118 Interviews Later: A Tale of Resilience, Triumph, and Returning to The City

And the 'Why?' behind the SecondBecoming blog

I never imagined finding a job would be so difficult. I did have an 8-year gap in my CV. When my children were babies, I had decided to press pause on my corporate career for – what I thought would be – a couple of years. Life happened and time flew by, but I was ready to go back, full of energy and aspirations. Little did I know that it would take me nearly two years, hundreds of applications and 118 interviews to find a job.

I see now that two things were working against me. The first is what I call “the hiring manager’s dilemma”. I vividly remember a frank conversation with a hiring manager towards the end of an interview. She said, “I would love to hire you but how can I justify hiring you instead of this other loyal employee who has been waiting for this opportunity for the past 6 years whilst doing a really good job and building his network?” For the first time during that interview, I went blank. I didn’t have an answer to her question. I thought about my husband, who had recently gotten promoted after many years of incredibly hard work and amazing results. How would we have felt if he did not get promoted because his company hired an external candidate who had been out of the workforce for 8 years? We would probably have felt that a terrible injustice had been committed. It is a real and complex dilemma.

The second factor working against me was subconscious bias. Research from the Harvard Business School 2021 conducted across the USA, UK and Germany that found that 43-48% of employers with applicant tracking systems filtered out CVs of skilled candidates with CV gaps of over 6 months for that reason alone: “Our research indicated that employers believe applicants with more recent experience are more likely to have better professional skills.”

The quest for employment was gruelling, full of setbacks, self-doubt, and frustration. A rollercoaster of emotions; flying high one day when that dream job seemed to be (almost) within my grasp and being knocked down the next by an ego-bruising rejection. I knew I had to change strategy and find a way of making the process less painful. And so, I have read hundreds of books and articles, listened to podcasts, watched TEDx videos, and interviewed experts. I applied their wisdom; experimented. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I failed. Over time, I have learned what works and what doesn’t. I have painstakingly collected valuable insights from experts; tools and strategies that helped me not only to cope with the inevitably difficult process but to become a better, stronger version of myself.

Today, I work in The City again. I have a wonderful job at one of the most aspirational companies in Financial Services and feel financially secure, professionally fulfilled, and happy. Now, I wish to share my experience with others who might benefit.

This blog is my way of sharing everything I’ve learned and continue to learn. It is my sincere hope that you find it useful and worth sharing with others.