How I got my first job

I had just graduated college in the year 2006 with a bachelor's degree in systems engineering, I was one in a cohort of about a hundred and we were all looking for jobs. After about a month of sending resumes and going to interviews I received an email announcement from IBM Colombia, they were looking for someone recently graduated with a good English level, Unix OS knowledge and mostly good learning skills. I submitted my resume thinking I had to at least try, especially because they were looking for people to train from junior level. The first step in the process was a math and English test. There I was at the IBM offices thinking it was my future but then to my surprise, I saw almost all of the people who graduated with me, with the same expectations.

Of course they were all there! How naive of me to think I was the only one to see the opportunity, it was a tough competition. Once the test was finished I even got a bus ride home with some of the people that took the test with me, we talked about it and I realized then I had an advantage. Even though we all more or less had the same technical background my English level was better than most of theirs.

Eventually those of us who passed the initial test had to go through several interviews and additional tests. During the process we got the opportunity to meet the people we were going to be working with if we got the job, future bosses and colleagues. With every person I met I felt a connection,and step by step I was shaping myself into a member of the team. When I say I was shaping myself I mean it, I bought a couple of suits to go the the interviews before being given an offer to match everyone else’s style, and even changed my haircut and grew a beard to look a bit older and professional.

The breaking point came during the last interview, it was an exercise with two teams of two. Three of us were from the same university and the fourth one was my teammate. At the end of the exercise we were asked the following question: If there were only two openings who would you rather be working with?. The two guys in the other team knew each other so obviously they answered they wanted to work together. Fortunately I was third to answer so I had a little time to think, I said that because those two guys went to the same university as me and studied the same career I would rather work with someone with a different background who could complement my knowledge, i.e. my teammate in that exercise. What did my teammate say? “I’ll give the beauty pageant answer: I want to work with my teammate.”. We all laughed, and him and I got the job.

So, how did I got my first job? Maybe it was luck that the offering got to me at the right time, but chance is nothing if we don’t know what to do with it when it's given to us. As young professionals it’s good to imitate to some extent your colleagues, at least their positive qualities. It’s very important to know what sets us apart from others, and a good sense of humor is a plus too!

Those two guys that started at IBM more than 10 years ago became really good friends and even though their paths have led them to very different destinations they are still in touch.