Job Hunting, Improv Fails, and the Best Naan in Town: A January Recap
January was a month of unemployment. I sent out 16 applications—seems like a solid number compared to my past approach of hitting up every recruiter and talent acquisition rep for any agency or corporation I applied to. I might still have some recruiters in my network who message me on LinkedIn when great opportunities pop up in healthcare and pharmaceutical PR. But it was the vice presidents and presidents who were truly baffled by my messages—like, “Who is this punk?” I finally found my zone, figuring out who’s appropriate to contact and who isn’t.
I started thinking with a business mindset. My intern boss at Flowcode once taught me about setting OKRs, and it hit me: if I have 16 leads, I can expect to hear back from three or four, raising my hit rate to about 20%. But I had to shut off that part of my brain, put the emails and LinkedIn aside for the day, and ask myself—what other ways can I be productive?
I attended my millionth recruiter call, my notes written and rewritten five times, each version getting clearer, with arrows and bullet points to keep my objectives concise. I started to feel like the mathematically obsessed grandfather in A Simple Man—not the memory loss part, but the part where he’s always scribbling cryptic notes, hinting at past intellectual brilliance. My brilliance might be deteriorating after too many applications, but at least my notes remain meticulous.
Sipping my third cup of coffee, I switched gears to my podcast. I’ve got a great journalist working alongside me, and we have three fully recorded episodes, edited to perfection in the studio. But they’re still too raw for the world. We need to finalize them, get them on Spotify, create a killer cover photo, set up my Squarespace site, and start hyping them up on social media. The podcast is coming this summer, and it needs to make a splash.
Feeling the need to shake things up, I signed up for a local improv class. I imagined myself as Barry from the HBO special, minus the whole “being afraid a hitman will kill me” thing. I was ready to meet new friends, bond over shared interests, and pretend we were washed-up comedians still dreaming of the SNL stage. But, small-town life in the Berkshires had other plans. Not enough people signed up, and the class was canceled.
Still, I was proud of myself for even saying, “Screw it, let’s go,” on a freezing winter night. My mom always says improv helps with confidence in front of business professionals and executives. Consider it research for account coordinator and assistant account coordinator roles—an internship in life skills.
That night, instead of improv, we indulged in our local Indian spot, Aroma Bar & Grill in Great Barrington. I couldn’t get on stage and get creative, but I could dip my feet in some saag paneer. I happily devoured my chicken tikka masala—not the most adventurous order, but sometimes, comfort food is king. The naan there is next level—none of that sad, flavorless white bread you sometimes get in NYC. Aroma’s naan is the real deal, fire-baked and full of character.
Right now, I feel like Shiva himself paid me a visit to teach me about distraction, reminding me to stay patient in this job search. Vishnu reassures me that order will return, just like the structured days of college—meticulously planned calendars, reminders for classes I loved, professors expecting good work from me. Soon, that structure will shift to a boss checking my Outlook calendar, making sure my team is running smoothly in the account services department.
Pharmaceuticals and healthcare are important, but so is laughter, good Indian food, Knicks home games, and a Squarespace site that feels authentically me. Consider healthcare PR the main dish—my eclectic interests? The side of vegetables that makes the whole meal balanced.
