Hey Reader,

Two weeks ago I posted: build your exit on day one. This is the day it paid off for me.

I had joined Flipkart a few months earlier. I was not looking. I was still learning where things were.

A Google recruiter messaged me on LinkedIn. Then called. Would I interview?

They offered me two months to prepare

Most people take it. I had a reason not to.

I had a medical procedure booked about three and a half weeks out. Recovery would take time, and I was not going to cut it short for anyone's interview loop.

So I told the recruiter the truth. Then I asked to start now.

No prep plan. No two months. Round one in two days.

Seven rounds in three weeks

Two or three a week. Done before the procedure, on schedule.

Then I asked the recruiter for one thing. Do not call me for ten to fourteen days. Let me recover.

On day fifteen the phone rang. I was in. We negotiated. I closed.

What the post could not hold

None of that was luck. I could say yes in two days because there was nothing left to prepare. Not for Google. Not for anyone. My work was written up in interview form. My basics were warm. I had taken the odd call even when I was happy where I was.

Being at the right place at the right time only counts if you are ready to seize it. The recruiter's call was the right time. Everything before it was the ready.

The two months most people ask for is not prep. It is the exit strategy they never built, paid back with interest.

The checklist

Four boxes. Run it this quarter, not the quarter you get the bad rating.

☐ Write your work in interview form. One line per project. Problem, what you did, the number. Do it at the end of each quarter, while you still remember.

☐ Go broad on purpose. Know your stack. Then pick up the next one. Pick one thing this quarter that is not your day job.

☐ Keep your profile and resume current while you are not looking. Numbers in the first line of each role. The recruiter's AI reads it before the recruiter does.

☐ Take the call. Even when you are happy. Even one a quarter. Practice is cheap. Regret is not.

If all four are ticked, a switch takes weeks. If none are, it takes the two months you asked for, and the offer may not wait.

Reply with the box you would leave empty today. That is the one to start with.

Either way, keep going. The effort you're putting in will compound.

TheGuidedGrowth.