Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost
Time and again, Ankit Doshi, the Creator of InsideIIM, has reminded all our readers that there's more to life than CAT and MBA (for example,
here,
here and even
here). Last year, in our organisation, we've been taking concrete steps to show our reader community that MBA is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.
For example, we've done 5 workshops in the last 3 months at Hard Rock Cafe's across the country to help young people figure out whether a career in marketing, consulting or data analytics is really what they want to pursue.
Or, InsideIIM's sister platform, Konversations.com, now hosts live chats not just on cracking entrance tests or getting into your dream b-school, but also on mistakes entrepreneurs have made, and what an aspiring entrepreneur can learn from those.
In the new year, we take one more step in this direction. The courses on Konversations will no longer just revolve around marketing, finance or management. We want to help you, our community of readers, to truly build the career YOU want. And so, there are two new courses being launched:
- The Craft of Creative Writing (Coming Soon)
-
Careers in Social Sector
The content that we've put together for the above is probably not easily accessible to most people. We bring you stories from successful professionals in these areas and show you how they made it there, sometimes against the odds. In Creative Writing, you'll hear from Anuj Gosalia, Co-founder of the hugely successful Terribly Tiny Tales or Piyush Gupta, the Screenwriter of Dangal and Bhootnath Returns. For the Social Sector, we've interviewed people who have done impactful work in areas from waste management to training & development for the differently-abled.
Besides the success stories, you will also get clear guidance on how to make inroads into either of these careers. How should you build your profile to be suitable for the social sector? From where can you source writing gigs and actually make your dream come true? On
Konversations, you can expect practical guidance that will actually help you in the real world.
You may be an MBA aspirant who's now deep into preparations for XAT or interview calls. Or you may be an MBA student slogging through your assignments. Or maybe you're an experienced professional, just looking to do something different. Whoever you are, as the new year beckons, I hope you'll take some time to reflect on what kind of career you *really* want to build for yourself. Salary, a degree or CV points may satisfy you for a while. But, the satisfaction that a fulfilling job brings is unmatched. So, don't just chase trends. And be prepared to take some risks.
This is not just #MondayMotivation that I'm dishing out. Take a look at my own career graph. I opted for Science after 10th standard (mostly because I did very well in the board exam). Blindly started preparing for medicine entrance tests because all my friends were, and did well in that too, but decided medicine wasn't my goal at all. Next, I did B.Com, and CA alongside, even got into an income tax practice for a while. It was great, but I couldn't picture myself doing it for long. Next stop: MBA. The familiar road --> CAT, XAT --> XLRI --> Dream job at TAS. All felt nice for a while, until I felt stifled in the corporate world. This time, I did some serious thinking. Actually asked myself what I care about ('coz I certainly didn't care a lot about power or steel). And that's what brought me here, to the best job (by far) that I have ever had - as Product Manager of Konversations. Will I do this forever? Maybe. Maybe not. But taking a risk and actually doing what truly appealed to me has paid off. Maybe it will for you as well?