I left my home country Nepal on Jan 2, 2007 for the first time in my life. I was coming to the US to get an MBA. I had been working since I was 18 and had spent almost 5 years in a commercial bank in Kathmandu before I left. Despite my entire family objecting to my going abroad (except my brother, who lives in the US) I decided to leave Nepal, my family, and my friends in search of learning new things and experience new places.

After spending a few months in an English-immersion course in Alabama, I came to Washington, DC and joined Strayer University’s MBA program. At Strayer, I worked at the career development office where I learnt about various volunteer and other job opportunities in the DC area. I also learnt about the World Bank Family Network through my husband and started volunteering there last fall. Right from the beginning, I felt like the WBFN was my home where everyone cared about each other and supported each other in whatever they were doing. The times I spent at the WBFN—at the meetings, the parties, and just spending time in the office—are among my best memories in the US so far.

I finished school in at the end of 2008—perhaps the worst time to do so because of the recession and the financial crisis. I had no other options but to apply to as many companies as possible. I went to as many job fairs as I could. I applied to hundreds of jobs online. I also tried to talk to as many people as possible. I had a feeling that it was not only people having a hard time finding jobs but also employers who had trouble finding the right people for their limited vacancies so all I had to do was to try very hard.

The first month of my job search was very frustrating. I wasn’t getting any response at all. After several weeks, I started getting some interviews and phone calls. Having worked at a commercial bank in Nepal, I had always wanted to work for a large commercial bank in the US. The first company where I was offered an interview was the Bank of America. After three interviews, I was offered the position of a teller/customer service representative. I had a hard time deciding whether to accept that offer. On the one hand, there were so few jobs in the job market and I was finally getting a job. On the other hand, I knew I was capable of doing more challenging work, also I had an MBA. It was a painful decision but I decided not to take the offer from Bank of America and I decided to keep trying for something more challenging.

The second interview I was offered was for an accounting position with a service company based in DC. About five minutes into the interview, my interviewer told me that I was overqualified for the job and that I should look elsewhere. I was in such a dilemma… if I applied for a senior position I was told that I had no experience in the US and if I applied for a junior position I was told that I was overqualified!

My third interview was with Microfinance International Corporation. The funny thing is that I don’t even remember applying to that company through Monster.com so I was a little surprised when I got an email asking me for an interview. They usually say that the third time is the charm – so I was optimistic and excited. The job requirements matched exactly what I was always looking for. It was a mixture of finance and accounting. During the interview, I found out that my experience with remittances in Nepal would also help me in that position. My interviewer’s spouse had apparently worked at the World Bank before so he was familiar with WBFN. Mentioning my volunteer experience at the WBFN helped too because it gave me something to talk about during the interview. I came out of the interview knowing that it was exactly what I wanted to do. Luckily, I got a job offer a few days before Christmas and I started my new job at the beginning of this year.

I will always be grateful to the WBFN for the love and support I got there. I knew that no matter how frustrated I was after hours and hours of applying for jobs, visiting WBFN would always make my day. I knew that I could always go to the WBFN to keep myself busy and to be productive while I was looking for a job. With a full-time job, it will be more difficult for me to participate in the WBFN. But I look forward to contributing in any way I can in the future because I know I have received a lot from them.

Srijana Sharma Silwal