THE DREAMER, UNICORN AND MARKET SHAPER

These are the three phases of your career. Staying relevant means keeping the Dreamer alive even when you are the Market Shaper of the profession

MY PARENTS would always spend time with the teachers who taught the subjects I got the worst grades in. My Chemistry teacher was the primetime fixture during PTMs. She convinced my parents that a career in science was ruled out for me. The only option left was to choose Commerce, because the school did not offer Humanities.

I realised on the first day of being a Commerce student that Book-Keeping had nothing to do with arranging books. Accounting was Chemistry in a new avatar. This marked the start of two more years in hell. The problem was that I could never articulate what I liked but could identify anything dreadful as soon as I got started. My dad told my mother, “The problem is that these youngsters have too many options.”

Ma tried to side with me, “Choosing between Science, Arts and Commerce is like having to choose between an Ambassador, Fiat and Standard Herald car.”

Thanks to Ma, India now has many more cars to choose from. The roads are better and there are options like ride-sharing. If the hyperloop and space travel keep developing, it will trigger new career choices and options. What has changed since?

WE ARE LIVING LONGER: The average life expectancy in India is close to 70 years now. Our life expectancy in 1947 was 31 years. For the people who are entering the workforce now, expect to celebrate your 90th birthday or maybe even the century. The life of a business is getting shorter. Lifelong employment will fade away. Multiple career trajectories will be the norm.