Pressing Pause: Part Five

The Comeback Challenges (Breakdown)

I would like to start with appreciation of the efforts put by all those who switched careers or jobs at least once in their lifetime, for this is not an easy task. It's very tedious and frustrating one; demands a lot of hard work, positive mindset and patience and the luck factor. I am unsure if good karma gets you the job or only showing up every single day on the job portals!

Disclaimer: this is my first job search experience. I got placed in my first company through campus placement.

Get Ready for Job Hunt

Between my trips of Nov, I got the resume ready, updated the Naukri and LinkedIn profiles. I started job search in Dec and applied for jobs per day for a week or so. Then I got into the Blog Vlog mode (curse myself for this!). Again mid Jan, I was on apply job mission for a week. Then I dropped the idea and revised all the technical skills I need to know for the interview. I prepped for the HR interview questions, from the career gap point of view. Same repeated for Feb and Mar and Apr.

No calls to Apply via 3rd party recruiter to Silence

I got assistance from one of my travel buddy, revamped my Resume and Naukri & LinkedIn profiles. And from May I started getting 5 calls per day on weekdays, from 3rd party recruiter companies, such a shift from no call to getting calls. It lasted for 10 mins where I had to talk about my SAP SF skills, then the salary, reasoning on career break (don't know why a woman on break is often referred to as on maternity!), etc etc. Post that no shortlisting no callback. The journey ends before starting. I had revised the resume n number of times, specific to companies job description. I was fed up of answering the same questions again and again and again: marital status, relevant experience, are you working right now, DOJ & DOL, when all is mentioned in the resume. The reason is cross checking if the info is real or fake. You are also at the mercy of something called ATS, as it decides your fate to land in front of the recruiter.  

Career Break

The career gap is considered as a career suicide! You will never be appreciated if you take it for your wellbeing and mental peace, you will be considered as lazy (or ran away from work). Companies will expect what you learnt professionally during the break and is it aligned with their JD. Your profile will be considered with a question (fit to work or not?). The irony is: not feeling to work is abnormal while pushing your limits to work to the extend it takes toll on your health is normal. Giving birth to a child is normal while rediscovering reinventing yourself is not. 

Asking Referrals  

While I was not getting shortlisted for jobs, I started texting friends (former colleagues I should say) for referring me. Again here no help, I was disappointed at first. But later I realized that no one would risk their career for you. Also no one is obliged to help you. I was never willing to ask in the first place but as time was passing so fast, I thought that there is no harm in asking. Now I know what harm has it done.     

Screening before Interviews 

Finally I got shortlisted for screening (before interviews) in Jun but could not make it to the interview call due to these reasons: only worked in 1 company so far (multi-company experience/exposure was needed), I answered wrong in one call, one company needed 10+ years exp, while I had 8+ (this was also a reason for not getting shortlisted during the earlier months), etc. There was a point where I was okay with the package even if it was slightly bigger than my earlier one. People usually see to it that they get a good 40 to 50% hike because the increments in later years are minimal. It was heartbreaking to be jobless for 11 months, I do not regret taking a break in midst of recession but I feel I should have been well prepared for the job market.

Interviews Scheduled Finally

July started with clearing the screening round and getting the interviews scheduled. I was worried on one thing, I wanted to get interviewed for medium scale companies so that even if I didn't make it, I will at least have a question bank. But it happened the complete opposite, and I got rejected by large scale companies. Reasons being my technical skills are not enough. One interviewer was considerate enough to say that your knowledge is limited to one company only. I had to pick up myself and move ahead. My mind was not ready to accept the fact that this is the only process to get a job! All I could hear is you need to put more efforts, are those even worth it! You need to keep applying for jobs, answering screening questions, giving interviews after interviews, studying harder, and keep going it till you get a job!      

Effects on the body and mind and my dreams

The glow on my face faded away, stress overtook my body, sleepless nights continued, hairfall and low energy, stress eating, etc. There were questions on my ability to find a job. Parents even mentioned that if I were married, the job headache would not be on me, there would be a safety net. The fact that nobody was even asking me of the struggles going on, at least venting out could have helped. Jul completed the full circle and I was back to square one. The struggles of life are in a black box, everyone sees the end result. I am not sure of either buying the house of my dreams or the holiday of my dreams. Because these two dreams are dependent on the high-paying job package which I was determined to procure in this career break phase.  

So this diary is to share all I went through. Some journeys have to be walked, bruised, fumbled, stand up again on our own. Right now my life is only Eat Sleep Job Hunt Repeat.