In Cameroon, hiring rarely follows the clean sequence we find elsewhere—or at least what every job seeker would like it to look like—public vacancy, online or physical application, interview, job offer. Many roles are filled through internal referrals, contractor networks, personal relationships, or quiet replacement hiring. Vacancies exist, but they are often not announced.
[aside] After a few years of dropping CVs into silence, many job seekers give up and drift into the informal economy. Ironically, this reduces Cameroon’s unemployment rate on paper because the rate only counts working-age people actively looking for work. Once you stop searching, you statistically disappear. None of this denies the obvious truth: jobs are scarce, and hiring processes are opaque. But that reality makes creativity very important.
A recent story shared with me illustrates a high level of creativity.
A friend’s younger brother landed a job with one of Cameroon’s cement manufacturers. He didn’t get it through a posted vacancy, an HR portal, or luck alone. It was a deliberate case of what might be called finding your luck.
He made an early decision to focus on multinational companies. When he came across a post on X about a new cement manufacturer opening in Cameroon, he decided to research the cement industry as a whole. That’s when he discovered that Cameroon has more than two cement companies. With recent entrants, there are now six active manufacturers, including Cimencam, Dangote Cement Cameroon, Cimpor Cameroon, and Medcem Cameroon, along with newer players clustered around Douala and Kribi.
Like most people, he already knew the big names, Cimencam and Dangote. He correctly assumed these firms were constantly solicited. He kept them on his list but focused his energy on smaller, newer companies. His reasoning was simple: newer firms are often still building teams, setting systems, and are less bound by old internal hierarchies.
Importantly, his strategy had nothing to do with proving his competence. His first goal was to gain access.
He began with basic research. Multinational companies usually maintain an online presence. A few Google searches led him to company websites and, more importantly, LinkedIn pages. From those pages, he could see employee lists. He studied those lists carefully.
He wasn’t only looking at job titles or departments. He was also scanning names for anything familiar, such as people from the same universities, similar hometowns, shared networks, and weak ties.
Eventually, he spotted a name that resembled someone he had known at university. They hadn’t spoken in years, but the connection felt close enough to justify reaching out. He found the old friend’s number and called. It turned out the person was his classmate’s older brother.
The conversation led to a meeting. The meeting led to an internship. Six months later, he was retained permanently. Before that breakthrough, he had already been reaching out professionally to others at the same companies, asking about roles, departments, and career paths. Nothing dramatic. No begging. Just curiosity and positioning.
This is what a realistic job search strategy looks like in a country where vacancies are rarely posted. The lesson is not that everyone will get lucky. The lesson is that luck responds better to research than to desperation.
LinkedIn allowed this young person to turn invisible systems into something readable. Employee lists reveal entry points, valued skills, internal mobility, and the language companies actually use to describe work.
Only the son of God applies blindly in Cameroon. Even then, he'd better have his MoMo.
Connecting with people you know is not the only thing you can get from LinkedIn. Many industries host events and conferences related to their sectors. You would find those events posted on LinkedIn. Sometimes, access may be open.
Many multinationals also have foreign staff you may easily connect with and impress.
Another quiet truth is that many careers are built far from where the noise is loudest. Cement plants don’t trend. But they hire. And for those willing to look sideways rather than straight ahead, there are many other companies in Cameroon hiring that are not widely known.
-Norbert K. Foy