Jobs and Careers : Explore the New

At one point I remember studying and appearing for my medical entrance examinations (this was of course years ago), largely because my father wanted to become a doctor. Unfortunately, his father could not afford to pay his fees, though back then, it easier to get in and competition was limited and so my father went off and joined government service determined that whenever he had a child, that child would be what he could not be.  I wanted to be a journalist or a radio broadcaster and had even auditioned for the youth channel of All India Radio – yuva vani   and had taken a few baby steps in broadcasting, when my dreams were shattered and I was told in no uncertain terms that I needed to study to be a doctor. Competition then was already tough, though it might not have been so nail biting as it is today.

Today of course competition is a lot tougher, but then job opportunities are more diverse and options more easily accessible than was the case previously. And even then, parents still want their kids to go down the beaten track of going to IIT and then IIM and then then land a so called secure job or become a doctor. Humanities students can choose the other option – clear the UPSC exam and become a Class a government officer. The less intelligent can opt for the Armed Forces (yes, they no longer attract the cream) or join a PSU Bank or company or the Railways. That is the end of the comfort zone for most middle class families.

So it was quite refreshing to see Startups have changed the rules of the game and even more so than call centers which were “in” a decade or two ago.  When we hear of Startups, we nearly always hear the stories of the founders and their rags to riches story and that cannot be the script of everyone. So it was encouraging to read how the taxi aggregators like Ola and Uber have created transformational stories – not just for those who were always taxi drivers but also many corporate executives , engineers and management staff from there, who are giving up their rat race jobs and taking up driving for Uber or Ola; realizing that there is still scope to earn enough of a decent living doing so and more ever enjoying the luxury of working at their own pace and desire without the need to worry of leave , late coming, attendance registers.

Of course, it is not all about driving taxis. The point is that the world has changed a lot in the last decade even and continues to change. There are many career options available today that weren’t there when today’s parents were setting up their own lives. So let us explore these options and not be intimidated by cut off percentages, entrance exams and interviews which are all gatekeepers to the conventional jobs and courses.