Future proof your careers

The session was conducted by Anand Desai and Cdr Naveen Badrinarayan. It started with Cdr Naveen Badrinarayan addressing the viewers and talking about the decisions to be made regarding careers. Making career choices in terms of higher education can be difficult because of the vast number of choices. How does one choose their career stream? 

He discussed the role of identifying natural strengths, as career is about building a fulfilling life and not just education. He also talked about learning to work in the VUCA world. The world of work is changing at a tremendous pace. Spending huge amount of money and time on education should be fulfilling in terms of building an extraordinary career and a fulfilling life.  

He talked about stages of life. He explained how children go from the enjoying the best years of their life to the structured life of school and then teenage, while facing comparison, competition and confusion. They are unsure of what to do in life and start doubting themselves. By the time they are done with education, they are not ready for the world of work. There is a huge gap between what they learnt in schools/ colleges and what needs to succeed at work. They start to explore and change jobs to learn what to do. Jumping jobs causes more confusion and they settle down late in life, leading to a mid-career confusion.  

In order to change this, according to him, it is necessary to start early. Identifying your strengths and connecting them to what you want to do is key. Education and self-development go hand in hand, building confidence and bringing about growth.  

Mr. Anand Desai emphasized that walking the path of education without having a purpose in life is wasting an opportunity to develop oneself. Directionless population can be pulled in any direction. Choose an occupation first, and then the education. Focusing on the destination is more important than getting into the best college.  

They talked about three main categories of work: knowledge-based, skill-based and behaviour-based and choosing a career based on the category one fits best. The session progressed to a discussion about various career options. The session was concluded after addressing participants’ questions and queries regarding careers.