In Papua New Guinea, it’s not what you know but whom you know

Papua New Guinea is fast becoming a society where the cream of the crop is jobless.The normal process of securing a job in PNG by sending resumes, setting appointments and interviews are things of the past.

Unemployment rates are skyrocketing as more students graduate from colleges and universities. What is the Government doing to overcome this? In a country where young people resort to crime to meet daily needs, creating more jobs could minimise some of these activities.

Unless the Government creates more jobs, crime will remain an impediment to our economic growth.Today, getting a job in PNG is like the survival of the fittest. The bottom line is, and this is the sad part, it is not what you know but who you know these days to get a job.

And this a friendly reminder: To find a good job in PNG, you need to know someone who hires and make sure you have some money to give him/her or buy a lunch box, smoke, betelnut (does this smells like corruption? I don’t know, you tell me).

To get that job, you need to do whatever it takes to ensure you get it.You do not have to show what kind of degree you have. I have been there and done that and those who have been in my situation know what I am talking about.

Ultimately, the chances of finding a good job the old-fashioned way are less than 50% but if you try the PNG style, or what is known as “backdoor-deal”, you might have a 95% chance of success.

I am not encouraging anyone to try the latter but it is now a norm in PNG and whether you like it or not, you have to adhere to it to put food on the table for your family.

*** I wrote this article on this blog earlier but was edited and published by The National News on their editorial column. To read the full article, click here.

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