Winners emerge in Total Job Shadow 2015 competition

30 Senior Secondary school students were drawn together from Amuwo-Odofin Senior Secondary School, Imoye Senior High school and Dr. Lucas Memorial High school all in Lagos state to participate in Total Job Shadow on November 19 2015. At the end of the program, the students were made to relieve their experience in the form of an essay.  Three major winners emerged with six other runners-up.

Each of the first three winners from the three schools were on 5th May, 2016, presented with educational tablets preloaded with over 20 educational apps like past  WAEC examination questions, past UTME examination questions, various text books, educational games like “Who wants to be a millionaire” etc.  The tablet also has a prepaid one month internet access to assist with their school work. The 6 runners up were given Awango by Total Solar lamps to assist with their studies as well as light up their homes.

Testimonials from the participating students include “the program opened my eyes to the realities of work life like I never knew existed. I will forever remain grateful to Total for giving me this memorable opportunity and I wish Total extends same gestures to other students so that they can learn like I did. Total please come back and do more”; “the employees made the experience wonderful. I realized that to enjoy work, you must have passion” (Ikejimba Chiamaka); “today’s experience is an unforgettable one, I really enjoyed it. I learnt a lot concerning customer service” (Igweagu Peace); “It was a good event; I enjoyed watching the processing of the lubricants” (Toheeb Adebayo).

Total job Shadow is an employee engagement activity designed to increase career awareness among senior secondary school students, help model students’ behavior through examples and re-enforce in the students the link between classroom learning and work requirements..  Its objective is to expose senior secondary school students to practical real live work environment that will challenge them to aim for excellence and guide them towards a definite career path as they prepare to graduate from high school.

This live environment presents them opportunities to interact and gain firsthand experience with Total employees while at their jobs. The realities they experience provide them clearer direction in their career path and a broader perspective beyond the theory they have been used to in the classroom.  This is because they have the opportunity to interact with various professionals in real terms.  They meet all carders of employees ranging from management to operatives.

The 2015 Total Job Shadow event took place at Total Blending plant, Kirikiri, Lagos. The students had a session on Leadership delivered by the Corporate Affairs Manager of Total Nigeria Plc Mr. Albert Mabuyaku. They not only interacted with the employees, they also had a detailed tour of the plant facility.  Their curiosity was adequately addressed and all their questions answered by professionals. This experience gave the students the wealth of knowledge they otherwise would not have had.