My gratefulness
At the end of this week, I received the news that I passed all the interviews and got the UX Trainee position at a company that I am very excited to join. I am really happy not only because I got the job, but also because the culture and values of the company and the team are very matched to mine.
When I received the email from the recruiter, I was so happy that I even could not respond immediately. Within around 30 minutes, I just sat silently and reflected on everything that happened.
I spent the whole day thinking about the whole process, how I have been learning and working during the whole time starting landing in Finland, how I struggled with things and obstacles in life and study, and how I applied and prepared for the interviews. Also, most importantly, how I was alone in the beginning, and then how I could connect and meet people who have helped me during my journey to reach today. After that, I spent the whole day to reach out to those people and say thanks to them.
I am very grateful for everything!
Hard-work pays off
Now, reflecting all year just went by, I am so grateful for who I am and what I’ve done until this day.
When decided to go to Finland, I thought I would have to spend another 3–4 years studying the university program (I have one Bachelor’s degree in Vietnam already). I did not even set the goal to graduate so early or get my first job here within just 1 year.
However, the more I studied and worked towards my goals, the more I pushed my limitation to the maximum level. For 11 months, every day I woke up at 6:30 or 7:00 to study and work on school and personal projects for 7 to 10 hours. It was every day continuously.
Now, I still could not believe that I got a job after just 1 year in Finland. Even though it is just an internship, it is the primary door to open other doors in the job market in Finland as a foreigner, and because usually finding the first entry-level job here in Finland is not really easy for a foreign student as well.
Some experienced people in the field even told me that in this brutal job market at the moment, getting something like this was a big accomplishment. This was very great to hear but I know I still need to try harder for the long run, and I am thankful for what I have now.
It would be a lie if I said I was not proud. The truth is I am very proud of everything I have been trying. During 1 year, I sacrificed all my hobbies like piano, blog writing, lifestyle books, yoga, etc., to dedicate all my time to studying.
Now it finally paid off, and I guess I can slowly be back to my hobbies from now on.
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A little side story related to my period of preparing for interviews
Everything happens for a reason…
Before joining the first interview where I left a deep impression on interviewers by my presentation, I was ended my part-time job that I was in a trial period. I knew that place was not suitable for me, and wanted to end before that, but I needed to earn something to support my living in Finland where things are expensive. Also, I was not sure when I could get a professional job because it is not easy for a foreigner here, it might take a long time. For those reasons, I decided to just stick to that. However, they decided to end mine.
I was quite shocked because I have never been the kind of worst person to be ended a work, but there I was, ended a part-time job at a sushi restaurant. Of course, I did not agree with some of their working morals and the reasons they showed. I was so sad but there was no choice, I stopped my work there.
However, surprisingly, because of stopped my part-time job, I got more time to invest in my presentation for the first interview, which was impressed very much by interviewers, and I heard a lot of compliments for that. Even after I passed all 2 rounds, in the announcement of the final result, the interviewer still commended me for my presentation as outstanding. Both the sadness and the injustice that I faced at that part-time workplace gave me so much strength and dedication to work on preparing for the interview.
… and that reason maybe is to bring you the thing you deserve
I told my friend that maybe if I was not ended my part-time job unjustifiably, I might not had the time and strength to do that good presentation for the interview. I could have failed the position, and I might still need to keep working at that sushi restaurant to earn for living for 1 more year at least.
So, I contemplate that, sometimes we think unlucky things happened to us, turns out it was actually the lucky ones that needed to happen.
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Something comes from luck, but the rest of the things come from the effort.
– My new favorite quote – By me –
15 October, 2023, Lahti, Finland