How I survive in London.

teaching myself the job hunting game

My dearest reader,

I could justify my absence on my Tumblr by posting this, but instead I am going to tell you what really happened.

This post is a gentle attempt to describe my worm curve about my experiences in London. Hopefully, it will somehow give you the understanding to fail fast in a near future. To not take things for granted. And to have patience when time is not on your side.

All beginnings are difficult. Especially when after making some progress, I suddenly realized that I needed a second beginning. I needed to start all over again.

When sitting on the train to London, I was quite confident. I was having very good conversations with one agency, and I was waiting for my final yes. Until I received a no.

“We have decided that we currently don’t take any interns until January because of financial and practical reasons.”

I felt disappointed, frustrated and — more importantly — pressured. I suddenly had no place to do my research. No kitchen where I could eavesdrop. No inspiration whatsoever.

The only thing I had was a deadline. And it only took a few finger flicks on my phone to see it.

Do you remember that book I am going to write? I’m on page zero.

Well, I’m still on page zero, but things are way better than they were one month ago. I gave myself a month to find something cool and I succeeded. Somehow I managed to turn things around. Call it perseverance, call it luck, call it teaching yourself the job hunting game.

I would like to give you a few things I’ve learned regarding this game. I took a lot of notes during the last weeks and these are according to me the most important lessons.

1/ Fear makes you more creative. Sorry Mr. Bugosky, but it’s true. When you’re driven into a corner, you think way faster to find a solution. You do everything to get out of that place, because it’s simply not a nice place to find yourself in. Would it be smart to put a little bit of fear every now and then in your life? I don’t know.

2/ Never bet your money on only one horse, it might just fall right before the finish line. This is common sense, but easily ignored. It is always better to have a few other options that are maybe less appealing at first sight. It is basically what your mom would say but you would ignore it because you’re stubborn and she’s your mom.

3/ Don’t think you’re special. Seriously. Don’t.

4/ Find people who are in the same situation and help each other. I’m lucky that I’m living with people who are feeling me. It is amazing to look back and realize that this guy, this guy and this guy inspired the sh*t out of me. We walked, we talked, we came up with application strategies and we worked on our portfolios.

5/ Enjoy your time off before you suddenly receive that positive email in which they ask you to start the next day. Do things you otherwise can’t. Get drunk on a Monday night. Go to museums in the afternoon. Buy salmon at the 5AM fish market. Go back to bed afterwards.

Next week I am starting my ninth day in a super cool agency called POSSIBLE. The people are like-minded and giving me freedom to experiment, which I find really important.

Next time I will tell you more about that. And also about my personal project — which will hopefully still be a book.

T.