At that time, the recession was looming, and companies were on a spree to fire employees. Besides, former US president Donald Trump's stance on immigration propelled companies to hire only US citizens.
"I did not have a job at hand and I was going to graduate in 2 months. And I was a student at Yale," Nahata wrote.
Nahata told himself what was the point of coming to Yale when he cannot secure a job in the US. "It became harder to sound strong to my parents when they called and asked me how I was doing.
But I was determined that returning to India was not an option and that my first paycheck would only be in Dollars," he added.
However, Nahata's determination was as strong as steel. In those two months, he sent over 1500 connection requests, wrote 600 cold emails, and got on 80 odd cold calls with all types of people.
"...faced the highest number of rejections I've ever gone through. I developed thick skin by necessity. And I was getting nowhere", Nahata added, "Things became so desperate that I would often cold-call people in my dreams".
When Nahata's felt discouraged he said 'The Gentle Hum of Anxiety' became his most played song on YouTube.
Ultimately, Vatsal Nahata's hard work and strategy paid off. " I ended up with 4 job offers by the first week of May and chose the World Bank. They were willing to sponsor my Visa after my OPT and my manager offered me co-authorship on a Machine Learning paper with the World Bank's current Director of Research (something unheard of for a 23-year-old)".
Nahata who now works at International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the 2-month journey taught me some golden lessons about life such as,
"1. It showed me the true power of networking, and it became my second nature.
2. It gave me the confidence that I could survive in any situation and figure out my way as an immigrant in the United States
3. My Ivy League degree could only take me so far
4. Times of crisis (COVID-19 and Trump's immigration policies) were ideal grounds to metamorphose into a more evolved person".
By sharing his experience with the world, Nahata wanted to encourage people to never give up.
"If you're going through something similar where the world seems to be collapsing on you: carry on - do not go gentle into that good night!
Better days will come if you're learning from your mistakes and if you knock on enough doors," Nahata wrote.
