Effective public relations, like other specialty fields, requires some expertise. It is much more than selling the image of an institution or being a mouthpiece of an organisation. Having said that, I also do not think a degree in public relations will necessarily make one a good public relations officer or manager! At the same time, a lack of a degree in public relations does not mean one cannot perform the functions required if they truly apply themselves to the craft. I have a diploma in public relations but I am sure I’d woefully fail if I were to be a public relations officer for the Gambia Government! Not because I’m not qualified but because I simply can’t function effectively in the kafkaesque that passes for a government!
Let me get even more personal. For almost five years, I worked as a quality control technician for HJ Heinz. I worked in a laboratory where I was charged with ensuring every product we produced was within company specifications. I started out as cleaner in the warehouse before putting in an application for quality control when there was an opening. I took a test and to this day, I’m wondering how I managed to pass that test. Anyway, I went from being a cleaner to wearing a white lab coat looking like some scientist! Had to learn all about Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points, Material Safety Data Sheets, and a bunch of chemical calculations that were as foreign to me as Badibunkas are to the rest of us. Eventually I became one of the senior staff overseeing others with degrees in biology or chemistry which were the backgrounds desired for that position. All I had was a high school diploma from Nasir Ahmadiyya Muslim High School. You can imagine the challenges I faced, especially given that I terribly failed maths in high school. What I did was work hard and learn everything about the job to become better than most that I worked with. By the time I was leaving, I was one of the few quality control technicians qualified to operate in all three labs we had at the company. I was still in university at the time and my focus was criminal justice!
If you have also ever been in position to hire others, you may be familiar with headhunting! I have been headhunted a few times and I have also headhunted others. In instances where I was headhunted, I still went through the whole application process even though it was a given that I would get the contract unless something goes terribly wrong. That brings me to the second issue: There’s nothing wrong with headhunting others for a position but if you have established rules and procedures to hire people, especially in a public institution, those rules and procedures must be followed! Even if the whole hiring process is perfunctory! You can always say: I did everything as I was supposed to. Now, can Talib Bensouda say he did as he was supposed to? Importantly, how many of us can say that in our official duties, we do things exactly as we are supposed to?
On this KMC hiring
Effective public relations, like other specialty fields, requires some expertise. It is much more than selling the image of an institution or being a mouthpiece of an organisation. Having said that, I also do not think a degree in public relations will necessarily make one a good public relations officer or manager! At the same time, a lack of a degree in public relations does not mean one cannot perform the functions required if they truly apply themselves to the craft. I have a diploma in public relations but I am sure I’d woefully fail if I were to be a public relations officer for the Gambia Government! Not because I’m not qualified but because I simply can’t function effectively in the kafkaesque that passes for a government!
Let me get even more personal. For almost five years, I worked as a quality control technician for HJ Heinz. I worked in a laboratory where I was charged with ensuring every product we produced was within company specifications. I started out as cleaner in the warehouse before putting in an application for quality control when there was an opening. I took a test and to this day, I’m wondering how I managed to pass that test. Anyway, I went from being a cleaner to wearing a white lab coat looking like some scientist! Had to learn all about Hazardous Analysis and Critical Control Points, Material Safety Data Sheets, and a bunch of chemical calculations that were as foreign to me as Badibunkas are to the rest of us. Eventually I became one of the senior staff overseeing others with degrees in biology or chemistry which were the backgrounds desired for that position. All I had was a high school diploma from Nasir Ahmadiyya Muslim High School. You can imagine the challenges I faced, especially given that I terribly failed maths in high school. What I did was work hard and learn everything about the job to become better than most that I worked with. By the time I was leaving, I was one of the few quality control technicians qualified to operate in all three labs we had at the company. I was still in university at the time and my focus was criminal justice!
If you have also ever been in position to hire others, you may be familiar with headhunting! I have been headhunted a few times and I have also headhunted others. In instances where I was headhunted, I still went through the whole application process even though it was a given that I would get the contract unless something goes terribly wrong. That brings me to the second issue: There’s nothing wrong with headhunting others for a position but if you have established rules and procedures to hire people, especially in a public institution, those rules and procedures must be followed! Even if the whole hiring process is perfunctory! You can always say: I did everything as I was supposed to. Now, can Talib Bensouda say he did as he was supposed to? Importantly, how many of us can say that in our official duties, we do things exactly as we are supposed to?
Alagie Saidy Barroow
