Episode 11: How I Stumbled On My Dream Job

Like most Indian students of the nineties, I pursued my higher education options based on what was generally known and acceptable. Becoming an engineer and MBA was (and continues to be) popular. My first job was also in a sought after field: management consulting.

What most careers – particularly, successful ones – don’t reveal are the dreams that didn’t materialise. The dreams that we might have had as children. Or even later during college.

Is it then a failure if we don’t obtain our dream jobs? I have written about my first major encounter with failure during my MBA placements. As I shared during the first episode of this podcast: 80% of young managers did not get the job that they wanted on campus and only 48% of them are satisfied with their current jobs.

Are we doomed to remain dissatisfied, pining for the dream job that wasn’t to be?

What if the current job is your dream job… you just don’t know it yet?

I look back at my career journey… a roller-coaster of sorts over three decades of choices and misses. And how I learnt (from later Prof. Clayton Christensen) that the principles of strategy (deliberate vs. emergent) apply even to our careers.

Do share your feedback and suggestions… write to us at programs@globalgyan.in or send a Whatsapp message to +91 892 843 9578

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