Journey of a Techie - From being fired to become the most viewed Automation Writer on Quora

“Congratulations, Jatin!! You are promoted!!” my manager said to me!!

Well,2017 and 2018 were not my years.

I was going through tough times in my personal life dealing with breakup and other family issues.

When you’re going through tough times, you tend to look for signs that can actually give you and your family a little bit of happiness. This promotion was a sign for me and my family!

I came out of the meeting room and called my mom to share this “good” news.

There is this one thing with all Mom’s. No matter how much you try to hide your sadness and worry, they can easily sense it!

She was sad because I was sad, and she knew that she couldn’t do anything about it.

I wanted to give this good news to her so that she could actually divert her thoughts from the tough times I was going through.

Feb 5th, 2018:

I was back from a mini vacation and was feeling really good! I thought, from now on, to start a new chapter of my life, filled with positivity and happiness.

Little did I know that God had something else planned!

I received a meeting invite from my Manager with no major agenda. This is not how he usually plans his meetings. I was a bit confused, but never imagined what was coming my way.

FYI: It was the same meeting room where I gave my interview!

When I entered the meeting room I saw the HR and my manager sitting, looking at me with a serious look on their faces. I still remember his words: Jatin, the company is going through tough times, and we have decided to lay off a few people, and you are one of them. It’s not your work, but we just can’t afford you.

I didn’t say a word to them. I felt everything was a joke….

In that moment, I was physically there but my mind was talking to (God/Universe/some Higher Power)

“God!! there are 8 billion people in this world, we have terrorists, bad people, racists and even Politicians. but why are you after me? It took me 6 months to overcome my breakup, and the moment I thought my life was just coming on track and you gave me another stress”

The HR guided me with all the formalities which I was supposed to complete, and told me, that I am not required to come to the office from tomorrow! Ouch!

Now,

If you are a bachelor and living alone, it’s not that difficult. It sucks that you are fired from a job but you are still living in a flat/apartment (it’s all cool).

BUT

If you are from India and you are staying with your parents, trust me it’s the most difficult thing.

I never had the courage to tell my mom and dad that I’ve been fired from my job. I did not want them to be worried about me. [They still don’t know anything about it]

At this stage of my life I had two options:

1. Cry over what had happened, curse my company and the people who were unkind towards me (including my ex) [Easy way]
2. Accept the reality. Digest the hard pill my life offered me and grind away. [Hard Way]

I took the hard way.

This was a low point of my life but I promised I will not make it the lowest.

I used to leave every morning and my mom used to pack my lunch :(

She thought that I was going for work but I was going to this small library that was 30 mins from my house.

I used to spend 12–13 hours daily, preparing for interviews and studying new technologies.

For the next two months I just studied. I “unlearned” what I was taught about life, people and even my work. I decided I will learn everything from scratch.

It was not just a job that I needed to find. I had to find myself! A better me!

By the time of May 2018: I had 3 job offers with really good hike which can sustain a good living for the next 4–5 years.

19th Feb 2019:

The hardships that I encountered during those two months, were the time, when I was recreating myself.

Currently, I am working as a Test Strategist and I started my own Online Training Academy for Manual Testers and Automation Engineers.

This hardship that I went through has made me, somewhat stronger in life. The things I learnt in that one year lead me to this place. I am teaching students all over the globe right now.

The guy who once had NO JOB & NO MONEY, now helps people crack interviews and prepare them for their next job.

Moral of the story:

If you ever feel lost or don’t know how you will make it. Just work hard.

Fear not, for a miracle is near! - Jatin

Thank you for reading!

I hope my story inspires people who need emotional support. You’re doing great!! Keep moving forward!

Hope this helps!!

Peace,

Guest Author

Jatin Sharma

I teach Automation Testing and DevOps

Teaching Platform: TestAutomationAcademy

If you liked this post, say hi on:

INSTAGRAM || FACEBOOK || QUORA ||