Shruthi Gowri Shankar

200+ applications. 9 months of silence. Then one email changed everything.

I took a loan to study in the UK, so when I finished my course in September 2024, I jumped straight into job hunting. Or at least, I thought I did. The truth is, I was aiming my arrows in the air without any real strategy.

November 2024 brought my first interview with Mondelez, and I was hopeful. I made it through round one, then round two, round three, and even round four, only to get rejected at the very end. It was crushing, but I kept going.

I kept applying to 100+ applications that turned into 100+ rejections. Then another 100+ applications with the same result. The silence was deafening, and by this point, I was working as a retail bakery assistant at Co-op just to get by. The shifts were physically exhausting, and I'd come home too tired to even think about job applications.

Honestly, I'd lost confidence. The job hunt felt heavier with every rejection, and I didn't know how to search properly or apply strategically. I was just throwing applications out there and hoping something would stick, but nothing did.

Nine months in, I was ready to give up. I even thought about going back to India and leaving this dream behind. Then, in June 2025, I found Unimad.

I had calls with the team and learnt how to cold email properly. I rebuilt my resume from scratch and created a proper portfolio that actually showcased my skills. And then I sent one cold email to an employee at a company I wanted to work for.

They noticed it, reviewed my resume, and looked at my portfolio. I got the interview, which was only my second interview in nine months. The process moved fast, and then came the silence again. I thought it was over and that it was time to start searching again.

Then my phone rang with the words I'd been waiting to hear: "Congratulations, Shruthi!" I got the job in September 2025, and it was my first and last application after joining Unimad. I still can't believe it!

After 200+ applications and nine months of nothing, one focused strategy got me hired. Your skills matter, but your personality matters more. Let it speak through your profile, be authentically you, and remember that one right application can change your fate.