It’s Okay to Not Know What You Want to Do.

By Vasundhara Sawhney, Senior Editor

During my last few months at business school, most of my conversations with friends revolved around how our careers would unfold. There were five of us—the “core group” as we called ourselves—and four had a clear path mapped out: Accept an entry-level marketing role; get a promotion within a couple of years; get another promotion two years later; become a marketing manager by year seven.

The fifth person had a slightly different plan (or no plan at all). That was me. To make things worse, it was “placement season” in India—a time when companies visit college campuses to offer jobs to MBA students. None of the roles seemed exciting to me and I was beginning to grow anxious. I only knew what I didn’t want.

Then something unexpected happened. One day, a friend walked up to me with a newspaper clipping from a publishing company. The headline read: Looking for a Project Manager to Work with Our International Publishing Clients. She knew I had an interest in writing and communication, and she urged me to apply.

“Don’t go by the job description,” she advised. “If you don’t talk to them about it, you won’t know what the real deal is.”

I was hesitant. Applying for a job in the editorial division at a publishing company seemed like a detour from my major in marketing. I never thought I would work in publishing or be an editor—and if my friend hadn’t pushed me to go to that interview, I probably wouldn’t have. Apart from “great communication skills,” I didn’t meet a lot of the requirements in the job description. Luckily, the hiring manager valued my adaptability and interest in learning more than that. ?

If you’ve just graduated and are still looking for a job, or you are planning to switch jobs, I hope you find some solace in my story. As you step into the workforce, embrace spontaneity. Serendipity will work its magic, and odds are, you’ll end up in the right place.

Here’s some more advice from our experts on finding the right job.

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