How did I get my first job. Memoir Monday #24.

My first memoir!!! 😊

Intro

I remember the introduction post to #MemoirMonday by @ericvancewalton. It was in March this year. And look at me. This is my first entry, so if you need an example of what the slowpoke means here I am.

I missed a lot of great topics, each worth a small essay. The latest one was announced just today, but better later, yeah?

So, today I gonna stick to call #24 - How did you get your first job?

Back Story

Before I dive deep into my memories, let me give you some context. I was born in the USSR. While I was studying at the university, the collapse of the USSR occurred. Ukraine declared independence along with other countries. The life of a whole county started from scratch. We lost all our savings in bank's accounts (that were all in Moscow) and in cash coz ... the young country didn't have its own currency yet. Those years were very harsh but I was young! So very young that I saw all life circumstances through rose-colored glasses.

Until I got married and gave birth to a child. I was so excited to jump into adult life...

It happened in the last two years of study. The most important ones. I must confess that I am from those with excellent student syndrome. I was among the best in school and graduated from the university with honors. Until recently, I considered this a good character trait and only recently realized that it is actually the result of a childhood trauma. That was a fun discovery.

Anyway. When I became a very young mother, I was left with no money. If I had had a job at the time, I could have received child support payments. However since I was a student, I could only claim the minimum social assistance. The monthly payment of this money was enough to buy milk for the baby for one week. My hubby was also a student.

Searches Of A Job

When I finally graduated, I started the search for a job. First, I searched for a job in the IT industry according to my qualifications. All to no avail.

The Internet was in its infancy. Plus all the mess of the formation of the country. All hope was in my parents' acquaintances and connections. My mom had an acquaintance whose mother was a chief of IT Department in a big enterprise. And she even said she would hire me ... as soon as they will get a vacancy. Most likely. A vacancy was to be created, and we were waiting and hoping...

In the meantime, my baby needed food every day. For her, I was ready to sell ice cream on the street. I mean it.

At that time, there was a daily newspaper whole dedicated to advertisements. One day, I found an advert saying that a company was looking for a salesperson for a grocery market. A meeting with the customer was scheduled for candidates in a cafe. It was quite suspicious (cafe?), but I decided to go anyway. Long story short, I with my diploma with honors in math passed to the next round.😅 But the next interview was with a business owner who did not hide his surprise at my candidacy. At that time, I didn't know the word "overqualified". He said he couldn't hire me as a salesperson, but perhaps I could work as a manager. I was given a few days to make a decision.

I badly needed a job but my daughter was still too young for kindergarten, and neither of us could even think about the services of a nanny. And I don't know where would I end up if it isn't His Grace.

The Accident

A friend of my mother's colleague died suddenly. She died of anaphylactic shock due to an allergy to a wasp sting. It was in the beginning of September. The woman died on the way to the hospital. She left two minor daughters and a husband. Such a tragedy for the family.

But. She worked as a Software Engineer at the regional medical institution. The one of her kind, I mean she was the only IT person there. That's how the vacancy came about. They had an urgent need and so did I. We found each other. In the end, both parties were very happy.

Epilogue

In my first job, I didn't use much of what I was taught during 5 years in the university. Almost nothing of it. The IT industry was developing rapidly. On the other hand, the computer was a black box for my new colleagues. No one knew what my predecessor had done or how she had done it. They showed me the documents she had printed out, and that was it. I had to use deduction, LOL. So on one of my first days, I overwrote the database of one department with another (oops, they looked the same).

And that's how I made another useful acquaintance. This man gave me some practical knowledge and a little bit of self-belief, but most importantly, he gave me a big thick book on programming language, my first bible which I studied from beginning to end with excitement. I enjoyed it, and it helped me to get those long-awaited and promised job in a big enterprise where the mother of my mom's acquaintance was a chief of the IT department. We are still friends, my mom's acquaintance and I. 🙂