The Story of Amit : An eye opener and inspiring at the same time.

The story of Amit... How a academically bright student almost went into depression and then turned around to be a Successful Professional... ( Real story with names changed. images virtual) 

Amit was always a bright student. Always in the top 5 ranks throughout his schooling. He breezed through high school and his Engg. entrance exam with top grades, and he was accepted to his dream engineering college. But as he started college, Amit began to struggle. He found it difficult to make friends, and he often felt overwhelmed by the workload. He also started to doubt his abilities, and he began to wonder if he was cut out for Engg. College.

One day, Amit was working on a group project with a few of his classmates and they were having different opinions on a particular topic. Amit felt what he was thinking is right but he was unable to make others follow his line.. and he started to get frustrated. He began to argue with his group members, and he eventually stormed out of the room. Such incidents repeated a few times with the same outcome. 

Then his classmates started to avoid him. He was no longer invited to parties or social events, and he started to feel isolated. He began to skip classes, and his grades started to suffer.

Amit eventually graduated from college, but he had a hard time finding a job. He went on dozens of interviews, but he was never offered a position. As weeks and months passed by without any success, he started to think that he would never be successful in his career.

Dejected and starting to feel depressed  Amit started avoiding his close friends who were only a few though. 

They could sense his feelings.. Amit was a good guy.. his friends were puzzled by his behavior..  

One day Satish, one of his close friends who was academically not so bright but had managed to get placed with a decent salary and good position confronted him and took him for a walk. 

What’s wrong Amit? why are you avoiding me these days? 

Amit was silent.. he was deliberately avoiding eye contact with Satish… 

Satish persisted .. he stopped him and gripped his shoulders …

Look at me … what’s wrong?

 Amit’s eyes were moist. Satish hugged him tight… and Amit Broke down… 

His parents, relatives, and friends had huge expectations from him, but he felt he had failed them.. he could not land a job even after 8 months of completing his engineering and now he felt he had lost confidence.. depression had started taking over.. 

After listening carefully for over 20 minutes to his dear friend, Satish could spot his problem... 

Hey, Man, you are an engineer.. and a good engineer.. aren’t you ? 

Amit gave a  sarcastic and puzzled expression… 

“Oh come on… I mean it. what I am surprised about is, you are not working on the problem, instead you are engulfed in the problem and hence probably are not able to have a macro view of yourself.. 

You are  overthinking and worried... and not taking necessary action. 

चिंता मत कर भाई.. चिंतन कर.. 

What do you mean ? what am I not doing? I have been attending so many interviews only to face rejection every time. I had done a course on interview techniques as well. I am not able to just crack any. All my grades look useless and I dont think I will be able to do anything.

Listen friend, “… 

And then Satish went on to explain to Amit that he needed to work on his personality , his attitude and behavior  and should improve certain softskills. He told Amit that he was too introverted and analytical. He needs to be more interactive and empathetic. 

He also needed to learn how to be more assertive and yet warm. that may call for the need to improve his communication skills, resilience, and self-belief. 

"Don't doubt yourself, just take some positive actions daily and make it a habit.  Your change in behavior will lead to a change in your self-image.. once this happens, your interview performance will be quite different," said Satish. They both had a Long talk about some minute details of  Amit's traits and skills. 

Why didn't you tell me all this earlier?  Amit was quite positive in his tone sounding confident.. 

Satish said, bro... I am not an expert or senior to you to know all this in advance. I was fortunate to learn all this from a good source during  SE and TE.. and at that time you were in your own world and I didn't realize you need such kind of help. Anyways.. Der aaye durust aaye.. chill and start from today 

Amit took his friend's advice to heart. He started to attend networking events, and he made an effort to talk to people and understand them. He also started taking communication classes, and he practiced his public speaking skills. As time went by magic started to show up..

Within a few months, Amit started to see a difference. He was more confident, and he was able to connect with people more easily. He also started to get more job interviews, and he eventually landed a job at a tech company. The work profile which he always had dreamt of. 

Amit is now doing well in his career. He is still working on his personality and skills, but he is much more confident than he used to be. He knows that he still has a lot to learn, but he is determined to succeed, now that he is gathering all the necessary tools beyond his technical expertise.

The story of Amit is a reminder that personality and skills are important for success in the workplace. If you ignore these factors, you may find it difficult to achieve your goals. But if you are willing to work on yourself, you can overcome your challenges and achieve your dreams.

Avinaash Deshmukh 

Youth and Career Coach 

Connect with Avinaash 

avinashdeshmukh@brainsmaart.com