An MBA graduate from a UK University has shared her testimony. Despite being jobless for six years she managed to secure employment in a well-paying institution.
Please share this for me***
I am from India and I hold a Masters in Business Administration degree. My journey to success has never been easy. In 2010 I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. Upon graduation I moved to New Delhi in search of employment.
I was excited as I made numerous job applications. Each morning, I had mountains of hopes and I believed it was easy for me to get employment as I was a graduate.
In 3 months I managed to apply for 236 jobs. With all the applications I knew several employers would call me for interview. I waited for two weeks, one month, six months, one year and nothing was forthcoming. I finally decided to call one of the employers I had sent my applications. This was the message I received:
“Don’t call us, we shall call you when a job vacancy arises”.
Heart broken, I decided to pause for some months before I started reapplying for jobs. In the two months, I evaluated myself, gathered my thoughts and decided to resume with my job hunting mission. I again started applying for employment, which I did online, sending blind applications and giving my relatives hard copies to submit to their “big friends”.
After trying all I could, two years after graduating from college, I was unable to get any employment, even internship. I decided to enroll for CFA so as to improve my CV.I enrolled for CFA in 2012 using my savings.
In the process of pursuing CFA,I managed to secure an MBA scholarship to the London School of Business. This scholarship came one year after I jokingly applied for it.The course forced me to quit CFA on the way so as to concentrate on my MBA.
In 2013, I would find myself a student at London School of business pursuing an MBA, a dream that looked impossible when I was a job seeker. The program lasted for three years, from 2013 to 2016.Upon completion, I returned to India.
But while I was returning, tears couldn’t stop flowing freely down my cheeks as I figured out how I would suffer the brunt of joblessness. In the plane, I thought of how my family members and friends will see me after witnessing my agony. True to my thoughts, suffering started immediately after I landed in India. Every time I sent my CV to an employer, I was rudely told: “you are overqualified”.
I searched for employment from one office to the other until I exhausted all the companies I had hopes the could employ me.Finally, I decided to change my tactics.
In 2017 January, I landed a well-paying job at an Insurance company as an underwriter. My salary is $2,000 per month.
What exactly did I do different from what I was doing before? For me to get a job I realized that lowering my ego was required. Initially I was applying for jobs that demanded work experience but this time I applied for internship. This particular internship is what helped me secure employment at an Insurance. What happened is that the underwriter ,who was my boss, secured employment in another company, I managed to succeed him.
The second thing I did was to ensure I didn’t show all my certificates when I was applying for employment, even my CV did not indicate I was an MBA graduate, I only revealed I had one when a promotion came up. When searching for employment, most of the job seekers forget that some of the HR managers might get intimidated with your academic qualifications, it’s wise not to reveal all your qualifications unless you are told to.
As I write this I am an underwrite and have continued with my CFA.
