What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?
The article will discuss changing perspectives on employment, highlighting a protagonist’s journey from unemployment to corporate life. Underscoring the importance of adapting professional environments to find fulfilment. After retirement, he pursues photography and writing. He realises that jobs serve as stepping stones to personal passions. This illustrates a shift from status to fulfilment.
Table of contents
Key Takeaways
- In today’s job market, individuals often feel there are limited choices in career and employment.
- Traditionally, government jobs held more prestige, but attitudes are shifting towards viewing jobs as a means of livelihood rather than status.
- The protagonist’s journey illustrates the struggle to adapt in a corporate environment after years of unemployment.
- Through introspection, he discovers that finding satisfaction in a job is rooted in perspective, leading to professional success and personal growth.
- After retiring, he focuses on his passions for photography and writing, viewing his job as a stepping stone for pursuing his true interests.
Choosing a job
Different career? Does anyone have a choice of a job in today’s market of career and employment opportunities? It is rather amusing to consider another job. The setup we live in has everything, but not the choice of job, due to the so-called “population”. Employment is construed as a government job and is often linked to the condition of unemployment. This is why offering a “government job” to everyone is a catchphrase for politicians seeking to win votes in elections.
(a) Government job?
The status of unemployment is not in the ambit of this article, but it affects it tangentially. Until recently, other jobs were not viewed with that respect as was given to a government job. Situations are, though, changing. A job is no longer synonymous with a government job. Youngsters are now searching for a job that can sustain them along with several others. They now want not to become job seekers but to become job providers. The paradigm shift in opinion is the outcome of the vision and policies of the government. (The Print)
(b) White-collar job
Struggling for years he could get a white collared job. It was not to his liking, but he had no choice but to join it. It was his last chance and he was not in a position to muse on any other option. Failing to join, he would have lost the final opportunity for job seeking. It would have been a major setback.
(c) Selection in a job
He has had no technical skills. His surroundings compelled him to opt for appearing in various examinations for a job. There used to be a disparity between the number of vacancies and the number of aspiring candidates. The competition was tough. Those who could get it were treated with respect and privilege.
Facing unemployment
Years of unemployment and people’s caustic remarks made him irritable. He would not speak, but the irritability gnawed him from the inside out. After about three decades of his life, he was now an employed one. This, somehow, didn’t make him happy, though he was about to join the bandwagon crammed with motely people.
Employed
(a) Early days in job
His early months were not easy for him. A novice in worldly affairs and raw, he was unfamiliar with official procedures and etiquette. Suddenly, he found himself amidst the heaps of papers and files. The corporate house he worked in was probably different from the usual government office. Contrary to a dirty, shabby government office, his corporate workplace looked more organised and tidy. Nevertheless, the people were not very different.
(b)Familiarity with ambience
He was able to compare the two because, since his childhood, he had seen government offices. His maternal grandfather was an employee in the collectorate of a small district. He often accompanied his maternal grandfather to his workplace. The child would watch with curiosity the way people would come and behave in the crowded office space. The crammed and utterly dirty premises used to be noisy to the extent of chaos. Everyone would move helter-skelter. They appeared desperate, like someone who has lost their valuables. They would shout, howl, grunt or sometimes abuse each other and push through the crowd when their names were announced.
(c) Thanked the Almighty
Our protagonist thanked the Almighty that he was not a part of the chaotic official ambience. Initially, he looked like a fool who didn’t know anything. Gradually, he picked up, rather the system made him responsive and sensitive towards his work. He was now able to see and understand charts, columns and rows of data in a table and various works of graphics to extract the information and logically put up his arguments before his superiors in the job.
(d) Job is not personal choice
Coming back to the question put up in the opening paragraph. In India, in particular and world over in general, a job is not a personal choice. Even in the glamour world, people often talk about their first choice. The glam world was not their first choice. Yet, once dived in, they learned the ways of the world to become a proficient swimmer. They did not become an expert. Only a few bravely abandon everything for the cause they believe in. They dedicate themselves fully to the work they are passionate about. They don’t deter even in the harshest of situations. Holding hope tight, they follow their passion and excel.
(e) Realisation
Like many people who couldn’t get their dream job, he didn’t want the job he was given. This was the reason he was jittery and grumbling about the job. Later, he realised that the job was not at fault. It was his perspective which was to be blamed. He introspected to find that a job is something that everyone needs for livelihood. He was privileged that he could get it; otherwise, he would have been toiling to earn two square meals. The realisation heavily fell on him. Thinking a boon in disguise, he started taking a serious interest in various works of his office. Soon he was proficient in his work, so much so, he started advising management on the files and in meetings. This was noticed by the top bosses of the organisation and was duly awarded. He was promoted.
(f) Promotion
Encouraged by this, he worked harder. There was no looking back for him. He was elevated to the position of Chief Officer in charge of operations. In the huff and puff of job accountability, his interests were left behind. His dream of touring in his own car with camping gadgets and enjoying camping amidst nature took a back seat. In the meantime, he became a father of a lovely child. The time was flying. Parallel to his official responsibilities, he was accountable for domestic affairs too. He had to balance both of them, and he successfully tried to do it.
Superannuation
Time swiftly passed. The time came when he was superannuated. After serving for more than three decades, he retired. It was an emotional time. The time spent was rolling on before his eyes. The three decades seemed to fly off in a moment. He would miss this time, he thought. In the wake of emotion, he forgot about the fleeting nature of time. He didn’t realise that soon these moments would become a thing of the past and no one, barring his close colleague, would like to talk about it. New people would come and take the seat vacated by him, and it would pass.
(a) A surprise
The superannuation came as a surprise. Not that he did not know about it, but because he didn’t think that it would come so soon! It was only a few days before he joined. The time swiftly passes, and people feel shocked when reality comes face-to-face. Sitting in front of his laptop in his small, cosy room, he is cogitating and reminiscing about the past.
Satisfaction
After one and a half decades, he was reminiscing about his past with fondness. Happy that he gave his all to his job, he never complained after his first realisation. The best thing was that he didn’t leave the things which he liked and were close to his heart. He kept pursuing them, reading and learning new things about them and honing the skill. The two most noticeable things have been Photography and Writing.
Pursuing skills
He kept pursuing the skills of writing and photography. Keen on learning new things and often experimenting, he learned to use a computer. This was the very beginning of the computer Era. He joined a one-year course and learned the basics of computer programming. The knowledge of computers broadened his horizon. He often used his computer knowledge in official work. With the concept of office automation starting to gain ground, his acquired knowledge about computers gave him an edge. Even with his best efforts, it was not given any priority. He wanted to capitalise on his photography skills, but the dearth of time was an impediment. Yet he kept harnessing his skills.
Second innings
His “second innings” started after superannuation. The office routine has abruptly ended. It was time-consuming, but it was adjusted. His focus is on his favoured activity of writing. Joy of picture taking and writing are the two things that he started pursuing. Complementary to each other, photography and writing are his full-time jobs. Though it can’t be termed as a career, he enjoys doing both.
Wishes
He has time to take his interests further. His primary job was a phase which allowed him to earn his livelihood. He respected his earlier job because it allowed him to stand up and keep grounded. At the same time, he has some of his own interests. He is contemplating making his skill career for his “second innings”. The priority is to stay fit and mentally agile. By keeping physically and mentally fit and active. he can shape up his skills and take them to a professional level. So be it.
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