Pay your dues
Our career is roughly divided into three phases: There is the phase of apprenticeship, the phase of application and the phase of mentoring. For the first decade or so, after completing your education, you are still in learning mode. You have to get real world experience of getting things done. You have to hone your skills and develop a specialisation. While learning never stops, over time, you become skilled in your chosen field and are able to apply it with more and more impact. In the final phase of your career, you also start teaching others what you know.
If you are well connected or really lucky, you can accelerate through the first phase of your career. For example, offsprings and family members of people in influential positions often get opportunities that are not easily available to others. The world is not always fair — even if you have talent, so do many others. Opportunities are fewer in comparison. Why should the world hand over opportunities to YOU.
This is a point of frustration for many new graduates who are starting out in their career. You may be declined a job offer since they found someone with relevant prior experience even though you believe you could have done a better job. You may be overlooked for a promotion even though you feel that you deserve it. Some of you might have to deal with a bad manager who undermines you. Some of you may have the skills but may be shy or in lack confidence to ask for the right opportunity. I have myself been through phases of self doubt, imposter syndrome and sometimes hopelessness during my apprenticeship phase.
This phase can be tricky, but it is inevitable. Rather than resisting it, you will be happy if you embrace it. You should know that life and career is governed by a lot of things that are beyond your control. Thus, try your best, but be mentally prepared for sub-optimal outcomes, at least some of the times. Accept them, learn from them, and move on. In case of a bad outcome, it is important to remind yourself that the outcome is not a reflection of who you are — at least not entirely. Consciously remind yourself to not let failures pull you down from trying again in future.
See this phase as a part of the journey, just as education was — Even in school and college, things sometimes move slower than your capabilities, but with education, we are often more accepting and understanding — we know we have to go through this phase. When things are slow, we use the free time to have fun. We sometimes forget to give ourselves the same time during our apprenticeship. So when things are slow, use the free time to enjoy other elements life. Let there be more to life than just your career.
I have come across some people who believe that they already have all the skills that are needed and the world just needs to let them express themselves. Self awareness is super critical — ensure that you balance your own self-view with feedback and inputs from people around you. Being blind-spotted about your capabilities will hurt you more than it will hurt anyone else.
This phase can be particularly challenging if you are surrounded by people who are not nice to you. Bad bosses can make life miserable and make you doubt yourself. The opposite is also true — if you are able to find great mentors and sponsors, they can help accelerate your growth. You may not be born with a silver spoon, but you can try to build connections that can help open doors for you.
More and more people these days choose to build on their own and do things from scratch rather than work for large organisations. Both options have their own pros and cons. Large organisations provide a comfort of a salary, ready access to mentors and coaches and a structured path to learning and growth. On the down side, this structure could be potentially too slow for some people to go through. Working for smaller organisations or on your own provides more flexibility but the down sides are lack of salary, mentors and higher uncertainties. Neither path is wrong — pick yours based on your temperament and personality. Know that this is also the best time to experiment as the stakes are low.
Apart from a lucky few who may win a lottery, genetic or otherwise, you have to go through this phase and grind your way through the long journey of your career. Grinding is not bad. Career is a marathon and not a sprint. Most of us have 40–50 years of productive time ahead of us — it’s a long time and a lot can be accomplished in it, only if we have the patience and drive.
