If it's worth it, fight for it

Make sure you have some food and a drink;) Ready? Start reading.

Before I tell you a secret "how to get a job you want", I'll tell you my story – "how I don't recommend you to look for a job". My job-hunting started in 2013 when graduated the University in Poland. Although I wanted to stay in Poland, but due to some reasons (no accommodation was one of them), I couldn't. So I went back to Ukraine, checked the vacancies like crazy (both in Poland and Ukraine), sent hundreds CVs. (The positions were mainly with English or Chinese). And started waiting for replies. Meanwhile I was asking myself WHAT I really wanted to do. And there was no answer.

Months were passing by. When I was meeting friends, people in my town, they couldn't believe I couldn't find a job. "Maria, you're so smart, you can speak Chinese, you've got two degrees, how come you can't find a job? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! Why don't you start your own business? You'll have a wealthy life". And so on. They were shocked when they met me after one year, and nothing changed: I was still at home....eating borsch, observing how quickly the seasons changed.

(Can you imagine how I felt? Like a loser). I knew why it was so: I didn't know WHAT I was looking for. (Of course, people who have normal jobs don't understand what it means to do what you love, to enjoy the job, they don't ask themselves: Does the job bring me happiness or not? They just  keep doing it.

I hardly got any replies, thus had no interviews. 8-9 months later, I was invited for an interview in Poland, and they offered me a job. My parents were happy. But I didn't accept the offer. What a stubborn daughter!

In April next year I got a job in Kyiv for a position of director's personal assistant (=doing everything, including duties of a secretary, interpreter (Chinese, English, Russian), and also clients search in China). Sounds good, right? I could be a business-lady (hahaha). Since my job-hunting took me too long (without any results), relatives were pushing me: you should take that job! Finally settle down! You can't stay at home doing nothing! But...it would be THEIR decision, NOT mine. So I refused it....My parents told I expected too much.

(When you go to the market, and want to buy FRESH fruit, but they only have rotten bananas. Does it mean you expect too much? hmm....)

Can you imagine yourself being in that situation? I had no energy to continue the search, I couldn't sleep, I had no patience to wait, I wanted to give up. ​August 2014-still unemployed. I found a contact to Chinese man (whom I met during my study in Poland), who had a company in Warsaw. It was my last hope. I talked to him, told that I was interested in a job. (He was looking for a person, who could speak Russian and Chinese to help him start business in Russia). I went for an interview, and we agreed I would start to work. I went back to Ukraine, had a farewell dinner with my friends, we celebrated my new job. Everything was fine (or maybe not). When I got home, I asked myself (I do talk to myself a lot!): is it what I want to do? Do I want to live and work for this company in Warsaw? Or....? The answer was: NO! I want to go to CHINA! (You might say I'm crazy. And I'll agree with you).

My parents wouldn't understand why all of a sudden I decided to change my mind. I was pretending I was looking for an apartment in Warsaw online, while I was asking all my Chinese friends to help me find a company, that would hire me or send me an invitation, so that I could apply for a Chinese visa. It took me another month. That's what I call self-determination! A friend of mine was trying to help me with documents, but it didn't work. I was frustrated, broken and helpless. So what did I do? I let it all go....

And surprisingly, one day, I got a message from a girl. (I never met her, she studied in Ukraine before, now they had an export-import company in China): "Maria, I talked with my boss about you. We would like to hire you". And it was a blessing! I was so excited, that I even didn't ask many details about the job. The salary they offered was really very very low, and for that money I had to manage a living. Anyway, I told myself: "I'll have a visa for one year, if I don't like the job, I'll change it". (Do you want to know how long I worked there? 3 weeks!).  Before the trip I checked the location of that city in China (I was happy as it was close to Hong Kong, which I dreamt to visit), sent my passport to get a visa (the company did it for me in Kyiv), bought a ticket and in 2 weeks (!) I was eating rice in Guangzhou and sending messages to my friends :D China was all I needed!

My window view

I understand that it's really hard sometimes (okay, often) 1) to find your life interest/purpose/or whatever you call it 2) to achieve a goal, that will make YOU happy (not your mom, or your boyfriend) 3) fight till the end, especially when you have no one to support you . I know, big goals take time, efforts and commitment. But think for a second, if someone already did it, what makes you think you CAN'T?.. Why not give it a try? Read the next post to find out what qualities you need to possess to get what you want (based on my personal experience).