Jobs: Happy days are here again!

Last February we featured Anuj in the very first reader-driven Layoff Tales series, a few months after the global economic meltdown brought the stark reality of mass layoffs to Indian shores.

"You guys are spreading gloom in an already gloomier situation," some readers had protested.

Back then we wished to bring to light the hardships faced by those young people who had been laid off. The way they were coping with the situation and how their lives were affected by the recession.

Most importantly, we wanted these stories to be read because they had a lesson to teach to those who had jobs. Also, to tell readers that these people were down but not out and there is always a silver lining to the darkest of clouds.

Today, as we write this, the sun appears to have emrged from those dark clouds. While most IT majors are back into the recruitment cycle -- via campus placements et al -- there is news that even traditional sectors like power, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, manufacturers and BPOs too have begun hiring in earnest.

That's the reason why young employees like Anuj strongly believe that happy days are here again. The recruitment engine is revving up again and as the Indian economy tries to attain double digit GDP in the foreseeable future hires are likely to increase manifold.

Three cheers to Anuj who shared his story with us.

Name: Anuj Patel (name changed on request)
Age: 27
Company/Sector: IT
Educational qualification: BE (Electronics)
Work experience: 2 years and 5 months (earlier) and about 15 days into my new job.

Background check: I lost my job in December 2008 along with 70 colleagues. Though I was confident I would get a job in 6 to 12 months, the wait (almost 13 months) was painful.

However, the pain is all forgotten now after I was hired by a big information technology major in Mumbai. They found my resume good enough to pay me almost double the package of what I was getting at my last company.

How I got a job again: I must have registered on almost every job portal in India and participated in more than a dozen walk-in interviews. While I was prepared to let go on the salary part the job profile that my interviewees offered me didn't suit my skills. Not that I was not willing to sacrifice or learn something new.

Though the salaries offered were way below my expectations the jobs offered would have never allowed me to gain valuable exeprience.

I was sure I will get a job that I desired. Finally, after a little more than a year I got a call from a consultant about an interview at this IT company located in Mumbai's suburbs.

Thankfully, the interviewer, didn't ask me too much about why I couldn't get a job during all these months. She was more interested in testing my skill sets in .NET and Java.

As I had been reading a lot about new technologies as well as about my domain expertise I got through the technical round without too much of trouble.

Of course, I had to negotiate with the HR manager for the salary. Though I did not get as much as I had expected the package was nearly double of what I earned at my last company.

I am only about a fortnight into my new job, but am feeling on the top of this world.

Family support: Never in these 12 months did my parents and my elder brother and sister-in-law make me feel unwanted. It would not have been possible without the support of my family to cope with the depression, loneliness and frustration that I experienced during this period.

Lessons learnt:

• Depression, frustration and loneliness are all states of the human mind. Time and strong family support is the only solution to overcome them.
• Trust your instincts. More often than not they turn out to be right.
• Read as much as you can on the topics of your interest. I read a lot about new Internet technologies being developed across the world.
• Finally, in bad times like I went through, it's important to be patient. If it is not one of your virtues learn it asap.

As told to Prasanna D Zore.