The Hindu Business Line : Taking a long-term view

My second son brands me a "potent cocktail". His logic for that is simple. He says parents tend to advise and teachers tend to lecture. He says I am both a parent and teacher rolled into one, hence the description! I shall carefully attempt not to indulge in either pursuit in this column or in future ones.

Beware the ides of March

February and March tend to be periods of great anticipation and far greater stress, for management students all over India and if one may add, the world as well. The reason for this is simple. Sadly enough, most management students believe that the very purpose of the two-year grind that management education means, seems to be only that elusive campus job.

That in itself is sad, as I believe that a great job, however, important cannot be the raison-d-etre for going through management school. Those all important two years can, and often will, transform lives and individuals, but that deserves another column, so let's stay with the campus job itself — the emotions, the feelings, the triumphs and travails (or is trauma the right word) that aspiring young managers experience during the month of March.

Keep your head, young man. I am not sure if today's generation has the same interest in poetry as ours did. Maybe as one had a fair share of impositions, in my formative years, there is one poem that is forever etched in my mind, it is `If' by Rudyard Kipling. It is certainly worth reproducing:

"If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting...

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my Son."

I wish young aspiring managers would keep this poem on their desktop and more importantly as their guiding philosophy through life, but most certainly during those agonising days and nights of placement (or is it non-placement). I too have traversed that lonely and often frightening road where you are one of the few in your batch that are not placed. Your friends and classmates are getting placed and your confidence plummets. Adding to your plight are your well-meaning friends with their (at times) annoying sympathy. Calls from home seem to add to your pressure. The bank loan is ticking and you are like a time bomb, waiting to explode.

The word `job' assumes manic proportions. You are on the verge of panic. "Any job will do" you think. "A BPO can't be all that bad." "Advertising doesn't pay all that well they say, but what the heck... " It is these negative thoughts that can get you. Step back. Remember, we are riding a boom just now. It is not only the Sensex that is scaling new peaks. It is salaries and opportunities as well. Hang in there, your time will come... and soon.

And don't lose it again

You would be surprised at how quickly your mood can change from gloom to bloom. It is just a small step physically, but a great leap emotionally. You can and will land that job that you yearned for, desperately. And yet, there could be an emotional downturn round the corner in case you are not careful.

Just picture this scenario: You are offered this job with a large financial services company. And let's assume they offer you a salary of Rs 4,00,000 per annum.

You are thrilled, ecstatic, giving treats, calling home, and mailing friends... And then your roommate gets a job with another company and they offer him Rs 4,10,000 per annum. What is your reaction? You are devastated. You feel it is the end of the world. Negative thoughts crowd your mind. "He can't speak one sentence in English, what is their evaluation process?" "I wish I had waited... " Is this familiar? If it is, then you are in trouble. Please remember that life is a marathon.

A good start, can and will make a difference, but you must keep reminding yourself that you probably have to work for another 35 years. Now, even if that is a very sobering thought, it is nevertheless the truth. So, why do you let what someone earns in 2006 bother you so? After all, when you hang up your boots it could be 2040! So why let the first few year of the race fox you and why let what you earn in the first year mean so much to you.

Think long term

You are not in any way inferior. I go back to my own class. Many of my friends were earning more than I was in their campus jobs. And yet, I soon overtook them simply because I chose the career I wanted to. So, focus on your choice of career and don't be paranoid about the short run. Remember, "it does not matter if you are a late bloomer, as long as you make it to the flower show." And may your career bloom!

(The writer is CEO of Brand-comm and an alumnus of IIM-B.)

More Stories on : Education | Employment | Management

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Budget ritual revisited

In a manager's footsteps

Leader Speak

What you'll do this summer

Taking a long-term view

Different strokes

Hot jobs at IIM-K

Chennai B-school gets going

`EQ works'

Joint programme

Purposeful rejuvenation