When Arevik was putting together her résumé, she felt genuinely proud of herself. Graduating from university seemed like a major achievement. She began her job search full of high expectations.

  Finding a job now appeared easier than ever: almost all organizations posted vacancies online. All one had to do was find a suitable listing, send a résumé with a single tap, and wait.

  Arevik selected several well-known organizations and sent them her résumé.

  A week passed. She grew confused and began to worry. It seemed to her that the wait would not be so long — after all, she had graduated from a state university and believed she had obtained one of the most prestigious specializations of that time: Data Analysis at the University of Economics.

  In her mind, it was a highly demanded profession. Yet the job market proved otherwise — it was far from rare.

  As she studied vacancies more closely, Arevik encountered many serious positions that required equally serious work experience. She was forced to skip those listings, hoping that one day the time would come when she would have the right to apply to such organizations.

  Some vacancies offered high salaries without requiring any experience at all — a real trap for na?ve people like her. Trusting applicants sent in their résumés, only to discover that something entirely different was expected of them.

  Arevik herself fell into such a trap when she entered into a strange correspondence with someone who claimed to be a company director. During their “negotiations,” he made an indecent proposal.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Furious, Arevik shut down her computer and sat motionless.

  “How can this be possible?” she exclaimed in anger and disbelief.

  “Am I really that na?ve?”

  Days passed, and her enthusiasm gradually began to fade. Realizing that a high salary would not come immediately, Arevik reconsidered her expectations and started paying attention to mid-level organizations. Even if the position was not strictly within her field, she knew her knowledge would allow her to handle the tasks.

  Things grew even gloomier after another week went by. After countless searches, Arevik understood that at the beginning she needed any job — at least to gain experience. She would have to start with something simple.

  “After all, big dreams begin with small steps,” she thought.

  It turned out that there were many such positions, and they were offered by quite respectable organizations. Arevik sent her résumé wherever she could — of course, choosing jobs that felt reasonable and close to her spirit.

  There were vacancies whose responses she awaited with hope.

  There were others she secretly hoped would never reply.

  And then there were those to which she could not even explain why she had sent her résumé in the first place.

  But, as so often happens, Arevik received an offer from the very organization she had applied to almost casually. Or rather — she knew why she had applied.

  It was a serious international company supplying oil and gas around the world. However, the position offered was merely that of an employee in the archive department.

  “A boring archive job — for real grandmothers. The end of my youth and my personal life. I’m lost, turning into mold on old books.”

  These were the first thoughts that came to her mind.

  At first, Arevik decided she would not go. But when her emotions settled and she began to see reality more clearly, she realized that she had to start somewhere.

  “And why not the archive?” she thought. “I’m sure I can bring interest into this field.”

  She gave herself hope, and no matter how hard it was to imagine, she still began preparing for her first interview — with faith in the future and a cautious sense of enthusiasm.