In June 2024, I received my final results and could finally say that I had graduated and was ready to start my career in tech. At that point, I was not seriously applying for jobs yet. I was still working my student jobs at Kinepolis and at a medical practice, and I wanted to enjoy the summer for a little while first. But summer went by quickly.
I updated my CV, prepared everything I needed and, by mid-August, I started looking for my first full-time job. I applied to several well-known companies in Ghent that I was genuinely excited about. In the end, I never even heard back from many of them. I did not expect to find a job within two weeks, of course.
But I also never imagined that the search would take almost ten months. This is the story of what that period was like for me as a 23-year-old graduate: starting out motivated and confident, then slowly becoming frustrated and beginning to question myself after months of rejection.
From full-stack development to frontend
At first, my goal was clear: I wanted to work as a full-stack developer. I had chosen that path because I believed it would give me more opportunities on the job market, so I applied to almost every full-stack position that seemed suitable for a recent graduate.
Very quickly, though, I kept running into the same problem: experience. Most vacancies asked for at least two years of relevant professional experience. Even positions advertised as junior roles often had the same requirement.
That became incredibly frustrating, because how are you supposed to gain experience if nobody is willing to give you that first opportunity? After a while, I started broadening my search and looking at frontend roles and other positions in IT as well.
Companies that give you hope and then disappear
There is one application process that still stands out to me. I had made it quite far with one company. The conversations were positive, they seemed genuinely interested in me and I even completed a project for them as part of the process.
They told me that they would probably be able to hire me if one of their clients approved a particular project. After that, I never heard from them again.
The whole process had taken about a month. I had invested my time and energy into it, but more importantly, I had allowed myself to believe that this might finally be the opportunity I had been waiting for. When you have already been looking for work for months, situations like that affect you more than you expect.
The hardest period
After a while, almost every day started to look the same. Wake up, make coffee, search for vacancies, send applications and wait.
Sometimes I received a rejection. More often, I received no response at all. I slowly lost interest in socialising. I started distancing myself from friends and family because my mind was constantly occupied with one question: what am I supposed to do with my life now?
At the same time, I was also working on getting my driving licence, and that was not going particularly well either. Everything seemed to pile up at once. I was stuck in a difficult period and did not really know how to get out of it.
At one point, I even worked for a day as an administrative employee in a factory. There was nothing wrong with the job itself, but I immediately knew that it was not where I wanted to be. One of the hardest parts was that I started feeling guilty whenever I did something enjoyable. In my head, I always felt like I should be searching for jobs instead.
Luckily, my parents continued to support me throughout that period.
A fresh start
After several months, I realised I needed something in my life besides job applications. I stopped focusing only on vacancies in my own field and became more open to other types of work.
At the same time, I started going to the gym and paying more attention to healthy eating. It may sound like a small thing, but it made a big difference for me. I finally had something to focus on where I could actually see progress. I learned more about training, nutrition and cooking, and over time I noticed that I was becoming more positive again. By then, it was already May, and I started handing out my CV outside the tech industry as well.
That is how I eventually ended up at INNO.
Full-stack developer or watch specialist?
Suddenly, I found myself somewhere completely different from what I had studied for. At INNO, I worked in the watch department. I sold watches, helped customers and even learned how to carry out small repairs. And surprisingly, I really started to enjoy it.
After spending months at home applying for jobs, I finally had colleagues around me again. I was talking to people, learning new things and feeling useful. I started to feel like myself again.
That experience also taught me something about myself that I am genuinely proud of. I do not give up easily. Even when I end up somewhere completely different from what I originally planned, I try to make the best of it. I can adapt, learn something new and keep moving forward.
Everyone finds their place eventually. Sometimes it just happens through a completely different route than expected.
How I ended up at FPS Finance
That part happened at a moment when I was no longer expecting it. I had already applied to FPS Finance earlier. At first, I was told that they could not hire me because there was not enough budget available at the time.
They did, however, keep me on their recruitment list. For me, it was another frustrating situation. I had come close once again, but there was still no actual job. So I moved on. I started working at INNO, and about fifteen days later, I suddenly received a phone call.
They offered me a position at FPS Finance as an Application Tester. I still remember how happy I was when I received that call. After all those months, it finally felt like things were starting to fall into place. I finished the rest of the month at INNO and genuinely enjoyed my remaining time there before saying goodbye to my colleagues. Even now, I still visit from time to time because, despite only working there for a short period, I had started to feel at home.
Everyone finds their place eventually
I do not want this to become one of those stories that simply says, “stay positive and everything will work out.” Because when you have been applying for months and constantly facing rejection or silence, it does not feel like everything is going to work out.
I started doubting my own abilities too. Looking back, though, that period taught me a lot. My first steps after graduation looked completely different from what I had imagined. I went from wanting to work as a full-stack developer, to selling and repairing watches, and eventually to working as an Application Tester at FPS Finance.
It was not the path I had planned. But maybe the path did not need to be perfect in the first place.
If you have recently graduated and are going through something similar, there is one thing I would like you to remember: being rejected does not mean you are not capable. And taking a job outside your field does not mean you have failed. Keep looking, keep trying new things and, most importantly, try not to lose yourself along the way. Everyone finds their place eventually. Sometimes it just happens through a completely different route than expected.
It was not the path I had planned, but it still brought me to where I needed to be.