How to choose your first job in Kenya without regretting it

The first job is not the dream job. It is the floor your career stands on. Treat the decision that way. ## What actually matters When you receive that first offer, three things matter more than the title or the company name on your CV. The team you will work with daily. The work you will actually do. The growth path the next twelve months will create. Compensation matters too, but it is rarely the deciding factor at this stage. A KES 60,000 role with a strong manager and meaningful responsibilities will outperform a KES 90,000 role where you are filing reports for two years. ## Read the room before you sign Before you accept any offer, ask to speak with someone on the team. Not the hiring manager. A peer. Ask them three questions: 1. What does a typical week look like? 2. What is the hardest part of working here? 3. Where did the last person in this role move on to? The answers tell you more than any review site ever will. ## Money, soberly Yes, salary matters. But evaluate it against your actual cost of living, not your aspirational one. In Nairobi, a junior role paying KES 50,000 with NHIF and NSSF deductions leaves you with roughly KES 42,000. After rent in a decent area, transport, and food, you might save KES 5,000 a month if you are disciplined. If a role pays significantly below market, do not assume it is a stepping stone. Ask why. ## What you should negotiate, even at entry level You can almost always negotiate three things even on a first offer: - **Start date.** Push it out by one to two weeks if you need recovery time after graduation. - **Annual leave.** Kenyan law mandates 21 days. Some employers offer 15. Push back. - **Learning budget.** Even KES 10,000 per year for courses or books signals the company invests in you. Salary negotiation at entry level is harder, but you can frame it around market data. Sites that show real Kenyan salary ranges, not US estimates that mean nothing here, help. ## The exit clause nobody talks about The best job advice for new graduates: assume you will leave in two years. This is not pessimism. It is realism. The average tenure for a junior role in Kenya is between 18 months and three years. Choose the job that will make your second job easier to land. Sometimes that means choosing the prestigious name. Sometimes it means choosing the role with broader responsibilities. Almost never does it mean choosing the role with the highest starting salary if the work is narrow. ## A simple decision framework When you are torn between offers, ask yourself: in two years, when I am applying for my next role, which of these will give me a better story to tell? That is the only question that matters.