Had $60K+ Loan but did not stress about not getting a job

Job search is hard. Job search in another country without any support system is harder. You agree with that, right?

Surprisingly, I never felt that. When I thought about it, that amazed me! My degree was expensive. I had a student loan of $60K! I have my elder brother, so we even had his student loan going on. You can imagine the financial burden our family would be under.

I still remember this one incident where my flatmate’s friend had come to stay with us for a few days. He ordered from Osmow’s and offered me the falafel platter. I took a bite and loved it! Then I said that once I get a job, I will definitely buy this! He was surprised by my response thinking that it just costs $10-$15. I didn’t tell him the reason but you know it.

Inspite of the huge financial burden, I was calm and did not feel any pressure. I had all the reason to go crazy but I did not. I treated “Unfortunately, we’ve moved on….” emails like any other email. I reflected on the reasons and found the answer. The best part is that you can replicate it and it is super easy!

I was unconsciously following a few concepts. To make it easy for you to remember, I am calling it a 3-forked ECS framework:

Expectation Setting

The majority of the students in my Master’s cohort had some experience but I came to Canada right after my Bachelor’s. I always told myself that I was not going to compare myself to others as I had my own journey. Also, I thought to myself that it was obvious that they would get a job sooner than I would as they have experience. On top of that, it was COVID time. So, I had my expectation that getting a job is going to take anywhere from 1-3 months. Ironically though, I was one of the first few in my cohort to land a job!

Takeaway: Because of the 1-3 months expectation setting, I delayed my panic TO after 3 months of not being able to get a job. Since I got a job before 3 months, I never hit the panic button. So, you can also use this psychological setting to remain calm.

Consistent Effort

Even though I had that timeline leeway, I didn’t let that make me complacent. I was consistently applying to jobs and was unfazed by the rejection emails. I never took them personally (apart from 1-2 companies that I had worked very hard for). Someone had given me this golden advice, “If you get rejected from 1 company, apply to 3 more.” Also, I kept improving my skills, resume, and interview preparation on the side.

Takeaway: Keep learning and applying.

Support System

Some of you who have been following me from my YT days would know about my friend Rashi. We were each other’s support system. Since we both were living on campus, we used to go on long walks in the beautiful York U campus (near the pond and beyond). Being in nature with a friend not only recharged me but gave me something to look forward to. My days were not just limited to endless job applications. That way, I could start afresh every day.

Oh and another thing: I was doing a part-time job so didn’t have to stress about the living expenses. The blessing in disguise was that I wasn’t getting 40 hours/week ensuring that I could actually devote time to my job search.

I know this sounds simple but then this is what actually worked! As I tell my career coaching mentees, “Job toh milni hi hai, it can be 1 week from now or 3 months. Toh phir dukhi reh ke kyun apply karna. Just treat it as a phase of life and khushi khushi karo!”

Takeaway: Do one thing that recharges your soul daily. Ideally, it should not involve any screen time.

Keep blooming,
Bani