A story from the desk of a recruiter—written by Shyam
It was 3:08 AM.
The screen glowed in a dark room, illuminating nothing but disappointment.
Ravi’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. A resignation letter sat half-written on his screen—equal parts rage and heartbreak, dignity and despair. He had been a Senior Project Manager at a leading financial institution in Singapore for almost five years. A man who once believed in strategy, now strangled by systems.
He had just finished a 16-hour day, not because he was asked to—but because the fear of failing had quietly replaced the joy of building. His manager had pinged him at 10:43 PM asking for “a quick alignment doc,” and Ravi—like always—complied. He was tired of complying.
“I quit,” he typed, then deleted. Then typed again.
But he didn’t send it.
Instead, he Googled something random, like “jobs that don’t kill your soul in Singapore,” laughed at himself, and stumbled across my profile. He clicked the “Message” button on a whim.
“Hi Shyam. Sorry for the late ping. Not sure if this is even your area, but I think I’m done with my current gig. No clue what’s next. Just needed to say that out loud.”
I saw it at 6:40 AM. Replied by 7.
The First Call
Our first conversation wasn’t about jobs. It was about who Ravi used to be.
A builder. A father. A mentor to junior devs. A man who loved connecting cross-functional teams with dry-erase markers and “big dumb ideas” that sometimes worked.
But somewhere along the climb, he became a manager of red tape, not results.
He had three competing fears:
- Leaving too soon would make him look flaky.
- Staying too long would make him irrelevant.
- Changing roles would mean starting all over at 42.
I told him none of those were facts. They were just feelings. Real ones—but feelings nonetheless.
Rewriting the Resume and the Story
Together, we rewrote more than his resume.
He stripped out the corporate fluff and leaned into storytelling—how he led a failing digital transformation from 18% adoption to 97%, not with tools but with trust.
We didn’t hide his burnout. We framed it: “After five years of leading large-scale programs, I’m seeking environments where innovation and autonomy are valued over process alone.”
That line became a conversation starter.
The Pivot
In two weeks, we had interviews lined up at three companies.
None of them were hiring for a cookie-cutter “Project Manager.” They were looking for something else—a builder, a fixer, a grown-up in the room who still had the hunger of a startup founder and the empathy of a team lead.
He got two offers.
But he only needed one.
A regional tech consultancy focusing on sustainability-backed platforms offered him a hybrid role: part delivery lead, part product innovation coach. 20% less meetings, 200% more meaning.
Today
Ravi never sent that resignation letter. He printed it out, folded it in half, and tucked it into his drawer.
“I keep it,” he told me later, “not as a memory of what I hated. But as a reminder of what I won’t settle for again.”
From a Recruiter’s Desk
There are countless Ravis out there.
People with brilliance trapped under bureaucracy. People one question away from clarity.
If that’s you, here’s your sign: Don’t wait until the 3AM letter. Reach out when you still believe there’s more in you.
Because there is.
And someone out there—yes, even a recruiter—is rooting for you to find it.
—Shyam
360° Recruiter | Career Optimist | Story Listener