Fresh Tips for Freshers

Freshers who pass out of college are in a unique situation year after year. As you venture out from academic world to corporate world, you are in a transformation phase of your life. Suddenly many paths open up, which all look the same from outset & yet each path has its own risks to encounter. What happens if you end up taking wrong path, especially if the paths are neither inter-changeable nor cross-able. What should define your career path. How can you achieve what you want (assuming you know what you want) & not regret choosing the wrong path. If only you could travel far down every path & then be able to choose the most suitable path. But that is not to be. Definitely, in this ubiquitous situation, there is no "one size fits all" answer. Below are some insights that could help you in seeing ahead & choosing a career with the suitable frame of mind.

Education is not a step-ladder to become rich!! 

Many people think of job or career as payback time for the amount of money they have invested in their education. And they are perennially dis-satisfied, when the RoI (in terms of salary from job) or the payback period is not matching upto their expectations. This is a very narrow view of looking at job/career. If your goal is to be rich, start business on your own, take risks & don't mind money!! That's your best chance to be rich, apart from inheriting wealth. Use education to serve society & improve the lives of yourself & others around you. Just to be clear, by working in a company & delivering to customers, you are serving society indirectly, as the customers that you serve, use your product/work to provide service to people.

Define your core skill & be passionate about it. 

In today's world of technology, we are in the "business of technology", but, seldom we realize the actual meaning of this. Every business or industry goes thru a life-cycle of Birth, Growth, Maturity & Death. This is similar to a seasonal cycle in agriculture, which we are quite familiar. Now, since we are in the technology business, technology also follows this life-cycle of B,G,M,D. Although the time frame of each stage may vary & it is not necessary that all technologies will go thru all stages (some can go from birth to death very quick). Each new technology goes thru this cycle, until something new & disruptive comes & replaces the old, causing death of old business. 

    There is no technology with no expiry date, due to the nature of business described above. So, in your long career, many technologies/products will take birth & die. Given this situation, you should not base your career on a single technology or product, instead look at technology as a tool to solve problems faced by people. 

Define your core strength that uniquely positions you to serve company/society & gives you a competitive edge among others. And look at everything around you as tools to help you improve your core skills & do your job better. Be passionate to excel in & with your core skill.

Don't mind Money and Money will mind you.

Don't run after wealth, let wealth seek you. Money is like Food. You can only eat so much per time for your need. Eating more than needed can cause diseases in you. Storing food can only last for some time until it starts to decay. To stay healthy, you need to work for your food regularly.

Similarly with money, you can only keep so much in your hands as liquid cash for immediate needs. You can only invest/save so much for your future needs, beyond which it starts to lose value/meaning (in other words, RoI will be less than inflation). To stay finance-wise, you need to earn regularly (however small it may be) until you can physically afford to do so. Think of money as a by-product in your journey to achieve larger, more meaningful goals.

Choose your career path & make it unique. 

Understand your personality & strengths and choose a career that fits with your core strengths. Don't do things just because others do it. Don't fall in to your peer pressure. You need to find work that gives you happiness matching with your personality. As each person is different, each person's path towards "nirvana" will be unique. Hence look at work as your unique path towards attaining contentment in life.

Take career slow, it's a ultimately a dead-end (for all people, not just for you) 

Career is like a Marathon race not a Sprint race. Short work life & Long Retirement life is a myth, unless you have a large inheritance. So, stop dreaming of a Long & Happy Retired Life with no worries & prepare for long haul careers!! Don't wait for a time later in life to do what you like. Even though, career is a marathon, work life should be taken few years at a time, doing fulfilling things at each period.

Define a clear work life balance

    Work when you are required to & enjoy life when you don't have to work. 

    Many people define work-life balance as working in fixed timings. When work is from a business cycle, which varies by nature, work demands can also be varying. Sometimes, work demands may be high & sometimes low. So, if you can prioritise work & work hard when required to & prioritise life when work demands are low (Just like a farmer has to make hay when the sun shines & relax other times). 

I have seen 2 categories of people here. One set, where people are obsessed with work & tend to be at work at all times, even when there is no high priority work. Other set, where people follow fixed work timings & complain about loss of "work-life balance" when work demands stretch. This category of people are afraid that the situation of stretched work hours will last for ever & their flexibility will be taken advantage of. This is myth & very unlikely to happen in reality. In rare cases, when one is in a situation of "All work & no play" all the time, it is better to look for alternatives.

So, staying away from falling into either of these extremes, have a healthy work-life balance, where you work hard when you need to & enjoy life as much without compromising your work that provides you "bread & butter".

Plan for your career ahead broadly & take course corrections along the way

     Typically, when most people start working, they are glad to land a job & want to enjoy the financial freedom until it lasts. At this stage, their primary focus is on making money & they don't want to think ahead, until they reach a "mid-career-crisis" stage. At this mid-stage, people's focus & priorities change (it may be no longer about money) & people start to wonder why they are working & why they should continue to work. When you have already thought of a career plan, it is easier at this mid-stage to navigate your remaining career efficiently & not make any blunders, which you may regret the rest of your life. 

Interesting insights on this topic from Jack Ma (Founder of Alibaba) worth watching.

In summary, accept the reality that job/work/career is necessary part of modern life & deal with the situation in a professional & matured way. Better career management will help you lead a more contented life, help the society to become a matured society & ultimately help the country to be a better place.