Long time back, a friend of my husband said for Indian women career is their prerogative but for men it is a compulsion. I didn't take it as an offence but took it literarily and have not only changed jobs but tried a lot of different career options. I always had the full support from my husband with his standard response of "your wish".
I started my career with MBT, now Mahindra Tech. Though we had placements facility at campus I never cleared the interviews. Always cleared the written tests but never the interviews. That's when my husband, then my classmate, gave me the title "theoretically strong, practically....". After finishing my post-graduation, I went to Bombay where my parents were staying and tried for jobs. No success. Finally, my father intervened, he spoke to the HR manager at MBT and I got my first job.
After completing two years with MBT, we decided to try the greener pastures of the USA. Again the repeat performance, clearing the technical tests but failing at personal interviews. And this was the time of millennium when the mainframe expertise was in demand. Finally, a consulting company decided to take the risk and recruited us. MCI at Colorado Springs, USA, for some reason liked me and offered a contract. Might be because the interview was telephonic. My mom had this theory that I fared better in board exams, because I didn't know who the examiner was and wouldn't be criticised/ridiculed in person.
I quit MCI for personal reasons and later when we shifted to Charlotte, I decided to take up a job again. In the meantime, I tried my hand at some voluntary work like hospice and social services etc.. The hunt for job again proved a bit difficult. Finally, I got a job at Belk Retail Stores but through a job hunter, so another job attained no thanks to my skills!!!
Later we shifted to India and again started my job hunt. Initially, I got into a training centre at Ameerpet, again through Dad's contacts, didn't work out. Then got an offer from Satyam training center but too far, so didn't go for it. Later I got into CSC. That went on well for sometime but I got irritated with the commute and the work culture. One very frustrating day, I just walked into St. Francis College and dropped my resume. I completely forgot about it, till one day a lady from the college called asking if I was still interested in the job. I said yes and got the job. Later I got tired of that job and had this grand plan of doing my PhD. Turned out research was not my cup of tea and my ego prevented me from getting back to college. So while I was floating around a friend of mine suggested, out of the blue, I try at Pramati and here I am working again.
My point of all this rambling is, somehow jobs seem to be finding me when I think I am not cut out for something. It just happens and feels like always someone, other than me, is trying to get me employed. And I never had any complaints about the jobs I did and enjoyed each and every adventure that came my way.
