Please Switch On your Phone ;life experience

In February, 2017 I bought a new Samsung phone as a birthday gift for myself. My birthday was on 1st February and my parents and sisters had each sent some money to me as a birthday gift. So I used some of it in addition to some of my savings to buy my first android phone.

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I took that phone as a newborn baby. I cherished it so much. I was doing my NYSC then and when I was going out, I would switch off the phone and keep it hidden somewhere in my apartment. The few times I took it out were to charge it when there was no power supply at my house.

My family knew that I only came online after work because my "baby" was left at home while I was at work. Some calls were diverted to my old phone which I used to take to work but most times people couldn't reach me at all until I went back home to my "baby."

This worked well for me then as a Corp member and also helped me fight social media addiction as my phone was left at home most days.
Fast forward to last month (post NYSC), I got a mail from a recruiter who had tried calling me for a phone interview. My phone was switched off and so he couldn't reach me with the number on my CV. I finally got a second chance to have that phone interview.

Just recently again, I got another call one morning while having my quiet time. I don't like answering calls during my quiet time but I did answer that one (I felt guilty afterwards).source

The call was from another recruiter calling to schedule a phone interview for later that day. About two hours later, I got another call from them rescheduling the interview to an earlier time. And then I finally had the phone interview with them.

The lessons I want to share from these stories are:

1. Have your phone with you as often as you can and never switch off your phone (except in rare cases like in Church or on a flight or in a place where you are told to do so.)

2. If you are in a meeting or at work, instead of switching off your phone, put it on silent mode or vibration. This way you can see the missed calls and call back later or excuse yourself to answer the call.

3. Ensure that the battery of your phone is always charged. I believe most of us stay in Nigeria with unstable power supply. You can get a power bank or a generator or even go and pay for your phone to be charged.

4. Pick up calls from strangers and unknown numbers. It might be that client that will give you a million dollar contract. It might be a phone interview or that job offer you've been waiting for.

5. Put your phone number (a working phone number) on your CV, your website/blog if you have one and if you are an entrepreneur, your business phone number could be included on your social media profile as well for easy reach.

6. Be nice when answering calls of strangers and unknown numbers. You may not know who you are talking to.

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1. Learn to be disciplined to know how and when to put your phone down and get work done and to spend time with family and friends. Have your phone with you, keep it on but put it down to work and spend time with others phone. @surpassinggoggle @adasactly @resiliencia.......how do you see it ?