My bitter experience looking for a job | नौकरी की तलाश का मेरा कड़वा अनुभव

I have faced many difficulties in my life, whether it was to study after twelfth or going out of the house or learning the computer or making any choice for myself. All these battles were with the family and society.

But now, one more difficulty came in front of me. I remember looking for a job between December 2017 to February 2018. Every time I tried I only got disappointment, but I did not want to apply online for a job. I was worried about getting cheated. But finally, I took the risk because I did not want to feel restricted within the house anymore.

Three months had passed. Not having a job, I do not feel good at home, it seemed I had lost my freedom. People began to ridicule that even educated people are unable to find jobs. Well, what can we say about people. They will always say what they want. I also asked people I knew for help to find a job, but there was no vacancy anywhere. In some places, they needed excellent English speaking skills. I was slowly getting tired, it seemed as if its best to listen to the family and stay at home. But I wanted to work for myself. I used to go to a lot of places to give interviews, and would not go to some place because I did not have good clothes to wear. Borrowing from friends was always a solution, so I used to borrow clothes too.

Meanwhile, I received a work offer from a call center. But I refused because I did not feel the place was right. I started applying for jobs again. Me and my friend finally filled out the online form for job application.

Through these online applications, we were called for an interview. But this job was also in a call center. When we went to the interview, our interview also happened together. After the interview, we were asked for some money, about 500 rupees. We had only the bus fare at that time. But the job seemed good and the salary was fair, so we thought what is the big deal in giving some money. They asked us 1000 rupees more for training, and we both said we will bring it the next day. We went the next day, deposited the money and we were given the address of the place where we would be training. On Sunday when we went for training, there were more than 200 people there for the same training. We gave the 1000 rupees and started tranning. A lot of people went back because they did not feel it was right to get a job by paying them money. But we needed a job badly.

After the training, we were given the address of the office where our job was to start. The next day, I and my friends arrived at the office before time. 18 more people were there. Our three-day training took place and after that, we were put in to take calls. There was a lot to learn in this training. But that office was nothing like an office; the bathroom looked as if it was not cleaned for 10 years.

After three days of training, we got the login IDs. After that, we gradually started calling. The first day was terrible because my ears were in a bad shape due to attending more than 300 calls. We got a lunch break of just 30 minutes during the 9 hours of work. We could not go to the toilet much, 'Sir' would become angry. He used to say that you can not even miss a minute's call. And he kept watching with the camera all the time. If he saw something he did not like, he would gather all of us and shout at us.

I felt sorry to see his mentality as he used to make the people feel every moment that could kick us out of our jobs. And he used to tell us repeatedly that 'I am the boss of this place, if I am happy you will be happy too'.

It was common to ridicule people every day there. But when I and some of my colleagues asked for a job letter, they took out a printout for us to sign, on which was written "No Target, No Salary". One evening, I met a senior employee at the bus stand. She told that she has been working for two months but she had not received any salary, so she was also leaving the job. I worked only on a few days in this job because the target just could not be completed.

During the time I worked there, I could see that this place had no respect for women employees. They believed that married women need many leaves because she has to take care of her husband or child. There was not even a toilet that I could use with dignity. Above all, there were constant verbal abuses at employees. That's why I took my own decision that even if the salary is less, I would work in a place where women are respected equally.

In our society, girls are not allowed to make progress, whether it is at home or school or workplace. Many girls like me cross a lot of difficulties in life to study, then fight at home to work outside, and then go to such workplaces and give up. Because we get tired of fighting, we lose heart and accept defeat. The day when such mindsets will change, equality and equality will be possible for girls too.

My dream is that I become a lawyer in the future so that I can bring change in my society with positive thinking. And I'll definitely make changes.

- Vineeta
(Vineeta had left FAT to try a job outside. Today Vineeta has rejoined FAT and is working as a Program Trainee)