As you stand at the head start of your career track it is but natural to have a million questions in your head about where to start from. Each and every one of us wants to get that jump start which will put us ahead of the competition. Usually, these are the few must haves(Personal Checklist) that we know we deserve on our first job:-
- High Package (everyone wants to bag the highest package amongst his or her peers)
- Brand Name (again, everyone wants to work for the big names in the industry. Ever heard anyone saying, “I want to work for a start-up?”)
- Metropolitan City (All of us want to go in for Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Bangalore, isn’t it?)
Some of you must have thought in your head, “What about Job Profile”. I did not mention it intentionally because when you give priority to the above three you completely lose out on the relevance of the most important factor that is the job profile.
Let us take the example of two MBA graduates (let us name them A and B) from a 2 tier college. Both of them have pursued Marketing. As luck and their hard work would favor they both landed in jobs which fulfilled their criteria’s. A got a marketing job with a big brand in Mumbai and has landed up with the highest package in his college. B, on the other hand, got a sales job role at a much lower package with a relatively smaller company. Both are happy as A got the cutting edge over his peers with this placements while B got into a sales role and profile that he was offered was something he looked forward to ( B was passionate about sales as a profession).
After 3 years A and B met at a college get together. Time had changed a lot of things. A asked B how his job was going? To which B told him that how his hard work got him 2 promotions and the innumerable opportunities that he received to travel and all that he is learned over a period of 3 years. He told A how he had the freedom to think out of the box and how this made him feel more responsible towards his company. When B asked A about his job, he said that he was looking for a change however he was not getting many opportunities. Wherever he went the company felt that for 3 years and an MBA degree he had not gained much experience and despite his hard work in these three years he was still awaiting his promotion and a decent salary hike as the hr. processes were too streamlined.
Looking at both the situations whom do you think is happier and satisfied with his job? For sure B. What I am trying to convey is that when age is on our side and when we have so many options in front of us we must focus on what is the type of job/ job profile that will please us. Only if you are happy in the type of job that you do will you be able to sustain the hardships and taste the success? There is enough time to mint money but this stage in your life will never come back when you can follow your heart and do the kind of job that you like.
You must remember is "YOU" should be like the highly absorbing sponge, absorb as much as you can at work. Look for a job that will give you a plethora of opportunities to learn from. Don’t run after money let money run after you. If you genuinely love the work that you are doing then the sky is the limit.