Hello everyone, greetings 🙌.
There are diverse ways that we can make money. Some make their money via applying their skills or having a job. Some make money by doing a trade and so much more. In this post, I will be sharing about the first money I made and the experience gained.
I was only seventeen years old when I ventured into the labour market. This was not because of any financial incapacitation rather I just wanted to keep myself busy while awaiting the results of the JAMB examinations I had written prior. I didn't just want to stay at home eating and sleeping, so I decided to take on a job, my first job ever.
It was a factory job for shoes and other allied leather productuons. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to get the hang of the job due to the heavy duty machines that I saw in the factory but with some months of training, I was abke ti handle most of the machines in the factory.
Throughout the training, there was no pay but I and the other workers didn't mind it much because of the immense knowledge and work experience we were all getting from simply showing up to work. After about three months of training, we were cleared to commence operations and that was when the real work began.
All the workers were shared into various departments placed on targets, that is, an exepected amount of leather to work on daily. I was placed in the sewing and stitching department which focused on sewing different leather parts together before the stitched leather is sent to the coupling department were it undergoes several twist and turns to bring out the correct shoe shape and size as requested.
The work was daunting and tiring but the money at the end of the month which we were expecting was a motivation to keep us showing up daily. I tried my possible best to meet the daily targets as failure to do so would mean that a certain amount would be deducted from our pay at the end of the month, which I wasn't going to have.
The agreed pay was twenty-five thousand naira (#25,000) but the first month we were only paid twelve thousand naira ( #12,000). This was shocking to some of us and we marched to the supervisor's office to inquire as to why we didn't get the agreed amount and what he explained was shocking.
He told is that the company has not made any sales and the money we were paid was actually borrowed to pay us as a form of encouragement. He also said that once the company starts to make sales, that the initial agreed pay amount would be reinstated. Hmm, for the first time, I felt the sharp sting of deception because of that flimsy explanation.
I mean when the vacancy advert was placed for interested applicants, it was boldly and clearly stated that the salary scheme would start from twenty-five thousand naira. There was no clause of "if the company made sales" written there. Well, what could be done when we had been tricked like this ? I and the rest of the workers acceoted the hand we were dealt with abd moved hoping that they company higher-ups would keep their promise one day.
After coming to terms with the salary issue, I took my first hard earned money to the market, bought some household items, some groceries to take home and a little cloth shopping. I will confess that it felt good spending the money I worked for and my family members were very happy seeing that I had bought some household goods rather than spend my money selfishly. Too bad that the company never kept their promise to reinstate the agreed amount till I left the company, howbeit I learnt a hard lesson while working there and this lesson has helped me whenever I am seeking outa a new job to ask in clear details the pros and cons of their work terms si as not to "have the caroet pulled out frim under my feet". Thank you all for reading. This is my entey to the # indiaunitedweeklyprompt #11. You can also participate here. Last image is mine
me at the factory</sub