Are You Still Living Inside Your “My Career is Safe” Bubble?
“Nobel-winner Paul Krugman warns India story could end with mass unemployment”
This is the news that I woke up to this morning. Should I believe in coincidences or not is what I asked myself.
Just last evening I was discussing with a friend casually on life at work and our conversation was dominated by changing trends at work, changing attitude of people and changing requirement in skill sets. Our conversations always used to be around travel, food and everything else that women usually discuss. It took an interesting turn last evening when my friend mentioned her worry about not being able to catch up with the newly churned out B school kids. Wait!! Did we just call them “kids”? Have we hit that point called midlife crisis where men buy sports bikes and women take expensive spa memberships??
Let me take you a bit back in time. The year 2007. A small-town girl from Kerala walked out of a B school in Bangalore, proud of her coveted MBA degree and humming “the world at my feet”. She looked forward for that high flying corporate life. She thought she has already learned everything it takes to get the corporate world at her feet, or truthfully, that’s what every B school makes you believe.
First day at work! The campus sprawled across 14 acres of greenery. As taught at the B School, she dressed herself up impeccably in office formals and walked in to her manager’s cabin.
There he was sitting in a relaxed T shirt and jean. He gave her a kind understanding smile and helped her settle in. The first thing he told her was “welcome to the corporate world! now, forget everything that you have learned. It is time to start afresh”!
She was hit with immense confusion. She resisted, thinking of all the economic theories, mathematical equations and strategies that she had learned so painstakingly. She tried to make herself believe that she is in safe zone, that she is ready for the world.
