<p>Thirty years ago, I could not console my ego when I failed an exam for a job in a major corporation. I didn't have social media to update my status with a quote on failure or destiny.</p>.<p>Today there is a quote at our fingertips for any circumstance we face; sometimes used falsely, to justify the situation that hurt our emotions or ego. It could draw someone’s attention for us to vent out our feelings or no one would give a damn, but it is widely practised to get solace.</p>.<p>I was passionately upgrading my skills and preparing for written exams, hoping to move out of a mediocre job that I got as a fresh graduate, and get a job in the corporate world in a breakthrough. I received a written communication via post calling for a written exam which lifted my spirits. I felt like I was on a road to the luxuries of money, home, wife, family and travels.</p>.<p>I put in a lot of effort to prepare; consulted experts and spent long hours solving peculiar logical problems. I readied solutions to problems where I had to find the time taken to fill a tank when it simultaneously leaked and to find when two trains would meet when they travelled in opposite directions with different speeds. My confidence was sky-high.</p>.<p>The exam seemed like a cakewalk; there was no possibility of me not passing that one. Or so I thought. We were all ushered into a hall where they were to call out the successful names selected for the subsequent rounds. Having the first letter of my name towards the end of the English alphabet, I am not new to being called at the end.</p>.<p>I waited patiently, still with a smile on my face, anticipating easy transit to the next round and pitying those who were dejected that it was not their day. But alas! The list was over and there were no more names to be called out!</p>.<p>The rest of the day was restless for me. Unable to digest my failure to pass the test, I decided to challenge my results. I made a phone call to the company’s HR and miraculously got connected to someone. They were kind enough to agree to check the results after I spoke about it and my desire to know what went wrong so I could improve.</p>.<p>“Tell me your name again?” the person asked as he was checking the list. Upon giving my name the second time, the ensuing conversation was about an apology, concerning them missing out on calling my name and immediately fixing a time for subsequent successful rounds of interviews as a special case. </p>.<p>A single phone call made with optimism from a coin-operated PCO was indeed my life-changing event. It becomes easy to manage self-confidence once we know and accept our strengths and weaknesses.</p>
<p>Thirty years ago, I could not console my ego when I failed an exam for a job in a major corporation. I didn't have social media to update my status with a quote on failure or destiny.</p>.<p>Today there is a quote at our fingertips for any circumstance we face; sometimes used falsely, to justify the situation that hurt our emotions or ego. It could draw someone’s attention for us to vent out our feelings or no one would give a damn, but it is widely practised to get solace.</p>.<p>I was passionately upgrading my skills and preparing for written exams, hoping to move out of a mediocre job that I got as a fresh graduate, and get a job in the corporate world in a breakthrough. I received a written communication via post calling for a written exam which lifted my spirits. I felt like I was on a road to the luxuries of money, home, wife, family and travels.</p>.<p>I put in a lot of effort to prepare; consulted experts and spent long hours solving peculiar logical problems. I readied solutions to problems where I had to find the time taken to fill a tank when it simultaneously leaked and to find when two trains would meet when they travelled in opposite directions with different speeds. My confidence was sky-high.</p>.<p>The exam seemed like a cakewalk; there was no possibility of me not passing that one. Or so I thought. We were all ushered into a hall where they were to call out the successful names selected for the subsequent rounds. Having the first letter of my name towards the end of the English alphabet, I am not new to being called at the end.</p>.<p>I waited patiently, still with a smile on my face, anticipating easy transit to the next round and pitying those who were dejected that it was not their day. But alas! The list was over and there were no more names to be called out!</p>.<p>The rest of the day was restless for me. Unable to digest my failure to pass the test, I decided to challenge my results. I made a phone call to the company’s HR and miraculously got connected to someone. They were kind enough to agree to check the results after I spoke about it and my desire to know what went wrong so I could improve.</p>.<p>“Tell me your name again?” the person asked as he was checking the list. Upon giving my name the second time, the ensuing conversation was about an apology, concerning them missing out on calling my name and immediately fixing a time for subsequent successful rounds of interviews as a special case. </p>.<p>A single phone call made with optimism from a coin-operated PCO was indeed my life-changing event. It becomes easy to manage self-confidence once we know and accept our strengths and weaknesses.</p>