. I also learnt 'softer' aspects of the organisation reflected in the personnel who represented these companies.

How many interviews did you have during the Summit & why did you choose the company that offered you the role?

I was lucky enough to be invited for 4 interviews!

Post the summit I received further invitations  to interviews as well as alerts on other job openings from www.globalcareercompany.com . Registering for the careers in Africa summit is one of the best things I have ever done.

I was impressed by how the GE HR team presented the organisation goals during their company session. I also admired their courtesy and professional manner of interviewing. Post the summit the HR team was also very quick to send feedback and response to any queries I made. What completely blew me away was during the interview session I had casually mentioned to the HR that even as I planned on going back to Africa I potentially was interested in getting a short term role in their UK office. Imagine my shock when he wrote back to tell me that such an opportunity had come through. Talk about really listening to people.

What advice would you give to anyone who is looking to move back?

Start that journey back home by registering your CV on www.globalcareercompany.com.

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