I moved to Sweden in 2017. I wasn’t actively trying to move to Sweden. I was in fact, planning and saving for my higher education at the University of British Columbia, probably because I was in love with its library. My intention and motivation behind higher education was to go to research so I can be among people who make a difference. People who change the lives of so many people for good without them knowing. I never felt the same about myself. I loved coding, that was my super skill but I never thought about myself making a difference. As a freelancer, I was only building products for people by following a set of instructions in return of some good money and of course, a five-star rating but deep down, I wanted to do things not for money alone, but for value and doing good for people and the planet.
It was May 2017, when I was using facebook just before going to bed. I suddenly saw an ad for a product called “Natural Cycles” and it could be because I was studying random articles about female reproductive health at that time. The product caught my attention and I ended up clicking studying about it and that was all the interaction I had.
The next morning, I saw an ad featuring a job position at Natural Cycles but this ad was from Eures, the public job advertising platform. I clicked on it, read the description and everything spoke to me as if it was something I was really looking forward to. I had no plans for changing my jobs, I did not see what salary they are offering, I did not see if the job was remote or required relocation, I just applied. I didn’t fill in anything in the cover letter and just applied via LinkedIn in less than 5 minutes. I think it was because the product was something I really loved and was helping so many women with their fundamental right, non-hormonal birth control. Not only this, but they also aimed for educating women with knowledge about their bodies.
After applying to the job, I gave very deep thought to it. I researched a lot because I did not know anything about Sweden. I thought about my plans to go study at UBC and also with the current job that I had which was paying me really well. I got to know the product more, studied about Swedish culture, looked at their Tech stack, and all possible things one could do with online stalking. I questioned myself, why I want to leave the comfort of my own place, where I earn a very good amount working from home and that too, in dollars and spend it in a relatively cheaper country. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this is what I was aiming for with higher education. If and only If I hear back from them, I would really want to work where I don’t go to work for money only, but I wake up each morning with the intention to go something good for people and the planet and getting paid for that is a cherry on top.
After 2 days, I heard back from the team and we scheduled my first interview. Fast forward to 3 weeks, I had successfully nailed 3 interviews, a technical assignment, and a cultural test. It was somewhere in June where I signed a contract with them, applied for a visa, got myself married, and finally flew to work at Natural Cycles in October.