About me on India: “the first person in world history to take a job in India” - thank you Sunil!

About me on India: “the first person in world history to take a job in India” - thank you Sunil! I will start off with a warning again, which is in part one (paragraph one) as well. Young folk, if you are reading this, do not go into a job interview talking like this article.

After mastering my first real job in under six months, drastically improving services, and creating documentation it was time for a university gap year… without going to university before or after. Most people do the stereotypical volunteering in Africa or Asia which seems a little fake, so I thought of another crazy idea.

Whilst the whole of India and pretty much every nation on earth is desperate to work or study in the United Kingdom, I thought I would do something odd and go there to work at nearly twenty years old. Why? Big corporates have loads of outsourcing firms servicing them and most are from India.

You name it: Zensar, NIIT, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and more were present at my first real job. As a curious person who likes to travel, I used to talk to many of the Indian staff posted to London and I picked India for my next job.

I drafted a CV, emailed a tonne of places, and applied for a bunch of jobs… to Indian human resources department shock. Why is this illiterate 19-year-old applying for a job in India? For a few jobs I had one interview and for another I had 2-3 and got the job.

What job? (Joomla!) Website administrator role based in Goregaon West (Mumbai) - not to be confused with Gurgaon (near New Delhi). Clearly, I was not going to India for a high wage, and I said this on the phone interview.

What salary? £7-8/day with paid holiday. That was it. Accommodation, travel insurance, health insurance, food and spending money were my problem. After I got the job, I told my existing employee who wanted to keep me. I submitted a visa application to the Indian High Commission in Aldwych, London.

This was done alone and 1hr later it was sadly refused. Why? Because many millions of people can do this job in India. I told the employer, and he re-jigged the contract. Myself and my father went back, and the visa was approved/issued same day.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic and gave notice to my firm who tried to offer me a permanent job which was a big thing then for a low paid agency worker. My heart was set on India, so I gave notice. Next was goodbye parties, packing, vaccines and booking a flight.

Sunil who I thanked in the title was the company owner and he booked me into his cricket club for a few days.

The conclusion of part four? Chase your dream… working in India, and perhaps do not say to a potential employer I am not coming to your nation for cash.

End of part four! The flight to exotic India is near.