Moving from India to UK…. Chapter 2: the application

As in the previous chapter I addressed the why part of the dream of moving to UK, in this part I want to address the how of the process. This is the process I had to invest a lot of my time and effort, and luck played its part as well.

(If you have missed the previous part: Chapter one: the Vision)

So after having visualised my dream I had to start working on it. Let me walk you through it.

1. Job interviews:

So one month and 50 job applications later, I started getting acknowledgement emails. Some either stated straightaway that I did not fit the person specification while others realized a few replies later. I am not going to lie, it was frustrating!

The wait was long and my patience was getting shorter by the day. I checked my email a million times a day!

Finally I was shortlisted for an interview in a prestigious hospital for two posts. I jumped with joy. And then came along a few problems.

• Online Skype interview: I had to make sure I had a good internet connection, good lighting, background was neat and clean, good sound etc
• Dress code: Although it was online, I had to look professional and geeky chic. I opted for a blazer and let my sister do my makeup. And my specs added the geek factor.
• Time zones: So a 3 pm interview technically meant 19:30 in India.
• Accents: This was my biggest fear, of not being able to understand their questions. I watched a lot of British movies!
• Interview questions: Since this was my first interview ever in life I was so nervous. I watched a lot of YouTube videos to prepare basic questions (my weakness, strengths blah blah), read up about the hospital, the city it was located in, the type of visa I would need. 

My first Skype interview experience:

So I was set and ready to go. I locked my parents and sister in their bedrooms to avoid interruptions. And I signed into my Skype account only to realize they had called me 10 minutes earlier and I had missed their call! I called up the hospital frantically but could not reach them. I tried calling them back, emailing them, only to be dejected.

I had missed the interview. I was so sad, anger and depressed. After all the preparation, I had failed.

However soon after, the second opportunity came through. A week later I was due to be interviewed by the same hospital. This time I was on my Skype account all ready to go 30 minutes prior. Finally the call came through. They asked me basic clinical questions and I answered them all. I was able to understand the accent perfectly well. All in all, I thought it went really well.

15 days went by and I did not hear back from them. So I emailed to find out and was informed the position was filled by some other candidate 5 years senior to me. They asked me to apply a year later.

I was really sad. So after two failed interviews I wanted to give up. I was getting impatient. I continued working in India and kept applying. However I had very little hope.

2 months later another opportunity came by.

 

I changed jobs in India to gain experience and get paid double than my previous one. The corporate trust induction training at the new place coincided with the scheduled UK interviews. I had made up my mind to give the interview a miss. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush, right?

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”. – Thomas Edison

On an impulse I asked to be excused for 30 minutes from the training on the pretext of meeting my parents urgently; I ran back to my place (I lived 10 minutes away)

This time I did not have any make up on, I was wearing a formal shirt, and I wasn’t prepared with any questions, all I knew that the city had a famous football club (I don’t even watch football!).

So I threw a white sheet to cover up the mess in the background and waited for the Skype call.

The interview went on smoothly, they did ask me about the place and I sheepishly said I followed their football club. (Lol) I ran back to complete my training.

One week later they sent me the job offer.

I screamed, jumped, cried and danced. I had crossed the biggest hurdle so far. I was finally in!

I am going to conclude this part of my story with the best saying ever by my favourite author,

“When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it”. – Paulo Coelho

Chapter 3: the preparation

Copyright 2018 Chris Lemos All rights reserved