We have good news for you. You can have a cool career and make a good living. No need to choose between loving your job and paying your mortgage. The following profile, part of the BlackEnterprise.com Cool Jobs series, offers a peek into the nuts and bolts, perks and salaries behind enjoyable careers.
China Muoka isn’t your typical 27-year-old professional. The senior IT recruiter at NY Staff Search loves working in human resources, connecting awesome talent with some of the country’s top companies in industries including publishing, technology and commerce. He also has a passion for filling market voids via the Web, serving as founder of JobClickr.com and Rentish.com, two ventures that were born after marrying everyday problems among friends to solutions.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with the Nigerian-American innovator on how young professionals can maximize opportunities in technology and how they too can become innovators in their own right.
BlackEnterprise.com: By day you work in human resources and by night you’re the founder of several Web businesses. How do you balance your day job with side hustle pursuits?
Muoka: I prioritize my day hours, use my evenings for my side businesses, and sometimes dedicate one or two days in the weekend per month to my businesses as well.
What tips do you have for other young professionals who seek to start their own side businesses and balance their day jobs?
First, spend time thinking. Many people don’t want to just sit still and think, and the truth is, man is an intelligent being. If you spend time thinking on a solution or a business concept long enough, the urge to start one will come.
Second, spend time reading, researching and asking questions. Many businesses fail because their founders didn’t have a quest for knowledge and they didn’t research whether market timing is right or didnt’ ask the right questions.
And last, network. One of the biggest things I’ve learned as a human resources professional that businesses are built on partnerships and networks. Attend events, tech meetings, and Meet-up groups.
What are the biggest career mistakes you see millennials making when it comes to the tech industry?
They are not taking the right courses in school. The world is getting very digital. For millennials to become relevant in the tech industry, young people must figure out where the world is heading. Then they can decipher the roles companies will need.
For starters, Google released a [recent] report on big data. Think about it, every digital device or Website you want to use today is always asking for some data (your name, email, password etc.). The question is: What will they do with all these data? How will it help them in the future? These questions should suggest to you that very soon data managers, data scientists, and data architect professionals will be in high demand. This type of thought process applies to other sectors of technology [or even other industries]. Don’t go to where everyone has been; Go where everyone is heading.
Who do you look up to for mentorship or sponsorship in your industry?
I’ve never really had a go-to mentor. I just follow certain people in the tech industry. Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) and Paul Graham (Y-Combinator CEO)—their zeal for success inspires me. I follow these tech leaders judiciously. I read about them, and I’m thrilled at the convictions they have to do more though they are already billionaires.
What’s the most fulfilling part about being a tech entrepreneur?
It’s the value your tech. business is giving to people, the lives your services has bettered and the money it has generated.
What motivated you to start your Web enterprises?
Need. Every time a friend came to me with a need, I’d always think of the best, monetized way to solve it. While solving it, I ask myself these questions: Are there other people out there who are having the same problem? Are there any solutions that will solve the problem? If yes, can I add value to these solutions?
For example, I have this friend who lives in a 2-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, N.Y. His company was sending him to Texas for an 8-week certification course. He called me to ask if I knew anyone wbo was looking for a room to rent to help him cover the expenses and manage his apartment while he was away. I didn’t know anyone, however, I told him I’d inquire.
We tried many rent listing sites out there and found no viable roommate. He had end up leaving for Texas without finding one. This problem spurred a thought in me: Why not set
up a Website loaded with a database of renters in the U.S? This Website will give anyone who wants to rent his apartment a chance to find tenants in minutes. After months of planning, Rentish.com was launched with a database of 1.5 million renters in USA and the list grows each day.The same story goes for JobClickr.com. My friends know that I’m a recruiter by day. Whenever they’re relocating to another state or country, they’d always ask for the best Websites to search for jobs. I got so tired of saying Google it or ‘I don’t know’ that I decided to build a global search engine for employment opportunities, providing a resource for finding work in any country or state you’re traveling to.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received specifically related to hard work and success?
Hard work pays, but smart working pays more. Think hard and work smart. Success is achieved at every stage in life.