3 Women Share How They Landed Their Dream Jobs

Last updated 22 Feb 2018 . 11 min read



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They say when you love what you do, every day of your life feels like a vacation. But finding a job that actually is that rewarding and fulfilling is much easier said than done. Dream jobs aren’t created every day and even when they are, it isn’t going to fall into your lap just like that.

Finding jobs for women and the one you love and one that loves you right back is a lot like finding your soulmate. It takes patience, perseverance and sometimes, kissing a few frogs before you find your Prince Charming. Thankfully, a few steps in the right direction can help you come to a lot closer to a job that makes you want to wake up every morning and go to work.

Float your résumé

Creating and keeping an updated LinkedIn profile, for creative fields - a Behance portfolio and floating your CV on job portals is important to get you noticed. It may either lead you to a great job opportunity or even if it doesn’t, it’ll help you connect to someone who knows someone who has a great job for you. Besides, HR professionals usually tend to do a quick internet search on you before you’re hired. It always helps to have your qualifications and experience be the first thing they see.

Build a network 

The world is small and your industry is even smaller. Networking is crucial in such a scenario because in the present day, a lot of people have found their perfect jobs through word of mouth. CareerXRoads 2014 Source of Hire Report notes, “A job seeker who is referred is conservatively three to four times more likely to be hired (some studies found that a job seeker who is referred is 14 times more likely to be hired) than someone who applies for a position without a referral.” Use social media to your advantage. Go to networking events. Always keep a few business cards handy. You never know when a casual conversation might convert into an opportunity.

There has been an age old debate about what is the best way to bag the perfect job - floating your CV or using your network. We talked to some women to find out what worked for them.

Tapoja Roy 

Content Lead - Terribly Tiny Tales/ Freelance Writer

If you told me any time before 2016 that I'd be writing stories for a living, I'd say that it's not even a real job. But in the real world, creativity pays only if you know how to sell it. I got my first writing job not because I applied to them with a CV, but for the times I just flooded them with stories. It came as a big and pleasant surprise when the co-founder himself called me to offer a writing position and then eventually, a permanent job.

In the creative field, CV is just an introduction but the real deal lies in the portfolio you build. There are two ways to go about this -

  • Go for a little lesser pay if needed, but gain exposure fast to build your portfolio, or
  • Hold on to a little bit of patience and somebody will help you get the ball rolling with the pay you deserve.

But either way, it helped me when I started building a network so that even if one freelance job didn't work out, the person concerned would recommend me to someone else.

Good work is hard to find, but once you do, it's like the best friend who may not get drunk with you every weekend in a flashy, snazzy club but will make sure that you get sound sleep every night.

Shetal Kinjra 

Advertising Professional & Content Creator

With the kind of competition and saturation of digital companies in the industry, finding the correct job is not a cakewalk.

After my graduation I was working with a NGO helping with their content development. To my surprise, one day I got a call from a girl I had met on a camp few months before graduating. Not that we had established a good bond or anything, but we just a brief conversation on our way to the camp. She was working for a well known advertising agency and I was specializing in advertising too. I had mentioned about my interest in writing but somehow she perceived it as my career aspiration.

She had called to offer me a job at a healthcare company that was about to launch a chatbot for diabetic patients, first of its kind in India. Clearing the interview rounds and after giving a lot of thought, I decided to take the job. The profile was way better than expected for a fresher's job and the kind of experience has shaped my writing skills and personality as well.

Not any job portal, not social media and no sending out a bunch of resumes; a random brief conversation with a stranger on a camp got me my first ever job!

Although a random conversation may not always land you a dream job so it would be good to make you professional profile and face interviews.

Palak Kapadia

 ESL Teacher in France

When I applied to be a teacher of English as a Second Language, it was a complete shift of industry for me. My former job and all my internships had been thanks to my network. The co-founder of the company, for example, was an ex-student of my college professor and she connected us because she felt I’d be the right fit for the company. Or my friend knew someone who was looking for someone like me for a freelance project. You get the drift. But my former work having nothing to do with teaching or France, I was a complete newbie. For this opportunity, taking initiative was what worked for me the most. I stumbled upon a program that allows native speakers of English to move to France and teaching English in schools there.

I proactively applied for the same, did a ton of paperwork, wrote letters about why I’d be a good fit, got recommendations and even police clearances to show that I didn't have a criminal record and could take a job abroad! About 6 months of applications and waiting later, here I am teaching English in France! For someone who has always seen jobs happen through referrals, it was hard to believe that one could get a foot in the door without knowing anyone. But as it would turn out, it is very much possible as long as you keep at it, even if it seems to be getting too tedious. In the end, it’s worth all the hassle and then some.

As you can see, it’s hard to pick a side about what works better - CVs on job portals or effective networking. More often than not, it is a combination of both. Most importantly, it takes belief that good things are just around the corner and you need to keep trying till you get there. The road to your dream job may be an uphill climb, but when you get to the top, the view is pretty spectacular. 


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Palak Kapadia


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