My Journey From Job Seeker To Entrepreneur - Part #1
Last week I wrote a blog about how I started my video production work in Sweden and @erikah gave me some advice, which I am grateful for. Erika mentioned the WorkLife community and then I thought I'd write about my early days in Sweden, how I started my career, how I launched my brands while looking for a job, and how I upgraded myself.
So, this is the first blog in a series I am publishing today.
Which university did you study at?
This is a question I get asked quite often. Earlier, when I used to tell the truth, people did not believe me. Now I tell the truth in a different way, so people still think it's a joke.
At Iqbal Academy Scandinavia event, I was asked if I had attended Jawaharlal Nehru University by Prof. Dr. Heinz Werner Wessler of Uppsala University after expressing my views as a guest speaker.
In my opinion there is a difference between getting an education and having a degree. As far as education is concerned, I am still a student. It is my habit to learn something every day that is related to my field. I try to keep myself up-to-date on it.
So the question was, where did I get my education?
Most people who are influenced by my work ask this question. And my answer is always that I studied at the Stadsbibliotek (Stockholm Library). Well, no one believes me, but this is the truth. And there is a big dramatic story behind this fact.
My journey from web 1.0 to web 2.0
I moved to Sweden in 2004 and as soon as I got here I registered my name with an employment agency. And they sent me to several companies for interviews. But I failed to get a job due to my lack of Swedish language. And then I started looking for work in restaurants, cleaning and moving companies. Someone told me that there is an Indian restaurant in the city that needs a dishwasher. I reached this restaurant and asked for work. Coincidentally, the owner of the restaurant was there at that time. First he looked me from head to toe and asked if I had ever done this work before. I said no but I can learn quickly. He immediately asked another question about my skills and education. I thought that this work has nothing to do with my qualification, so I better avoid this question.
Image by Achim Thiemermann from Pixabay
I was lost in thought, then he said, "Look, we need a handyman to wash the dishes and we don't have time to teach. If you tell me what your expertise, maybe I can help you. Then I said I have a diploma in software and I am a web and graphic designer. The man smiled and pointed to a man sitting on the front table and said, "Go to him, he needs you."
Taking sips of coffee. This person was busy working on a laptop. I hesitated about how I could go and talk to anyone like that. The owner of the restaurant went to him and said something to the person and then the man who was working on laptop called me. Whatever showable projects I had done, I showed him. All of my work was on the web 1.0
He said I want to create an online tailor store.
Image by Mikes-Photography from Pixabay
In which the customer can choose the collar, cuffs, buttons after choosing the fabric of their choice, then add their measurements and make the payment online. This order will be saved in the database so that the customer can modify or reorder it.
I listened to his whole idea and told him that I couldn't do it because I had no experience with dynamic web. The man gave me his visiting card and said:
I know you can learn and call me when you are able to work on this project, I am not in a hurry I can wait 3 to 4 months.
I took this matter lightly because my entire focus was on getting a job as soon as possible. After a few days and an unsuccessful job hunting, I headed to the Stockholm Library to find out what this Web 2.0 thing was all about.
After three months of reading PHP and MySQL books in the library, I had created a demo of my first e-commerce website, an online Tailor store.
This person paid more than I expected for my work. And also offered me an assignment based job in his IT company.
Thus began my Web 2.0 journey. After that I worked a lot. But this was just the beginning of the journey.
I Learned That With Dedication And Efforts We Can Accomplish Our Goals.
It was a great learning experience for me when I realized that with dedication and hard work, we can achieve any target we set for ourselves. This was a very valuable lesson for me, as it showed me that nothing is impossible if we have the will to succeed.
Disclaimer
As I mentioned in my intro, from the last 2 decades I have been active on social media, google mapping and reviews, youtube and thatsup. I will share my own past interesting content from these channels, but all my upcoming content I will share on hive.blog first.
I was introduced to you by @erikah and thank you for posting into our community. Welcome, and I am sure you have a lot to show us about. I am eager to know more because after reading your first post I feel that there is a lot in common. How one thing started to lead to another and how looking for something became a treasure hunt of a lifetime throughout my Worklife.
Its actually really cool to know when you roll back the film of your past... its the little things that kickstarted and moved your life like a pebble thrown in the lake that later created waves like the ocean. For example, you needed to work and landed in a discussion with the owner which he introduced you to the person with the laptop... and this all happened at a time when it was not planned. Which later lead to a great job that you didn't expect.
However, I question... do you think this is all because of luck? Or maybe because the people who talked to you saw something worth while? After all, how many people in the world do you think will listen to someone and say I can't do it.. but in the end you show him what you did to create the retail shop... the online tailor store. all while not getting paid at all...
If I was that guy I do exactly what he did as well... your immediately hired.
Thanks for the writeup! I can't wait to read about your next chapter.
Thanks!!
I find Hive to be a supportive community, which helps me feel strong enough to blog here. where people actually read and comment on your writting. Since @shrazi my younger brother, introduced me to Hive, I consider it a blessing. But in my opinion, fate always presents us with two options, and the decision you make between these two options determines your Luck.
In my professional career, there have been many terrible events, but I have always taken something positive away from them.
I appreciate your motivation and will do my best to contribute this community.
Welcome to this wonderful community.
Something interesting about life; sometimes things donât go as planned, sometimes you donât get what you want, sometimes thing go as planned and you get what you want, sometimes you get lucky and maybe unlucky the next day.
Now, Iâm sure you searched well to find a job, but you couldnât get one, and when you heard of the dishwashing job, you decided to go for it. Something you said surprised me; when the owner of the restaurant asked if you had done the work before and you said âNoâ.. most people will definitely say yes just to get the job (i wouldâve said yes).
It was so nice of the restaurant owner to introduce you to that man. It shows there are still good people in this world after all.
Iâm glad you did not give up on that idea or just forget about it. Youâre right, with dedication and efforts you can achieve your goals. Iâll also like to add consistency. It is a very vital key.
Thanks for sharing. Welcome to the community once again. I hope to read more from you.
Thank you so much @justfavour
You are right that most people would say yes to get a job. There's a reason why I didn't. I started my first job in a cotton and rice import export company from my father's reference. I was 18 years old at that time. The director of the company was my father's friend. They asked me to make a CV. Neither the font sizes nor the alignment were consistent and I must have created the CV at least ten times that day which they kept sending back to me for corrections. I wrote in the CV that I am proficient in MS Office and am also a FoxPro programmer. During drafting my CV I found out how skilled I was.
Now they asked me about FoxPro, there was a bug in their program that I didn't understand. Well! The director called me in the room and said you have just done these courses, practice makes you perfect, so you work here and sharpen your skills with the experienced people here.
Mybe I am wrong, but speaking the truth has given me a lot of growth. After that, I no longer make claims to 100% knowledge; instead, I demonstrate my abilities via my work. But it is crucial to get an opportunity to show your ability. đ
I know someone who always tells budding entrepreneurs, "When asked if you can do something for a potential client, the answer is always 'yes.'"
You did it one way, by learning how, which got you more work in the same area.
But if it's not an area you are comfortable with, you can always get someone to help you or you can get someone to do it for you (outsourcing).
Which way is better? All of them!
Wow! Fantastic recollection of experience. Onward to web 3.0.
I am just learning some JavaScript. You can check my previous posts. !PIZZA
Its good to know that yiu are studying javascript. I am just beginning to understand Web 3.0 terminology.
But i will check out your post for sure
PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
@cryptothesis(5/10) tipped @shahzad-ansari (x1)
You can now send $PIZZA tips in Discord via tip.cc!
A friendly reminder about engaging. I see yours is almost non existent as you had 2 comments in the last 7 days, both on your posts, yet you're posting frequently. Hive is a social platform, engagement is key here, so it would help you connect with others, meet new people.
I Think you read minds đ Today, while on the way to the office, I was thinking that just as you people comment after reading my post, I should also be more active and engaging, I should also take time to read the post of like-minded members, and for this I will allot my time slot. I was thinking about it, when your comment appear in notification :-) Thanks again @erikah for guiding me I will definitely try to get involved.
You're welcome! I'm glad to hear that as without engagement, you won't get far on Hive. You'll see in a month or two, how many interesting people you've met, how many new things you've learnt. Trust me, after almost 5 years, I know what I'm talking about :)
Congratulations @shahzad-ansari! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):
Your next target is to reach 200 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz:
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!