Career Confusion and Influences

Trinadh (Name Changed) is a B Tech degree holder from one the prestigious institutes of India.
He wanted to pursue his higher education at different points of time. A number of factors influenced his career decisions. He wanted to share it with CWS readers. Trinadh wants the students to diffentiate between temporary interests and real passion.

* When Trinadh was studying in college, he had a great teacher Mrs. Latha. She handled a course which he really enjoyed. He wanted to pursue masters in that subject. But today, he feels that he probably wouldnt have enjoyed that subject. Great teachers play a significant role. They can change even a boring subject which you dont like to something that you want to pursue your masters or phd.

* Trinadh also had very bad lecturer Mr Maran. He hated Maran and his subject fully. He decided that he would never touch that subject again in his life. But, today he feels that he would have loved that subject. Bad teachers come in your way as well. Students might actually love a subject or an area, but a bad foundation will prevent them from pursuing their passion.

* Trinadhs close friends were very keen on studying networks. But he was more interested in theory. When they applied for internship, he to apply for networks because he didnt want to feel left out. When you are in a group of friends, you tend to stick to the group. This might not be your real interest.

* Trinadh got a fellowship for doing research. He got a great guide. He was in awe about the great person. He wanted to be like his guide. He subconsiously was emulating his guide - right from his accents to mannerisms. Trinadh wanted to research in networks (like his guide). A project guide can have a compelling influence you. You would feel like emulating your guide, especially the first one. Although this might not be your real interest.

* Trinadh was hell bent on studying further. He consulted a lot of seniors to find out the various exams. All the seniors advised him to take up GRE. They also gave him a barrons book to start preparing. Mugging up of those 3500 words didnt seem very attractive for trinadh. He kept postponing his preparation. He even postponed his exam dates a couple of times. He finally cancelled it. The intimidating process of GRE and mugging up of words stopped him from pursuing his interests. Today he feels that he has a done a big mistake by not taking up the exam. If you have to pursue your goals, you have to go through stages where you are not comfortable. Dont give up!

* The only other option for pursuing technical education was GATE. He wrote GATE and cracked it big time. Trinadh got 2nd rank all India. He was more or less sure of joining. But in the placement season, he got placed in a very high paying job. Since, GATE had 2 years validity, he thought he would take up the job. Money talks.. Even before it reaches your hands. It distracted him from pursuing his interest.

* After 1 year at work, Trinadh decided to stick to work. His argument was, “I am already in a good place. After 2 years, I will still get into the same place and earn the same money. So why waste 2 years. Instead, I can focus on getting a promotion at work place.” Money becomes a very big stumbling block when it comes to career decisions.

* During his work, Trinadh was really excited by the work of his manager. His manager was his inspiration. Trinadh wanted to be like him. Just like how the professor influenced him, Trinadh’s manager was also influencing him the same way. His manager had an MBA and Trinadh already started thinking about it! The MBA bug bit him and he joined CAT classes.

* All along, there was another factor which Trinadh had ignored completely. Trinadh had a girl friend in college. It was time for her marriage and there was a lot of pressure from her end to stop worrying about all these careers and focus on the relationship. Trinadh decided marry her. He thought he can focus on international MBA after 3 or 4 years.

* Well, once he was married, Trinadh had so many commitments that he could never focus on his MBA.

A lot of these incidents are very common in the lives of the people. Say, your professor inspired you to pursue a Phd, great! If a great teacher was a trigger to find your passion, its great! Go ahead! But there are a number of distractions, which create temporary *interests* in you. Be careful, when you tread them. This is the message which Trinadh wants to convey to you! All the best to you in whatever you do!

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