WHY YOU NEED TO WORK TWO CAREERS AND HOW YOU CAN GO ABOUT DOING IT
In urban India, and perhaps the world over, there are two things to consider at work today. Unlike earlier generations who could retire comfortably at 60, today’s generation who are in their 30s, 40s, and even below must prepare for the fact that rising life expectancy has meant that the average urban Indian is most likely to live to be 80 today.
Couple this with the fact that rising lifestyle diseases, burnout, and shrinking job offers has meant that a number of Indians will be laid off, take a break, freelance etc. by their early 40s. However, give the longer life expectancy you will have to work at least 25 years more to sustain your lifestyle. Retiring at 60 isn’t an option anymore.
So how do you solve this conundrum? The answer is simple – you need to work on two careers. In whichever field, be it private or government, you will have to plan a career path where you will work in one career till your forties and then move into another one.
With digital advances thrust upon us, and the focus on ‘young India’, such a choice is not a choice anymore but a necessity.
Such choices are hard and disruptive as all of us have been reared on the age of specialisation. From the time of Henry Ford, we have been good writers, chefs, musicians, government servants etc. However, once you accept this premise as true there are certain things you can and should do to prepare yourself for your two-careered life.
Know your health
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself a series of questions. Do you think that you can get close to becoming the next Paul Krugman, Amartya Sen or Mukesh Ambani in your career path? Are there opportunities enough for you to do so? Will your health permit it?
This last is a key question that many of us don’t ask ourselves enough. Reaching or getting close to reaching the stature of any of these towering figures not only requires knowledge and great savvy but also great endurance and health. If you feel your health cannot withstand high pressure levels post-40, it’s time to make your second career more relaxed. Teaching, publishing, work with regular hours is something you should explore.
Know your mind
It is interesting to note that in this age of instant information most people still crave analysts. I do not use the word in the computing sense but for those who can look at raw data and make sense of what is happening.
From Jones Lang La Salle wanting an overview of the real estate market to providing insights on the economy through McKinsey to giving foreign media firms, wanting to enter India, a reliable insight into the Indian media scenario – there is no one doing this now – insight is in short supply at the moment. If you feel you can hone your current skills to providing informed insight, you will be in demand – digital or otherwise. This has to be done smartly as there are already big firms doing this but not impossible if you know what you are doing.
Entrepreneurship isn’t always the answer
The start-up bubble has driven most urban Indians crazy with a craving to quit one’s job and ‘Make In India.’ Sadly, that just isn’t true for many of us. Start-ups require risks and an amazing amount of resilience that many of us are just not prepared to take. Despite what the news headlines may say, most of us still need a place where someone else is the funder and someone else the boss.
So where do you go? How do you move into a path which will give you growth? One option is to use one’s untapped skills to provide something completely new.
A journalist I know with a flair for creative writing went on to write murder mysteries for corporates and families to solve on offsites. Another film journalist used his contacts and skills to write television and film scripts for Zee and other channels.
The bottom line is neither of them had to change the way themselves or the way the worked . Both of them already had creative skills which they had never had a chance to use before in their field. So explore your hidden talent and in today’s world you should be able to find a marketable outlet for it.
Good Luck!