When an organisation rejects you or your application, you may feel bad. But have you cared to ask yourself why you get rejected? Perhaps something is missing in your credentials. I know you'd say that God's time is the best. Yes, I agree with you. However, there's something that denies people big job opportunities. Find out below. 

You may think you're extremely qualified for a certain position, but this brief story about Sayed Ahmad Shah Saadat has a lot of to teach you. Nonetheless, I want you to concentrate on just one of the lessons. Read carefully.

Sayed Ahmad Shah Saadat is from Afghanistan but lives in Germany. He's a citizen of both Afghanistan and Britain, hence Afghan-British.

Sayed is a graduate of Oxford University who holds two master's degrees and a bachelor's degree. You already know what it means to be a graduate of such a prestigious institution, a university that has some of the most recognised dictionaries in the world.

Sayed isn't just an Afghan-British scholar from Oxford; he's an expert in Information and Communications Technology (ICT). He's a former CEO. What's more, he's a former minister of communications in Afghanistan. According to Reuters, he resigned his position as minister in 2018—that was after being in government for two years. 

He moved to Germany in December 2020, hoping to get a job related to information technology or telecommunications. But guess the job he was doing in August 2021?

He was using a bicycle to deliver meals. "What a life!" — you may say. But here's why he couldn't get a suitable job. 

Photo: Former Afghan Communication Minister Sayed Sadaat rides a bicycle for his food delivery service job with Lieferando in Leipzig, Germany, August 26, 2021. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

It was due to his deficiency in the German language. He later enrolled on a German class, spending four hours at school and six hours delivering meals on weekdays. He needed to be proficient in the German language to be able to secure a job in his preferred industry: ICT.

Now let's talk about you. I'm sure you understand English. That's why you've been able to read to this point. But how error-free is your CV? What about your letters of application? Don't even say that nobody is perfect. There are some basic English errors that make recruiters think you're dumb. It isn't your fault; it's the societal judgment that fails to differentiate between intelligence and language proficiency.

But as it stands, you can't stop people from using English to judge your competence. I advise you try to upscale your communicative competence in the English language. Maybe you don't know where to start from? Don't worry.

I'll be posting some basic grammar patterns on this platform. I'm familiar with some of the common errors due to my classroom experiences.

In addition to being a teacher of English for over five years, I've been lecturing in the Departments of English and General Studies Education, Al-Hikma College of Education, Ankpa, Kogi State (Kaduna Study Centre) since 2019. The centre has graduated a set of students and is now called Teachers' Field College of Education. It's located in Rigasa New Extension, Kaduna.

Till I post my first English lesson here on Monday, God willing!

But before you go, I'm sure you've the central theme of this article. It's "importance of language". Goodbye!