Graduating university in 2020 I never thought I would end up in Chiang Mai but here I am. Having finished university online, which was very strange, the question was ‘What next?’. I knew I did not want to stay in London but options were becoming increasingly limited with lots of countries canceling their working holiday programs and work visas. I set about applying for jobs, to both domestic and international companies. I must have sent off over 100 applications. At first I heard literally nothing as it was the peak of the pandemic and everybody was struggling adapting to working remotely. A few months later some interviews and emails started trickling in but nothing came of them. Since the virus was still in full force many companies were looking for experienced hires as training remotely is much more of a challenge. 

After several months of disappointment and boredom I decided to put the job search on hold and try something different and so I applied to universities for Graduate School abroad. Having read that Korea is very welcoming to international students, I applied to several universities there and I was sure I would be accepted by at least one. Being the impulsive person that I am, I decided to go early and do one semester of language school to pass the time and gain some valuable skills to prepare me for my next 3 years in Korea. So off I went. Everything was going well until I found out that all the universities I got rejected by all the universities I had applied to. My visa ran out and I found myself on a plane back to the UK!

With no other option I resumed the job search, applying for every job I felt qualified for and which seemed interesting with one of them being Simya Solutions. When the email arrived in my inbox from Simya I checked out the job listing on LinkedIn once again and liked what I saw: a company that looked welcoming and friendly with a young team, using a technology stack that I was keen to gain further experience in and not in the UK. Assignments and interviews later, a job offer arrived. So once again my bags were packed and I found myself on a plane, but this time to Chiang Mai. 

4 months on and I haven’t looked back.