My back to work Journey:
Life is often unpredictable, with most of us navigating through our own exciting share of ebbs & flows. Getting back to work especially after a break is often stigmatized & attracts unwanted scrutiny at the corporate marketplace. I am glad to share my journey through such challenging times, real-world experiences & how I triumphed them.
Initially, I had not expected getting back to work would be as difficult as it turned out to be. When I look back on my experience & evaluate the potential reasons behind it, a couple of findings stand out. First, the skill expectation in the data engineering space was quite diverse & rapidly evolving. Second, most organizations look for direct plug & play options while hiring, often de-prioritizing other important aspects like — good cultural fit between a potential candidate & employer, learnability, attitude, perseverance, diversity & inclusion, equal opportunity provider, etc. Though many organizations advertised highly of the above mentioned (deprioritized) attributes, in my experience, most came across as doing lip service in general.
Big Data/Data Engineering is a very critical & rapidly evolving technology domain, with most organizations being at various stages of their digital transformation journey. Each has its distinctive data strategy, roadmaps, tools & technology to go with. Therefore, finding a fit amongst such a myriad of options is difficult. One has to put in extra efforts & time to upskill towards the latest technology trends & at least have robust fundamentals, if not advanced expertise in multiple areas.
Unfortunately, I also experienced the social stigma around female technologists resuming their professional careers after a break. I was often scrutinized in greater detail as compared to my peers, with recruiters often having an extra level of unsolicited interest behind knowing the exact reason for a career break. I often felt that my selection for an opportunity was more dependent on how convincing I was at justifying my decision of taking a break as compared to my technical & interpersonal acumen.
After undergoing quite a few interviews & rejections, I was psychologically stressed & was on the verge of doubting my own capability as a technologist. However, I was lucky to have my near & dear ones rally around me, encouraging me to work harder & approach the job hunt in a structured & tactical manner. As a part of this exercise, I undertook professional coaching for a short while, both to brush up on the topics I already knew & had worked upon, as well as on the latest advancements. I ensured that my preparation was aligned with my previous experience as well as with the current market requirements. I also invested in a good quality computer, books, online training courses, etc. to practice mock problem solving for honing my skills.
One lucky day, I came across an opportunity from Walmart Labs which was an ideal match for my situation. Data Engineering, ‘back to work’ program for female technologists. As I glanced through the details, I was convinced of it being a potential solution to the challenges I had been facing all this while. I prepared extensively for all the aspects which I could manage to know from the job description, discussing with the HR & leveraging testimonials from current employees who had joined Walmart via the back2work initiative last year. I had a totally different but welcome experience at Walmart during each of the interview rounds. The focus was totally on my skills, experience, capability, etc., as compared to the reason behind the career break. It was quite a confidence-inspiring to finally sense potential light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The experience only has been getting better with time since I got selected for an opportunity at Walmart as a part of the back-to-work initiative. Starting from onboarding to on-job training, from hands-on learning to having a sense of ownership of what I do, from rock-solid support from my peers to constant leadership coaching, there is hardly a topic that I can yarn for more. Walmart, you have been adorable. Thank you so much.
