Most of the posts I see on LinkedIn are about how people are always thrilled and excited, but we often don’t get to hear all the efforts and emotions that preceded the thrill and excitement. To shed some light on the process as a whole, I wanted to share some of my recent experiences. I have been avoiding putting words to my thoughts, much less sharing with the world, on this for quite some time now. But today, I am changing that. But before I move forward, I want to preface this whole post by saying that the details I give in this post are only to give more context to my story. I do not have any ill will towards any party that may have been mentioned.

Where do I start? I will begin with my most recent developments and add color to the story by giving additional context. My almost half-year-long job search journey recently came to an end. More on what my new chapter will be in a few weeks. But this journey to do something new, something more meaningful, started about two and half years ago when I decided to apply to business schools. I decided that I wanted to matriculate in the fall of 2023 at one of the best business schools to work at the top percentile of the energy transition work post-business school. After over a year of GMAT prep and multiple attempts at GMAT, networking with business school students, alumni, and staff, and after four applications in round 1, the best outcome I could get was waitlists at Tuck and Duke. Ultimately, I wasn’t able to convert the waitlists into admits.

This was a challenging period for me. There weren’t any MBAs where I worked, and even though my recommenders supported my dreams, I felt like I had to hide a part of myself at work. Unfortunately, the ambitious part drove me to push myself more and achieve more results at and outside work. However, a silver lining through the MBA application process was that I pushed myself more and delivered a very successful, high-visibility project, and as a result, I was promoted. I felt good about that. Not only that, but I was also “offered” a job that would’ve been an ideal fit as the next step in my career. I was taking a trip to India, bringing my then-girlfriend, now fiancé for her, to visit my family for the first time. Even though my business school dreams were put on hold for now, career-wise, I felt unstoppable. I figured I could take a year or two, gain more experience, and apply again.

But that feeling of being unstoppable was quickly put to an end. My “offer,” although well-intentioned, was never put on paper, and it was withdrawn even before it materialized. I was asked to come back to my old job. This was a significant personal setback. At this time, all I felt was everyone trying to protect themselves from possible adverse exposure and not a lot of support. I realized despite my contributions and devotion, I was still a tiny piece in a big machine that would continue to keep moving ahead with or without me. Also, at this point, I felt so disconnected from the work because the person I was at that moment was so different from the job I had to do then. It was hard to ignore now that I had realized how I felt. At this point, not only was I away from my partner, but I was also doing something that didn’t have a clear path ahead that I didn’t enjoy.

This is when I started applying for other jobs inside and outside my company. The jobs I had applied for within my company weren’t greenlighted for one reason or the other. The jobs I applied to externally yielded poor results for a number of reasons. One, my experience within the sector was so niche that not many people understood what I did. Two, I was not following what my strengths were and applying for any and all roles. Third, the location where I was applying, Washington, DC, was not ideal for the type of jobs I was looking at then and with my experience. Sadly, I didn’t realize all these reasons at that time. The downs pulled my spirits down at that moment – I was anxious and unable to give my best to the job.

After a few months of this, I decided to reevaluate my strengths, my career trajectory, and where I wanted to have an impact. I realized I was straying away from my core strengths and mission to find a job at a different place. In hindsight, this might sound like an obvious thing to do, but I was stunned by how indifferent I was to all this when I was applying for jobs. I researched all the options available to me, and project management will help me leverage all my skills to have the most significant impact and help me gain more experience to help me get where I want to go in the future. My first step was to enroll myself in the Google Project Management Certification. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I learned new tools and frameworks that I could apply to the job immediately. This certification rekindled some spark at my job.

Once I had the functional area down, I doubled down on the sector. I believe in the transformational power of the clean energy transition and decided to be in the industry. But no matter how many jobs I applied for or interviewed for, I never got anywhere because the employers were looking for experience in the industry. Even though I had enough experience in the energy sector, it wasn’t transferrable to the clean energy or the energy transition industry. I wanted to get more exposure to this sector, and while I was researching for more options, I came across Terra.do climate accelerator and Climatebase fellowship. I applied to the Climatebase fellowship since it was more selective. I got into the fellowship, learned a lot, networked, and dived deep into what I wanted to do and where the market saw me. Also, during this time, I prepared for the PMP exam and got my PMP certification.

Armed with all my learnings, new skills and knowledge, and newly honed focus in my job search, I became successful at my job search. I landed multiple job offers at great companies that were an excellent fit for me in mission, culture, and support. I finally accepted a new role I am excited about. I feel like I can bring my full self to the new job. Best of all, I now have the flexibility to be with my partner after a year and a half of physical separation. I also realized that I wasn’t ready for an MBA program back then. Still, the fact that I got into the waitlist at two of the best business school programs in the world is validation enough that I was not shooting in the dark and that my dreams have merit. I don’t have to hide my ambitions anymore.

This could’ve been a simple ”I am thrilled and excited to land a new job that I am grateful for” announcement on LinkedIn. But that doesn’t nearly cover the extent of effort, disappointment, rethinking, anxiety, upskilling, and commitment this process took for me. Ultimately, these last 2.5 years, more importantly, the last year, have taught me so much, made me realize so much, and enabled me to pivot my career in ways that I thought would only be possible with an MBA, and I will take these with me throughout my career.