It took me three long years to reach my goal of joining Lehman Brothers.

In 2006 I quit my job and started my GMAT preparations. I worked my way into a premier business school, signed up for a tuition loan (that had way too many zeros), secured a summer internship with Lehman, and successfully converted that into a full time offer. In August 2008 when I joined Lehman’s Associate Program, I was thinking the script couldn’t have been better written. And yet, in less than 6 weeks, I was unemployed.

For the first few days after September 15th, there was only one thing on my mind – survival. I joined the Associate program two weeks later than the scheduled start date. By the time HR completed the admin work, it was too late to include my name on the August payroll.

No job, no money

Initially, I had no reason to doubt that I’d be paid. “Don’t worry,” they said, “you’ll receive your August dues along with your September salary.” I had no reason to doubt this, even though Lehman CDS had reached a 52 week high. After spending two years in business school, my savings were low and the little that was left went towards the deposit for my Central London flat. The day Lehman filed for bankruptcy; I contemplated filing personally for bankruptcy as well.

I felt like a deer caught in the headlights. My only consolation was that I wasn’t alone, and there were rumours that our salary payments were on their way. I religiously went to the office everyday to eat lunch – even though Lehman hadn’t paid me salary, they had promptly transferred my lunch allowance onto the cafeteria card. With more than 100 sitting on my card, I wasn’t planning to eat anywhere else!

I joined as a generalist associate and hence was waiting to be placed. I knew which desk I wanted to join (and pre-bankruptcy, they were keen to have me as well), and I stayed in touch with them. Just when I thought things were about to look up, the big blow came.

On Sep 26th, we, the associates, were the first ones to be booted out of the Bank Street building by PwC. Strangely enough, it was Friday evening and I was in the tube when PwC tried to reach me on the phone. I stepped out of the station and checked my voicemail – an unknown PwC employee had left a message stating that I was no longer employed by Lehman.

Cut a second time

As a recently graduated MBA with no relevant experience, banking jobs were hard to come. Yet, I wasn’t willing to give up. I shoved my MBA ego, firmly believed in myself, and took a middle office job in another bulge bracket firm. I networked aggressively and was quite sure that I would eventually land well. Budget cuts came from nowhere and they were particularly vicious in the middle office. In less than three months I was shown the door again. The Lehman experience had given me a thick skin. Being laid off the second time around felt like a stroll in the park.

I swore I wouldn’t touch banking with even a barge pole again. This was in February 2009 and the recession was officially there. I had little chance of finding another job, so I decided to help some friends in setting up their online auction business. I didn’t get paid (oh btw, Lehman did pay all my dues by mid-October), but for once I felt happy and relieved. I enjoyed working in a start up and building something from scratch. It gave me an outlet to my creativity, and most importantly, kept my mind away from the mess outside.

In hindsight, the one good practice that I had was that I kept my contacts abreast of my whereabouts, and continued to seek out and meet new people. Just after Lehman came down, I got in touch with a serial entrepreneur who was keen to invest in renewable energy projects. We met a few times and got along very well. He was not sure about hiring me as a full time employee and hence for over three months we went back and forth.

Road trips to rural Devon

When I was laid off the second time, I offered to work for him on a contract basis. My brief was to analyze the renewable energy sectors and markets for potential opportunities. I enjoyed the challenge, worked long hours and learnt a lot. We formed a great team and soon enough the entrepreneur founded a company that would invest in and build renewable energy projects. Today I head a team of two people in managing our investments in renewable energy projects. I say ‘our’ because I have a sizeable equity stake in this start up. I have been given responsibility beyond my years and I genuinely enjoy the challenge.

Yesterday I got back from a long road trip in rural Devon. I walked in the fields, met with potato and dairy farmers, and explained the benefits of renewable energy. These projects have a tangible impact on their lives and I am happy to be a messenger of such powerful change.

If Lehman still existed, I would have been happy trading equities. I dreamt of doing this for so long that it’s hard to put hand on my heart and say that I don’t miss it at all. Luck and perseverance helped me in a big way to land on my feet. Now I am far more assured, experienced and well prepared for what the world has to throw at me. This year has been stressful, but I am wiser for it.