Job hunting can be one of the most stressful things fresh graduates could ever experience. Especially that the competition nowadays is getting more fierce, there are so many people lining up for a position in the company, that it makes your job hunting adventure more mentally and physically exhausting. But when you finally hear the HR personnel telling you that you will need to come back tomorrow for a contract signing, that is absolutely music to the ears. Yes! Finally! :)
I myself experience that after I graduated in college. I am a nursing graduate and supposedly, I have to prepare and take my board exam to be a registered nurse in the Philippines and legally work in the hospital. But things didn't turn out the way it was planned. My mother got a breast cancer, I felt like my world was shattered on the day I have talked to the doctor telling me about my mom's breast cancer is not benign anymore. I was just so depressed that my mom's cancer cells are already malignant and it even got worse as months go by. Plus the fact that my father lost his job at the same time because his company got bancrupt. I was extremely devastated at that time. Adding to the injury was that we're in a financial mess.
So I told myself that I really need to find a job. I thought of applying in call centers in my hometown. Having confidence that maybe I can make it due to the fact that my English was fair enough. My parents would always make me feel when I was younger that my ability to pronounce English words, to read English books is excellent to the point that they would hand a microphone to me while reading an English poem. My father was just so proud of me. But four companies already, still, I am unemployed.
Until one call center company from Manila went to my hometown to look for talents. Since I have applied to four call center companies already, I got to the point wherein I have memorized already the interview questions and unlike other people who may have lost confidence on themselves, it was different in my case. I believed in myself more. I told myself that I need to keep on trying. I remember I always tell myself, " you can't find a job if in the first place, you're not looking for one
". I also researched on the internet as for what are the terminologies I need to learn and understand with regard to computers. I am not really techie so it was a struggle for me. Since most job openings in my hometown involved fixing the internet problems, emails and computer hardware and softwares, somehow you need to have basic knowledge about it.
The sad thing about finally getting myself a job was that I need to relocate myself in Manila since the company didn't have a branch in my hometown. I missed my family so much, nostalgia would set in from nowhere, drowning myself in tears. It was such an emotional roller coaster ride for me.
For fresh graduates out there or for people who are searching for a job, don't be discouraged right away if you didn't get what you want. Always improve yourself. We are living in the information age and internet is very accessible nowadays. Learning something is just a click away. Add skills in your resume, learn something in demand for today's generation. Something that will make the employers hire you because you got what it takes.
More than eight years had passed and I learned a lot of things from that experience. My mother died in 2009, and I have accepted that sad truth, on the other hand, it made me a strong woman today. Life is really full of surprises, you will win some, you will lose some. If you fall, just dust yourself and try again.
Thank you for reading my blog my friend. Have a wonderful day ahead of you. :)
