“A career path is rarely a path at all. A more interesting life is usual a more crooked, winding path of missteps, luck and vigorous work. It is almost always a clumsy balance between the things you try to make happen and the things that happen to you.” -Tom Freston
What is a career? I only knew about jobs. It was only after I’d spent a couple of years in my career that I began to understand what it was. Why is your career important? The obvious answers are that good ones give you money, recognition, the approval of society, etc. But for me, it is very important because your career is where you will end up spending the majority of your, happy or grumbling, active life.
This is why it is very important to understand the background and foreground elements of the career game. As the Indian economy grows, just like with other developing countries, more and more people will enter the corporate sector. Many factors come into the picture for a corporate aspirant such as career selection, planning, growth, exits and re-entries, power plays, etc. But did you know about these aspects before taking the plunge? I definitely didn’t. More importantly, did you select your career consciously or did your parents, relatives, or some “well wishers” select your career? If you are in the wrong career for you, you can forget about the rest of the elements. They won’t make any difference.