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Discussion on: What's the kindest thing someone's ever done for you during your career?

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Ali Ilman • Edited

Time for a short story. This was back in March 2018. 🤓 I‘d just turned 17, and near the end of my internship.

The penultimate week before my internship ended, I told my COO that I’d like to continue at the company, either as an intern or permanently. Throughout the weekend, I thought hard about whether I made the correct decision.

Why? Because one of the reasons was my low confidence. I’d been stuck on a task for two weeks. I felt that I don’t deserve to be there. 😭 Not to mention, I’m the youngest person within the company, so I was kind of shy and didn’t let my true self shine.

So my last week as an intern arrived. In the morning, I messaged my COO whether we could speak outside. I told him that I decided not to continue as I wanted to explore other technologies which was only partially true. But confidence was the major reason behind my decision.

After a short conversation, we went back into the office. Then fast forward a few hours, I was supposed to go out for lunch with my COO and a few teammates. While on the way to the restaurant, I looked at my phone and noticed that my CTO had called me once or twice. 😳

I waited for a few seconds and he called me again. He asked me how am I doing. Then, he asked me why I declined the offer. I can’t remember what I said as I was utterly shocked to receive a call from him.

In the middle of the conversation, he said some encouraging words. This lifted my spirits and eventually, I reversed my decision.

2 years on, I still remember these events like it was yesterday. I’m eternally grateful to my bosses for taking me on board. 🙂