I’ve spent 16 months being rejected from jobs I’m over-qualified for

As I opened the email from yet different occupation I applied for, I saw the 3 small words that I had travel to dread.

Unfortunately not selected.

I didn’t cognize however it was possible. I person 2 master’s degrees and years of experience.

It made maine question whether my household – including my husband, Nakul*, and 2 children nether 10 – made the close determination to permission our location country, India.

For a agelong time, my beingness determination was comfy and fulfilling. My hubby and I owned our location and ran a business, earning a bully income. 

Life felt secure, and we ne'er imagined leaving our location country. However, the pandemic changed everything.

My husband’s wage was reduced during that hard play and our concern took a important hit. 

To marque matters worse, some our children fell earnestly sick and required hospitalization. The aesculapian bills rapidly became overwhelming.

It was during this challenging clip that we got successful interaction with a comparative successful the UK. Despite the planetary crisis, they were inactive earning a unchangeable income moving from home, which prompted america to reconsider our situation.

After overmuch deliberation, and driven by the imaginable of a amended life, we made the pugnacious determination to determination overseas successful hunt of a much unafraid future, plowing our £45,000 successful savings into our dream. 

We approached a backstage immigration agent, who advised maine to get archetypal connected a pupil visa. I would past commencement a year-long master’s grade successful London and past my household could articulation maine astir a period later. 

I paid £12,500 up beforehand for my degree, £1,000 for visa fees and a further £1,000 for NHS fees for each household member. Not to notation the outgo of flights and past rent connected top.

Leaving my household down was 1 of the hardest things I’ve ever done. My children, who had ne'er spent a time without me, were abruptly thousands of miles away.

I was heartbroken – but I felt I had to effort and find a amended life. 

When I landed astatine Heathrow Airport, my brother-in-law was determination to prime maine up and the infinitesimal I saw my sister-in-law I broke down, hugging her and crying uncontrollably

Two days aboriginal I started my master’s but those archetypal 4 weeks without my household were profoundly lonely and led to a question of depression.

I spent clip searching for a occupation portion studying. 

Despite my master’s grade successful physics and years of nonrecreational acquisition though, the lone enactment I could find was successful a supermarket. 

Finally, the time I had been waiting for arrived and arsenic soon arsenic my children saw me, they ran to maine and hugged maine tightly, refusing to fto spell for respective minutes. 

Life soon started to consciousness implicit again but we besides began to look caller challenges.

Affordable lodging successful London was our archetypal large hurdle. When they archetypal arrived the lone prime we had was for them to enactment with maine successful the location I shared with 9 different people.

The 4 of america squeezed into a azygous room, which was acold from ideal, and it besides caused hostility with immoderate of my housemates 

We tried to support things arsenic mean and affirmative arsenic imaginable for our children, but to debar conflicts, my hubby and I would person to instrumentality the kids to the parkland oregon the room during the time to support them engaged and retired of the house. 

My elder girl started schoolhouse not agelong aft and seeing her settee into her caller routine, adjacent successful the cramped and challenging circumstances we were surviving in, gave maine a consciousness of anticipation that we were inactive moving forward.

After tireless efforts, we managed to rent a bigger location successful eastbound London and beingness soon settled into a caller bushed erstwhile again.

But my husband, contempt being qualified to thatch physics, took 2 years to get Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). This delay, for reasons we inactive bash not understand, caused immense frustration.

In the meantime, I completed my master’s grade successful September 2023. 

I had to use for a postgraduate enactment visa and had to wage a further £2,000 for each subordinate of my household to remain.

We past moved to Leicester and I volunteered arsenic an HR manager for a foundation to summation acquisition and fortify my CV.

Even with each my qualifications and this effort, I inactive received countless occupation rejection emails for each relation I applied for.

With my hubby and I struggling to find employment, we had to dip into our savings and loans to get by. 

Even erstwhile we thought we were taking a measurement guardant – for example, erstwhile Nakul passed his driving trial and we bought a car – we ended up taking america 2 steps backmost arsenic it broke down wrong months and the trader refused to instrumentality responsibility. 

I knew this wasn’t sustainable but, thankfully, we yet began to spot immoderate advancement towards the extremity of past year.

Nakul’s teaching prospects are looking up, and I was precocious offered a part-time HR manager presumption astatine the foundation wherever I volunteered.

These tiny victories springiness maine anticipation that things mightiness improve, but I can’t genuinely accidental it has been ‘worth it’ conscionable yet. 

The past 2 years person been a whirlwind of fiscal strain, disappointments, and taste adjustment. 

One day, I anticipation our efforts volition beryllium recognised and appreciated by the powers successful charge. Until then, we proceed to persevere, holding onto the content that alteration and acceptance volition come.

While we are inactive trying to find our spot successful this country, I anticipation our experiences shed airy connected the realities of migration and animate others to cautiously measurement their decisions earlier making specified a life-changing move.

Skills and qualifications that are highly valued successful 1 state whitethorn not person the aforesaid designation elsewhere. 

In truth, I inactive sometimes question whether we made the close determination to permission India, wherever we were respected and valued for our skills and I stay uncertain astir our future. 

Until then, we’ll support pursuing our dream.

*Name has been changed

Do you person a communicative you’d similar to share? Get successful interaction by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

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