Job or It’s The End Of You and Me!

Us? We are engineering students. Our life and career runs on deadlines and ultimatums.

“I need that code tomorrow OR!” – Boss.

“If your assignment isn’t submitted by evening in my class, you’re going to have to show your ass in the Principals office tomorrow!” – Professor.

“When are semester exams starting?”… “Tomorrow???”… “I’m fucked!” – Me.

Our hands and feet don’t move till we are as close to deadlines as close is the whisper of death to me when I’m driving!

But that’s all fun. It’s when life-altering decisions are at hand that ultimatums and deadlines show their true colors. They can make you pee in your pants, quite literally. Think of the moment when you may get informed of your terminal illness! Yes, ultimatums and deadlines sometimes show their face when they are least expected and that’s when they make a dent or help you remove one.

Fighting a deadline or an ultimatum is a true test of your character, decision-making prowess and clarity in thoughts and nothing in world strengthens your belief in yourself than conquering one!

Regarding a situation when I threw an ultimatum at someone, it was right at me. I was helpless. The period in which I was looking for a job was nothing less than a mountain to climb everyday and come back down and sleep and repeat the same thing over and over for next 18 months. Shattered wouldn’t even start to define my state of mind. But I had a challenge at hand and I made sure to make an effort everyday to complete it day by day, little by little. So knocked was my confidence in myself after I lost my first job before even joining it, that it took me ages to find myself back again, that same me who had competition for lunch and wins for dinner!

So I threw an ultimatum to myself after I joined my first temporary job at a BPO. That this will never be repeated in my entire life again. I will not go through this humiliation ever again and I have to find a job that’s worthy of my time and effort and hard work and that right after I complete my Mainframes course or else it may be time to look at reducing some weight from this earth which in my case is and was – substantial. I worked and studied hard. Ate even lesser and brought my sleep down to a few hours in the night only to repeat it for the next 2 months. And I won. I got my first job at Accenture and that story is right here.

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