How I Got My First Job - Part II: Seeing The Silver Lining

In the last post, I talked about how my “let’s get a job” experience was turning out to be longer than expected and a little more testing than what I would have hoped for. Time to take the story forward.

The last week of the year had begun, festive spirit all around and I was still bummed at my rejection. Had it been such a scenario that every day a new company was coming for recruitment, one would have to move on from one interview to the other with much less stress because you wouldn’t have time for it in the first place, pretty much like how it goes in the IPL. You can’t ponder much over a bad game because you have the next game coming up in a couple of days. But with Christmas and New Year approaching, we were told the placement process would gain steam sometime in January only, when the executives & HRs would be back in their offices after a long holiday. So while I was eager to get back on the ground like a player waiting to prove himself so as to get back in the national team, I also knew there were no upcoming matches in the vicinity. The more alone time I spent, the more I would think about that interview, & the more disappointed I would get. I knew I needed a mode of escape, something else to focus my attention to. 

Luckily for me, we had an intra-institute cricket tournament coming up in January & I was the head of the Sports Cell at SIMC. I decided to focus all my attention on it, for three reasons. One, it was cricket, and our team had spent a lot of effort in getting things done. It was imperative that we put up a good show. Second, this was going to be the last major event for the seniors. I was keen to provide a great experience for everyone, something they could cherish as this was also going to be my last major event as in-charge. Lastly, if I did these two things right, I knew I wouldn’t have much time to think about the placement process. 

For those odd times when the thought still crept up in my mind, I was lucky to have some good people around me. Random getaways, evening discussions & late night walks were a solace. A close friend of mine told me about her placement experience during undergrad, how it didn’t pan out the way she would have liked, and yet how she emerged victorious in the end. On another occasion, she told me about some of the weaknesses she felt I had which perhaps hindered my chances in getting a job. This was probably the first time someone had openly talked to me about my weaknesses & strengths, and she made some really good points. The takeaways from such discussions were serendipitous. Had I gotten a job in my first go, such conversations would never have come up and I would have missed out on some great insights about myself. Better late than never, I was beginning to see the silver lining. When I look back at these times, such conversations are my best takeaways.

So I went about the process of making sure our cricket tournament went well. Our team’s efforts paid off and we had a great event. I was happy of being able to see my batch-mates and my juniors enjoy the experience and have a good time, something that’s been my primary goal every time I set out to execute an event for the masses. 

On the other hand, my parents would call me up and ask about the details of the upcoming companies. They were eager to know, understandably so. I myself didn’t know much so couldn’t tell them anything either. But back in my mind, I decided the next time they would hear about a job from me would be the one that I got. Until then, I wasn’t going to tell them anything.

Then one day we were told of a prominent agency coming to the campus. Back to the drawing board then for me. I cleared the on-campus process and was called to the Mumbai head office along with other shortlisted candidates. The D Day arrived, and I was ready to step on the field. I had taken a note of the learnings I had from my previous interview & left my room in the morning with the optimism that I would come back to it with a happy news. That of course, time was going to tell. The interview went well, I answered everything I was asked the way I would have liked and I also clarified some of the queries I had in my mind. Remember how I gauged my interview based on my first reaction on coming out? This time, there was not one thing I would change.

We waited, and after an hour or so, the shortlist for the next round came out. One of my friends and fellow applicant was handed over the list to share the same with us.
“Guys, they have shortlisted 5 of us for the next round..
XX
XX
XX
XX
and
the last one is me. That's it guys.”

I didn’t make the cut. I DIDN’T make the cut. I was shocked more so because I didn’t know where I went wrong. It was like making a century and yet the selectors thinking you’re not good enough for the team and choosing to ignore you. As I would later be told, they were not too keen on a fresher, and wanted someone with job experience. I was disappointed, I was angry. Search thesaurus for the synonyms of these words and I was every single one of them! I wished my batch-mates going forward all the best and set on my way back to Pune. 

During the ride, we came to know how at the last moment, the said agency arbitrarily changed certain clauses regarding the job opportunity, including the pay. This was like déjà vu. Another opportunity I missed later turned out to be something else only. From my school days itself, I wasn’t too obsessed with the prospects of getting into a prestigious college post school, getting the much sought after course. I did my job, which was to study and knew other things would be taken care of by the third umpire sitting in the heaven. I got a good score in my Class XIIth boards, but didn’t make the cut for any of the north campus colleges of Delhi University, the likes of – SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj. I got admission in an off-campus college, had a great time there during my three years, began writing, started a blog, got two internships because of it, played tennis for the better part of my three years and most importantly, developed an interest in advertising. Had I been to the aforementioned colleges, who knows where I would have gone. But I didn’t, and have lived to tell the tale! 

So when we were told of this last minute change by the agency, I was a bit relieved and felt the third umpire up there was perhaps planning his own moves, as always. I was so eager to get into that agency because I had been following them since my undergrad days. After an hour of sadness and anger, I was now surprisingly, confident because I felt that if I didn’t get the job I so eagerly wanted, there was surely something much better in store for me. This wasn’t a false sense of hope, but a strong belief which was substantiated by my experiences thus far in life, which I will talk about some other day.

So while I was a little happy, I still didn’t know what lay ahead of me & how much longer would I have to wait. At that moment, my phone beeped. An e-mail from the placement cell, regarding another placement opportunity I had applied for. I had to report to the agency’s office in Mumbai for the recruitment process. Here I was, coming back from Mumbai to Pune after a long hectic day, after an interview that didn’t go through, and I had to do the same now in a couple of days, again. 

Later that night, when I came back to my room, as I lay on my bed, I thought back of the morning when I left believing that I would come back with a job. I laughed, I was no longer angry, just tired. One more day, and I would once again be on my way to Mumbai for another trial with destiny. Will the selectors take note of my performance then? Will I make the cut? 

I didn’t know it then, you will know it, next week, in the third and final part of this series.

Until then
Take care :)