Sanay Chheda

I came to the UK because I wanted to study finance where it mattered most, with the best in the world.

But nothing prepares you for the job market, especially when you enter it late.

After my master’s, I started applying. At first casually. Then frantically. By the end of the year, I had applied for 1000 roles.

Almost all of them led nowhere. 950 rejections. 50 screening calls that went quiet. 10 interviews. One final round.

I remember waking up and just refreshing my inbox like it was a reflex. The toughest part wasn’t the rejections. It was the silence.

I don’t know how I juggled everything. Part-time work, figuring out my visa, applying every day, I just kept going. Most of the time, I was running on willpower. And ramen.

Then something shifted.

I joined Unimad. And that was the first time I actually felt like I wasn’t alone in this.

The resume builder removed the stress of ATS. LinkedIn finally started looking like it belonged to someone who knew what they were doing.

The portfolio? That was a game changer. For the first time, I had something to show, not just tell.

And then came the Value Proposition Document. I didn’t even know what it was until Sharath explained it. But once I created mine, it gave me something I hadn’t felt in months: an edge.

My journey from “I have no idea what I’m doing” to “Here’s what I bring to the table” didn’t happen overnight. But it happened.

On January 30th, I applied for my post-study work visa. On February 1st, I accepted a full-time offer.

That was the jump, from fear to finally, relief.

If you’re in the same place I was in, exhausted, ghosted, unsure what else to try, don’t give up**.**

And also, don’t wait too long to ask for help.

Treat your job search like your job. Show up. Learn from every mistake. And eventually, something will click.

It did for me.

And it can for you.