India, July 23 -- What would you do if you lost your job three times in three years? For 31-year-old Vinita Kuhikar, each lay-off came with a different challenge, but it also changed the way she looked at her career. Originally from Mumbai, she moved to the United States to pursue her master's degree and build a career in architecture.

Now based in Mountain View, California, the architect-turned-construction project manager shared how repeated setbacks pushed her to stop chasing jobs and start building a long-term career strategy.

Vinita said her first lay-off came while she was working on what she considered her dream project, Google's headquarters.

"I had spent almost two years working on Google's headquarters, and as an architect, i...