Personal timeline

1017_frank's journey

Milestones, reflections, and progress updates connected as your layoff-to-next-step story unfolds.

  1. 2

    I had an interview yesterday at a fintech company located on the third floor of a building. After the interview, which I felt went well, I learned they would get back to me in two weeks. However, I noticed two other fintech companies on the same floor, and I decided to take a chance and see if they were hiring too. I approached the first company, but the entrance was locked, so I waited for someone to come out and slipped in behind them. Inside, I struggled to find a receptionist and was initially ignored by a staff member, which was a bit disheartening. Thankfully, the cleaning staff was kind enough to fetch the operations manager for me. She provided me with an email address to send my resume, but I felt embarrassed about the whole situation. Determined not to let that stop me, I headed towards the elevator but then decided to check out the second company as well. Their door was wide open, and I spoke to the first person I encountered. He was friendly and directed me to the operations coordinator, who was also very nice. Although they didn’t have any openings at the moment, she took my number and LinkedIn profile and encouraged me to email her my resume. This interaction felt much more positive, and I could sense my embarrassment fading away. I realized that networking is indeed a numbers game; the more people I talk to, the better my chances. I've come to terms with the fact that being a bit shameless can actually be beneficial in this job market. There's a saying I love: "sifa nzuri ni za maiti" – praises are for the dead. It reminds me not to worry about how I look while pursuing my goals.

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  2. 1

    I recently learned about CV harvesting scams, and it really opened my eyes to a troubling aspect of job searching that I had no idea existed. Essentially, CV harvesting involves collecting resumes through fake job postings, which is concerning because a resume contains a lot of personal information that could be exploited. I came across a job listing for a stealth startup looking for a Software Engineer with a salary range of $180k-$250k and a requirement of 3+ years of experience. They asked applicants to send their resumes to a personal Gmail account, which raised a red flag for me. After doing some research, I found that many people have experienced similar scams, especially from recruiters using Gmail accounts who might swipe your resume and sell it to someone else. It's alarming how easily someone could gather enough information from a resume to potentially steal your identity. Now, I find myself spending a lot of time verifying whether job postings are legitimate before applying.

    Job title: Software Engineer

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