These are some of the dialogs that have happened in my career counseling attempts….Not all of these dialogs  are with the same people of course..

So this is how it goes:

Student: hello Subra sir can I talk to you for a minute?

Subra: You can, but you may not! Ok Sure go ahead…

Student: Sir i am planning to study at a good university

Subra: Do your CFA from US

Student: No sir, I cannot afford to travel abroad to write the exam…

Subra: Hmm…so what are the options?

Student: Mcom or LLB

Subra: I am indifferent between both these degrees, to me it does not matter 🙂

However I think you should remember the following while managing your career:

1. Your early years matter! If you think that age 23 to 30 does not matter and it is ‘practice time’ you are terribly wrong. Come out of a fool’s paradise right now! IN the real world NOBODY is bothered about your age – ONLY you perhaps are bothered about age.

2. Do not wait for that perfect job: the perfect job and the perfect man are myths! Every job gets boring beyond a particular stage. All jobs have,well, menial things to be done, AND you have to do it. Take up a job, be serious, and do it well. Once you find something better, move on.

3. Sometimes you will get very very badly OVERPRICED in the market! If you are working on a particular technology, or some new concepts, chances are that you will be over priced. This will make it impossible to leave. You need to take a calculated call about how long this will continue. If you think it is short term in nature, take a hair cut and go. If you think it will last say 3-4 years, stay on.

4. “You have a whole range of careers and you can go to any part of the world“: Almost everybody hears this – lets be practical. Given your family circumstances, skills, education, – the choice is pretty limited. Take up what comes and you are willing to give your time for that kinda money.

5. If you heard somebody say “If you do not like your job, Quit” I can assure you, he said it when the economy was growing at 9% or so we thought. We are now growing at 5% and not too many jobs are being created. The only jobs being created are low level sales jobs – the jobs MBAs have been TAUGHT to shun.

6. “Quit if your boss is not good“: What guarantees do you have that your next boss will be good? Well, none. Analyse what you do not like about your boss and see how you can work around. Or look for a better boss within the same organisation.