Building a Career!

What are next roles I want to work towards?

Well! That's not very difficult to figure out. I can rattle off 2-3 roles that come on top of my mind.

But is identifying and working towards roles an opportune/resourceful way to build a career?

Recently, I came across an alternative approach that resonated with me.

Think of your career in terms of a combination of skills and experiences.

 

What skills and experiences do you want in your next role/s?

I see an advantage of approaching building careers in this fashion.

Thinking of next role gets us fixated on role. We sometimes stop identifying and even evaluating alternatives. Coveted roles are limited and number of contestants are high.

On other hand, when we approach building careers in terms of skills and experiences, we become receptive to a number of opportunities - some of it not obviously apparent.

We might be able to identify emerging opportunities. We might land up identifying multiple opportunities.

A career as a portfolio of skills and experiences! And experiences being much more than just identified roles!

Subsequent question obviously is 'What skills and experiences do you want in your next roles?’  Obviously you will look at what are your career goals in long term, what skills and experiences you want to work towards in medium term, and what skills and experiences you already have.

I refer back to my belief in ‘intentionality’ - ‘ It’s necessary we intentionally and smartly build our portfolio of skills and experiences'

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Sourav

 

Free Choice within Determinism!

A few months back a friend made a point which stuck with me. The import of what he said was that as individuals we don’t have any power. The situation decides whether we are of importance or not. So the situation would decide whether the role I am, or someone else is, playing today is important..…as individuals we don’t control anything.

The level of determinism is high. We are born into our families. To a large extent we don’t choose the people we grow up with or the school we go to. What we wear, we eat, the college or specialization we take up – all are subject to social forces. But does it mean that there is nothing we as individuals can choose?

Even the presence of a single alternative implies that there is choice. The strength of social forces might determine the number of alternatives we have at our disposal but what are the chances that we would land up in a situation where there are no alternatives. Can you think of a situation where you were left with no alternatives? I can’t think of any.

We do have a free choice and what characterizes we, human beings, is the freedom to choose our own course of action: our own alternative (even though our choice may be subject to social forces which have been embedded into our unconscious). The element of environment is always there, but how many opportunities in that environment I tap into would depend on my free choice and will. That is an act of choosing the state of “I know that the environment would be there but within that context what’s the best I can do? Can I change the environment itself?” over the state of “Life is deterministic. Let me take what comes to my plate.

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Sourav