The reasons why I resigned from my job that I had been working for about 3 years without finding a new job, which made me move to Germany, and the reasons that led me to make such a decision. Did I resign? I explained in my article. The first day I published the article, it reached thousands of readers, and I think I received more than a hundred messages, both congratulating and supporting me for my courage, and saying that ‘he found a piece of his own life’.
Nice I would like to thank you all for your messages and good wishes, and even for your new job offers, it is a very special feeling for me to feel that I have a real love in the virtual internet environment, and being able to touch your life in some way is my only motivation for spending so much time and effort on writing these lines.
Yes, in the article I mentioned I ‘burned ships’ and quit my job, what next? After all, I need to earn money somehow to survive, so after getting through the turmoil of the resignation process, I started looking for a new job.
First I edited my CV and decided to start with LinkedIn as a job search portal.. I mean, I didn’t want to spend my life looking at all the portals at the same time, and I was able to apply a lot in a short time thanks to LinkedIn’s really suitable postings when searched with the right criteria.. I also activated the “Let recruiters know you’re open” option, so I tried to get someone to find me by stating that I was open to job opportunities.
The option I activated is entirely in England. it worked, for some reason there is such an abundance of headhunters in the UK. They all said, “I have a job for you, when can I call you today to talk?” they communicate in a way that i’m extremely annoying like. I can say that I don’t like any of them because they tried to get my phone number without telling the details of the job and which city it was in, and they made a fait accompli to call me today without asking if I would accept it.
I haven’t been around much in general, but I gave two of them a chance.. The first one talked to me about a job at a software company and he was pretty decent.. I thought it would interest me and told the company to forward my CV.. After I forwarded it, the company invited me for a face-to-face meeting, I accepted that I would go back and forth, since it is only 5 minutes on foot to where I work.. But there was a problem, the interview would be in German Ok, my German is not bad, but since the language of the company I work for is English, I have never used the corporate German we call ‘business German’ in my life.. Since my industry is also a technical field, there are a lot of words that we do not use in normal life and it is necessary to know their German equivalents.
As those who know me a little can guess, of course I decided to go to the interview and I wanted to test how much I could do, “Let’s see if I can speak technical German if I try too hard” Of course, I explained the situation to the headhunter who was in contact with me and informed the company in advance and said, ‘If it is convenient for them to work with someone whose mother tongue is not German, I will go to the interview, otherwise it will take no one’s time. I said I don’t want. One evening while I was shopping, I called a number I did not know and spoke very fast in German and told me something about the company I was going to meet, and then he made me speak, it turns out they ‘tested’ my German knowledge.. They also stated that I passed the test saying, “It’s okay, we’re arranging the meeting”
I went to meet with the manager of the company and the interview, which we expected to last half an hour in a conversational mood, took more than an hour.. The Germans are actually very punctual in such matters, but somehow we got electrocuted with the man.. Sometimes I couldn’t find the German words I needed and spoke in English but I forced myself to never switch to English in conversation.. When it was over, I was really happy that I had the courage to go there and did it.
But the job was not suitable for me, I didn’t like it either because it was too similar to my job that I quit.. Moreover, it was not my preference to speak German at work, as I did not want to completely break away from English.. So I said I wasn’t interested and the topic was closed.
The second headhunter offered me a job at a consulting firm.. I accepted that the first interview would be over the phone, actually, I was trying myself a little bit ‘I wonder if I could do it’ and I was trying to learn what kind of questions were asked.. It was a well-known company in the market and we had the first meeting.. Afterwards, the headhunter called me ‘how it went’ and hung up on me for an hour with extremely useless questions on the phone that he literally cut my hair off.. No, what was the thing that I liked the most in the meeting, how would I talk about this meeting to my family and friends?. So it is not possible to understand why companies are working with these people.
But the company found our meeting positive and they wanted to invite me to their offices.. At first I was happy and accepted, then I was confused.. I was confused because I was going wrong, this job was very similar to the job I did at my resigned company.. I mean, I was trying to go from something I disliked to something I didn’t like, and companies wanted to hire me because I had experience in that field so far.
At that point I decided, finance I would not meet with any company in the industry that requires software knowledge.. Because I did not want to advance in the technical field and I was bored with the financial sector.. I emailed the headhunter, who talked a lot, that I didn’t want to go for a second interview with the consulting company, and then I didn’t pick up their phone
After these few interviews, I decided what I wanted, and it got harder because my options was restricted and more importantly, because I wanted to change the sector, I had to make myself accepted in that new sector even though I had no experience.. I turned off the job search option on LinkedIn because I didn’t want any more financial IT job offers that matched my profile.. I myself am focused on finding job postings in other industries.
I have this option enabled on LinkedIn so that Headhunters can find me, but it always changes.
I was very happy when an advertisement appeared in the Munich office of Amazon that would be suitable for me and I applied to it. it would be nice to work in a company. As they liked my CV, they sent an analytical test as a first step, it was a difficult test that required interpretation of graphics and confusing with unnecessary extra information, but I can do such tests well, I think I may have even broken the record by getting it all right The first phone call right after uploading the answers to the test they already sent an invitation for the interview.
The phone call was to be with the Human Resources officer, of course, I couldn’t enter ‘lay lay lom’ in the interview as it was an area that I had no experience with, I wouldn’t do much preparation. needed. Also, since Amazon is a famous company, it has a unique style like Google interviews (I entered them at the time ) and you need to learn that style first.. In this style, which we can call a behavioral interview, they generally focus on “Does your character fit our company rather than whether you can do the job” and thus they have a strong company culture thanks to the employees who provide the personal characteristics they care about.. To give the simplest example, “Let’s say that the delivery date of the project you need to train has passed and you need to explain this to the customer.. They measure you with questions such as “How do you do it, give an example from your past”.
I think these types of interviews are the most difficult, because you need to think of an example for every situation that may be asked and the result of the example you will give. It is very important to answer carefully in a way that tells you that you are suitable for the position you are interviewing for.. And while every word you use is of great importance, these words are not in your native language.
I made the phone call and it went well, next time I was invited to the Amazon office and had a face-to-face interview.. Of course, I was a little worried when I learned that this interview would take 4 hours and be held with 5 different people.. Then I prepared as well as I could, researching for days on the internet to see what they might ask and thinking about my answers.
And the big day has come.. The meeting was always one-on-one, and when one person left, another would come.. They were all very well prepared to measure me from different angles, such as the manager of the relevant department, one of the team, a tester to test my technical knowledge.. But there was a problem, there was no break between talks.. In fact, I couldn’t stand it for a while and asked for 1 minute to go to her and get some air by opening the window I vaguely remember what I was talking about with the last interviewer, I was so confused.
But I thought it went well after all.. A few days later, the news came that they liked me, but they found someone else better suited for the position.. Since they don’t want to lose me, they will let me know as soon as another position is available for me.. Although I wanted to believe that what they said was true because they informed me by phone instead of an e-mail, I thought that it was more of a courtesy thing to say “we will call you” and I was saddened.. When there were maybe thousands of applicants for every position, would they say, “There was a Fatma over there, this job would be good for her”? they threw it away, so I appreciated it because it wasn’t out of courtesy.. But this time the job was not at Amazon, but at an IT firm called Amazon Web Services (AWS).. While trying to get out of the software field, I found myself in an IT company again.
I accepted the interview even though the AWS company did not interest me as much as Amazon, actually I knew that it was the dream company of many people. it didn’t attract me. Maybe because of this relatively little interest, maybe because we had no electricity with the man on the phone, I was eliminated in the first meeting.. However, the situation was not that bad, because after I proved that my personality traits were suitable for Amazon in those long interviews, I would not go through these processes again in my subsequent applications and would only be evaluated with a shorter process for the position I applied for.
However, that suitable position that I would apply for did not come out.. In the meantime, I continued to make other applications.
The two major media groups I applied for in Germany. There were phone calls for both positions.. While preparing for the interview, I started to research the company more seriously and my phone calls became important for me; because the company had applications that allow both television streaming and watching TV series and movies from television channels, mobile devices and tablets.. So at least the television channels were known to everyone in Germany.. It wasn’t Amazon but I found another company that is famous in Germany. I also liked the industry, after a financial cold area such as banking applications, television or something, I think it was very sweet
For both positions, they would call the unit managers directly on the phone.. The first was very recent, and the second, which interested me a little more, was almost a month after the manager was on vacation.. The first manager called and started speaking German directly because it says I know German on my CV.. We talked for about an hour, both by showing that I know German and by explaining the technical parts in English, since the position is in English.. He signaled that he thought positively about me, but said that he had seen a lot of people.. That’s why I couldn’t predict the result exactly.
After I hung up the phone, there was no news for 3 weeks, I thought he probably found someone more suitable than most of the people he talked to, after all, he is famous among Germans. was a company. While I was hoping for a second position and waiting for his day to come, on the other hand, thinking that I did not have much luck in other sectors, I started meeting with a company in my own sector again.
Then the mail I was waiting for came and they said i passed the phone call. This time they were inviting me to the company to meet with the man I was talking to and two more.. But they gave a topic, not such an empty conversation, and they wanted me to do a case study about it.. Moreover, I only had 15 minutes to present my work and I was expected to be ready for any questions afterwards.. Since I’m a type who doesn’t watch TV series and movies, I was very unfamiliar with the industry. In order to fill my gap in a short time, I learned all the products of the company, as well as getting trial memberships from global competitors such as Netflix, I tinkered with the features of the platform, and thought about its functions that could be improved with its good and bad aspects.
Again, after a lot of research and preparation, I came up with a presentation that appealed to me.. I went to the company, the man I spoke to on the phone was a sweet man and made me feel comfortable. When I made the presentation, he looked at me and said seriously that he was amazing, I felt like he was ready to hire me.. Afterwards, he gave me a pencil and asked me to draw certain flows and answer some logic questions, he asked something at the whiteboard for about two hours, I explained.. In the end, she went away quite satisfied.
After the interview, I talked to another manager, this time the color of the matter was a bit changed. Because I was tired and confused by using English and German together too much with the previous guy.. I mean, I can think of the sentence I wanted to say to answer the man, but I stumbled, not being able to distinguish which language it was.. I said good and bad things, and the man didn’t go too far and told me the direct result:
“The line manager you just talked to thinks very well of you, but I know that another Have you applied for the position yet?. Based on what you said, I think you might be more suitable for that position, so let’s wait for you to meet there.”
I liked that it was an honest thought and said, “I am a perfect fit for this. they did not find it, and if the other one is negative, then I will be left out”.. As a result, I started to wait for the phone call for the other position.
The day I was waiting for came and the manager of that department called. We talked for about an hour, similar to the previous one, but this time the electricity got even worse and the man directly said that he wanted to invite me to the company for a second interview.. Actually, I had to prepare a presentation again, but fortunately they freed me by saying that I could present what I did for the previous position.. Because they were going to arrange the meeting right away and they were aware that I did not have enough time to prepare in the meantime.. That’s why they said that it would be enough to tell the previous topic to measure my presentation skills.. Still, they sent the issue ‘for information’ and I worked until the morning ‘if they ask’ of course.
By the way, since I resigned, I continued to work during the notice period. Of course, it was also difficult to make up the times of the meetings.. I tried to organize phone calls either very early in the morning or as late in the evening as possible, arriving/leaving early for work a little late.. In long face-to-face interviews, I had to take half a day off from work.. After completing the half-day leave job again, I went to the same company for the second time to meet with this manager and other related persons, the meeting was again very positive.. I decided that I warmed up to the company and I really wanted to work there.
The next day of the interview, I received an e-mail from the Human Resources department, they were offering me both positions and they wanted me to choose the appropriate one. !
After my current company, where I feel incompetent and always more mediocre than others because I work without much love, it felt good to realize again that I can actually do some things well..
I agreed with what the man said who found me more suitable for the second position, so I said I chose him. The conditions were better than my current company, the senior (senior) title, which was not given to me in my company, was to be given due to my experience in my business life even though I was completely new in the sector.. When I quit without finding a job, I thought a lot, “I hope I don’t regret it”, I did not regret it and I even managed to improve my conditions.
By the way, another good thing happened, from the company I interviewed in my own industry. After two face-to-face meetings, the offer came.. I expected an offer to come, as I had already completed the work they asked in the second interview very well, but when I had the opportunity to change the sector, it didn’t seem attractive anymore.
The first offer they gave was not very good financially. was unsatisfactory and I refused saying that I had agreed with another place. Interestingly this time, they asked how much salary I would accept, so I said a higher salary than the offer I accepted at the other company, in case they can’t raise it that much somehow.. They would say, “Sorry, this budget is beyond us”, and I would reject it, saying, “I won’t be able to accept it then.”
Unexpectedly, the company accepted my salary.. Of course I was overjoyed, it means they wanted me that much.. But at the same time, I had to choose, a higher salary in the industry I know but want to change; Or is it a lower salary in an unfamiliar industry that excites me because it’s completely new?
I think many people found the first option attractive, but after a few days of thinking I decided I wanted to try the second one.. I wouldn’t choose a similar job even though I was bored just because it was my comfort zone.. I tried to comfort myself by saying, “So if I am not happy in the new field I will try, I can go back to my current sector and find a job easily” and I thanked the company very much and rejected their offer.. I signed the contract with the other media company.
And now I’m telling you the best part. We started the contract with the new company 3 months later, it is considered normal to wait 3 months for someone to start work.. They said that if my company leaves me sooner, I can start earlier, but I won’t start sooner After all, I’m leaving my company at the end of the year and I will start there on March 1, the two months in between will be months to hang out according to my pleasure.. I always dreamed of a time in my life that I would spend without working like this, I think I deserved this much pleasure after all the job interview preparations, saying that I will not die if I do not receive a salary for two months.
I will not work for two months, my beloved I want to deal with things; Let me write the articles that I always wanted to write, organize my photos that I have accumulated but could not find the opportunity to edit, let me go to Istanbul and spend a little longer time with my family.. Apart from that, we want to move to be close to my new job, since my wife’s job is in that area, we started house searches (a very difficult subject in Munich). And of course, if I’m lucky, I’ll take a vacation, I have a few destinations in mind that I want to go. Considering all that, it looks like I’m going to have two busier months than usual after all.. (UPDATE: I explained what I did during the 2 months I didn’t work in my article ENJOY TEMPORARY UNEMPLOYMENT IN GERMANY.)
What I learned from the job finding process; don’t be lazy because you learn new things after every meeting. Don’t get too upset when you get rejected in an interview for which you prepared and worked hard before, because you use what you learned in the next interview you want more.. And don’t compromise your happiness for money, never stray from the path you believe will make you happier.
I made the decision that I believed was right, was it really right or bad, I’ll see through it.. Resigning without finding a new job was a brave but risky step, and the interview processes were mentally exhausting, but I was able to create a solution for myself in the end.. So, if I have made a bad decision, I will not be afraid to take bold steps in line with my current conditions, I think that’s what life is like
I hope that after my decision to resign, this article will tell you that you are not satisfied in your life. could be inspired to change things, as you can see, nothing is easy, but when you work tirelessly, you get what you want.. Please share my article with your loved ones who you think will be inspirational.
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