Dear readers
My decision to move to London was both personal and professional. My partner being Australian and not speaking a word of French, the most logical thing to do after graduating on 15th September 2008 was to move in London and almost 9 years down the line I can confidently say that it was one of the smartest decisions I ever made from a professional and personal point of view. I unfortunately suffered the consequences of one the worst financial crisis the world has ever experienced therefore my career did not start as I hoped as I have a Master’s degree in Negotiation of International projects. I knew it would not be an easy task but I was confident that I would find a job. After all, who would not hire a young multilingual graduate who already had a 2 month experience of the job market in London? I quickly realised that British employers valued experience more than a degree, shocking, right? so I asked myself: why did I put myself through 5 years of hard core studying far away from my family? I felt undervalued and underappreciated but I took the recruitment agencies’ feedback into account namely « Miss Ibrahim your resume is very interesting but you lack experience. » As a result, instead of focusing on the ideal job in marketing or international project management, I decided to change tactics to start down then climb up the ladder. After extensive research on prestigious companies, I sent covering letters along with my CV and a tea bag. Yes a tea bag, which is sacred in England, if you want a promotion, I suggest you invite your boss for tea or coffee. It is a cliché but it is so true and works most of the time.
Despite my numerous attempts, some creative and others of bad taste, 6 months later I was still unemployed. Out of 15 reputable companies contacted, only 3 bothered to reply to reject my application. In addition to that, I was registered on dozens of recruitment websites and I applied for hundreds of jobs in vain. I began to despair and to doubt my abilities, my ambitions, my choices of life in other words I questioned everything including my love relationship. Had I made the right choice to move to London? Would I have more chances to find a job in France mainland or even in Mayotte? After all in France, degrees are valued.
I had the the impression that I was failing, disappointing everyone who supported me all these years. The worst was that I felt like I was putting extra financial pressure on my partner who at some point had 3 jobs to support both of us so I burst into tears for hours and I could not stop crying until my survival instinct kicked in and told me to call for help and I immediately executed the order. I called two of my best friends in Montpellier France, crying of course to express my troubles and my despair and as faithful friends who believe in me, they comforted me and reassured me that I had made the right choices. Here is what they said « Everything is going to be okay because you are strong, smart and there is no reason you should not to find a fulfilling job. » They booked me a return ticket London Montpellier and a round-trip train ticket to visit my family in Marseilles. That little break made a tremendous difference on my my mindset, but it was still hard for me to face my friends and family jobless. Luckily, everyone understood how painful it was therefore the job topic was never mentioned during my entire stay. It may seem a bit cliché and pompous but I would not be where I am without the support of my family, my friends and especially my partner. Whenever I have faced a challenge, whether it is struggling to find a job, to pass my driving license, or to follow a different career path , whenever I had doubts in my skills, Duane always tells me the following: « how often have you failed in your life, give me one example? » The reaction is always the same that is to say a moment of silence to reflect on my answer and the answer is nearly the same. Life is filled with challenges, obstacles, ups and downs, and instead of failing we learn ever step of the way and when I take time to analyse my career so far and I quickly realise that I have never failed anything!
Mayot'Together 