This is a short recollection of my journey during the last couple of months.
I am sure many of you reading could relate as you might have experienced similar situations too.
Morning rituals
I stayed in a house shared by 5 people who would leave by 9:30am and I would get up in the morning, have my breakfast and then start my morning ritual which will be the following ones:
- Check Seek & Linkedin websites for open roles in my domain and start applying them and updating my excel sheet during the same time
- Call recruiters before 12pm, as they tend to get busy thereafter and remain unavailable
- Take some rest
- Then repeat the above steps
During this process, I have applied to over 1200+ roles (tracked in my excel file) and couple of 500+ others which I did not update.
I have called/ mailed to recruiters, hiring managers, ex colleagues etc. Some tried to help while others did not reply at all. In some cases strangers tend to me more helpful than people with whom you have shared a meal in office, participated in workshops together etc
“Sometimes: phase”
~ Sometimes you check your Spam folders too, just to ensure that you have not missed any important mail from recruiters or potential hiring managers
~Sometimes when you get to know that a friend got a job, there is a mixed feeling of happiness and jealousy at the same time. You might feel “why not me”?
~ Sometimes you know that your confidence has reached rock bottom, when you check the JD for roles that you did at the beginning of your career or even start applying for them and get rejected thereafter
~Some days are good days, where you get news of forthcoming interviews or hear from recruiters. Often the next day is not a good one, where you hear news of rejections from positions where you have progressed earlier to 2nd and 3rd rounds of interviews. This is mostly without any feedbacks shared with you, so you don’t know the mistakes that you need to work upon.
~However you need to brush these aside as you have an interview to prepare for the the very next day and have to sound 200% positive and motivated.
~Sometimes after giving a good interview you keep on refreshing your mailbox to see if there is any mail from the firm. Or keep your phone charged so as not to miss any call.
~ Sometimes there are some bad days and some very bad days, when you know each mail landing up in your inbox will be one with rejection or regret.
The first rejections hurt a lot, but after sometime, one gets used to it.
I used to smile when I got a rejection mail, update my tracker with the date when I received the rejection and simply drag the mail to the “Aus job” folder in my mailbox and move on.
~ Sometime you may feel like crying..its ok to cry..mature men do cry, but the more important thing is to channelise your energy in positive thoughts and actions. I used to cook, listen to music or do exercise at home, when feeling down.
~Sometimes it tough to be sane and maintain your balance. I had a great friend and a mentor, some ex - colleagues (more like a family to me) and also made some some exceptional relationship with some recruiters and hiring managers.
“Learning from mistakes” phase
The below experiences helped me realise my mistakes, work on my strengths and to be a better candidate with each passing job interviews.
The last interview I had back in India was in 2005, when I applied for my role in Orange :)
~Face to Face meeting with recruitment firms like Robert Half & Michael Page
~Telephonic first round with Amazon, rejection after almost a month of silence and multiple followups.
~ Informal face to face meetings with hiring managers in Optus & an Airline company
~Group interview Apple retail & 2nd round with HR and experts - Rejection after that
~Online tests for Transport NSW- Rejection thereafter
~Online test for BATA- no news
~ Panel interview (3 managers)- VIC roads- Outcome received that i was made it to final 5 out of 20 applicants but panel found that my response was not appropriate for a situational question related to Research and Analysis. But i scored well on other 5 parameters.
~Panel Interview (2managers)- La Trobe- Rejection after following up for 3 weeks.
~Computer test and personal interview- Tabcorp
~Interview with HR for Program Management role in Zendesk- rejection after 2 weeks
~Face to face interview with hiring manager in University of Sydney for role of Project Office for web transformation project.- rejection as they found a candidate experienced in govt work
~Face to Face Interview with NBN for PM role- rejection the day after.
~Met face to face with recruiters for internship at cafe in Wynyard for a trainee position with a startup. Offers rates were 1/4th of standard daily rates, hence declined.
~ Telephonic interview with the COO of a fintech/ mobile payment company for role of Customer Service Manager-no news thereafter
“Favourite quotations”
* It just takes one person to say YES
* Pride does not pay for your bills
What I didn’t do
- Never act you are desperate, but show that you are motivated and positive
- Never compromised my quality of life, just because i don’t have a job now doesn’t mean that I will not drink my favourite coffee or a beer
At the end of this journey, I am standing an inch taller and I know the “real” me and what I am capable of. I have known “myself” more in these three and half months than I have known “me” for the last 36years.
