Chevening post-study career plan. Immediate and long term plans upon returning home

career objectives

My immediate plan upon my return to Nigeria is to continue with the non-profit organization, Life Support Intiative, which i am currently a part of. We recently kicked off a campaign called Education is the new cool. This initiative is to support the less privileged children who possess good character and outstanding academic achievement that have dropped out of school due to financial constraints. These children are nominated by individuals who have identified their zeal and willingness to learn. We currently have the capacity to support fifteen children based on the network we have created. These children will be supported from primary to secondary school. They will be provided with School Uniforms, bags, shoes, books and all fees will be paid by the Life Support Initiative. With the influence and vast network I hope to attain as a Chevening awardee, I plan to expand this initiative whereby we could accommodate hundreds of children and even support these children through University level.

My long term career objective is to be a leading research analyst with excellent business insight capable of driving performance improvements. I plan to focus my research vocation on helping rural/neglected communities help themselves by reviving community banking. In addition to my Master's degree in Management, I plan to become a CFA charterholder to improve my marketability.

For the mandatory one year National Youth Service Program organized by the Nigerian government, I was posted to the rural part of western Nigeria where I stayed in a community that comprised of people struggling to realize their good ideas, so that they can create a better life for themselves, their families, and their community. This experience made me realize that poor people are not helpless, instead of charity or empowerment, we can provide funds to fuel their initiatives. By renewing the idea of community banking, communities will be able to self-generate financial control which will enable them to easily access financial and developmental services for the good of the community.

In the long run, I seek to join the World Bank. The World Bank has executed several projects in SME development, it also has a major focus on the eradication of poverty. My goal is to lead an energetic team focused on community banking, harnessing the resources of rural communities in Nigeria and transforming it into revenue for the community to help itself. A career at the World Bank requires professional achievement, leadership capability and international exposure. I believe the chevening programme will enable me meet these requirements thus producing an agent for change in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Lauretta, revise the content of your essay. You are missing the reference to the UK organization in Nigeria that you can work with upon your return. Remember that Chevening requires you to look for UK based organizations in your country that have ongoing projects with your government, local institutions or NGO's. That is not an optional part of the essay, that is a requirement. You may find that you will need to do a little digging in order to find the relevant agency that you can work with in accordance with your masters degree. Take your time. You need that information in your essay. You will need to reduce the exposure of your plans to work with the local organization in order to create a balanced essay that represents your personal interests, as well as the Chevening UK promotional interests in your country. I believe that you can best do this by removing the reference to the mandatory one year National Youth Service program. That is irrelevant to the discussion of your plans. It is not required information based upon the prompt requirements. It only takes away from your word count unnecessarily. You should instead, focus on the inclusion of the UK organization as I mentioned earlier.

@Lauretta
you should also convince the reader why you are qualified for that position? It is easy to say, I want to become this and that. But this is important to convince the reader that you will be qualified enough for that specific position.

Hello @Holt thank you for the feedback. I have revised my essay. Please take a look at it. Thank you.

According to the 2016 annual reports, the DFID has supported more than 450,000 children through primary and lower secondary education directly and by funding of various organizations. Nevertheless, there are still about 10.5 million Nigerian children out of school. My immediate plan upon my return to Nigeria is to continue with the non-profit organization which recently kicked off a campaign called Education is the new cool. This initiative is to support the less privileged children with good character who have dropped out of school due to financial constraints. I plan to use my influence as a chevening scholar to expand this campaign by working with the DFID and collaborating with other Non-profit organizations to tackle the issue of education in Nigeria thus helping the country meet one of its millennium development goals.

Within the next two years, I plan to join the World Bank. The World Bank has executed several projects in SME development, it also has a major focus on the eradication of poverty. My goal is to lead an energetic team focused on community banking, harnessing the resources of rural communities in Nigeria and transforming it into revenue for the community to help itself. The experience and skills gained for the World Bank would be the stepping stone to the achievement of my long term career goal which is to be the CEO of an Agricultural community bank with a vision to promote agriculture and trade in Nigeria.

According to the UN report, by the year 2050, Nigeria is estimated to be the third most populous country in the world with the population of about 300 million people. This drastic increase in population will bring about challenges of food security and also economic growth. If Nigeria remains a net-importer of food, there is bound to be an increase in food prices leading to a high rate of hunger and malnutrition and also a decrease in the GDP of the country.

The mission of my bank will be to provide credit with no collateral to local farmers thus doubling agricultural productivity to support the rising population. Studies have also shown that most investment opportunities go to big agro-industries, neglecting the small farmers. With the support of the Department for International trade, i will be able to give these local farmers opportunities to have their agricultural products exported thus aiding foreign direct investment. This will have a positive effect on the local economic and social development and also strengthen the bond between UK and Nigeria. One of my CSR projects would be to sensitize these small scale farmers on the importance of savings and investments as part of the income generated from the exportation of their produce should be re-invested in agriculture.

Such career plan requires professional achievement, leadership capability and international exposure. The Chevening scholarship will enable me meet these requirements and also give me the opportunity to acquire the right influence and network needed to achieve my dreams.