Amlan Jena

The year 2020 gifted me a termination from my job. For the first time in 9 years after graduation I was without a job, thanks to the job cuts courtesy Covid-19. I knew that the IT industry had faced a set-back but I had never imagined it would come to bite me so hard.

My manager called me one day and said “I am sorry but we would have to let you go since we are unable to find any projects for you”. I was forced to resign, as a termination would mean a black mark on my resume. I was not sure how to react to all this because from the day I graduated from college, I was lucky enough to have always held down a steady job and never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that after 9 years this would happen. I have always given work my 100%, so I am still not skeptical as to what happened. May be since I never  had to struggle to get a job earlier, I was shattered and lost my confidence. All of a sudden a feeling dawned upon me, that I was never good enough and I can never ever score another job in my life. To add to that I got more involved in reading/hearing stories of how others lost jobs and how tough it is to get one. This got me depressed even more and I shut myself from everyone.

I kept a brave face and said yes its fine, but something within me kept saying, no it is not. But amidst all this chaos, one thing that I always had standing as a rock besides me was my family and friends. Not even once did they point out any flaws in me nor did anyone enquire how it happened. They always uplifted and motivated me with kind words and most of all empathized and never made me feel any less of a person. My parents would call me regularly and tell me that all this is temporary, that I need to trust God and try again sincerely, because all bad things will pass. My wife said  “There are even worse things that could have happened, and this is not the end of the world, you just keep going without fear because I am standing by you no matter what.” My friends cheered me up day in and day out.

Seeing so much positivity around me when the world itself was going through such a dreadful phase, I said to myself “Oh what the hell, if others have so much belief in  me, it wouldn’t hurt if I have some in myself. So, once again I pulled myself together and leaving behind all doubts I started preparing. I learnt a new technology which was indeed tough and clearing  the certifications was even tougher, but I wasn’t going to give up. I attended interviews where I didn’t do so well initially, but I took all of that as a learning rather than getting disheartened. And I kept improving from one interview to another. After 4 months and numerous interviews later, I finally landed myself a job in TCS, and that too in the domain that I had always wanted.  As of today, I am indeed facing challenges in my job as this is a new domain, but I am enjoying it and growing a little more each day.

From this tiny setback in life and my journey to getting back on track, there is one thing I have learnt, that nothing in this life is permanent, if you fall don’t give up, you shall rise again. Just keep believing and working towards it with sincerity. And keep your loved ones close.

Total Work Experience : 9 Years (Infosys, Unisys, TCS)