I moved to Sweden with a
heightened sense of self-confidence and constant recognition. I was appreciated
for my work, received an early admit to Chalmers (which was the only place I
had applied to), awarded a scholarship. Heck! I even received my residence
permit within three days of applying. Let’s say I was put on a high pedestal
and I couldn’t have been happier.
When I started school, I was
faced with an overwhelming amount of choices and opportunities ahead of me and I
was ready to take on them all. Once I got accustomed to my class work, I began
exploring these options: student committees, part-time work, the entire spectrum
basically. And then the rejections came pouring in. After the 10th
or 11th rejection, I was stunned. Did I really misjudge myself this
much? Was I that terrible? My peers who seemed to be doing so well, did not
help with my almost crumbling self-confidence. The grey days of Swedish winter
added to this misery. I cried going through tubs of ice cream, journaled,
whined to anyone who hadn’t grown tired of my whining already and eventually stopped
trying.
But here’s the thing about
rejection. You grow numb to it and evolve, at least I did, and I have my sense
of borderline narcissism to thank for that. I got around my self-pity, corrected my behaviour and decided to do something about it. I asked for
feedback after every rejection and used it to better myself (I am currently on
the 4th version of my CV and have up to 25 cover letters), took up
self-paced online courses to improve my skill set, started hanging out with friends
who had that contagiously wonderful energy and engaged in constant dialogue
with professors to express my interest.
So, this is my low-down on jobs to anyone
looking for one. We will face several rejections here. We are competing with
amazing talent from around the world and we will not always be the best fit. The
same response goes to anyone who’s first question before applying for Masters is
‘What are the job prospects after my Masters’. The job prospects here are
honestly the same as anywhere else in the world and it does not matter where you are from. Prove yourself and sell your skill
set and you will get that job. But, take up a Master degree course that you
have genuine interest in, want to learn more about and not just for a high
paying job. Be prepared for those rejections and start thinking about your game
plan to use them to your strength.
Written by : Keerthana Jayaprakash