Career advice

I had left my full time corporate job a few months ago. I immediately started working as a freelancer. Though this did not pay me as much as my corporate job, I was still fine with it. Freelancing had been giving me the learning opportunities and peace of mind that I had been craving for. Now instead of being stuck in a draining job, I had freedom to work on the jobs that I wanted. This is what I had been enjoying.

Of you days ago I went to visit my long time friend Mihika. When I met Mihika I told her about my freelancing journey and what drove me to leave my corporate job. While I was telling her about the struggles I faced at my corporate job I noticed that her face changed. I asked her if she was facing similar challenges.

"My challenges are little different. I have been working with the same company in the same project and with the same team for last 10 years. My job has been completely monotonous. There is nothing new that I am doing or learning. I feel like I am getting restricted and stuck in this job. I feel like a caged animal," Mihika told me about her struggles. We spoke a bit that day and moved to different topics about our lives and friends. Our meeting ended on a light note and we made a promise to meet again.

Last night Mihika called me. She was crying. She told me that the job was no longer exciting and every day doing the same work was affecting her. She wanted my advice on what she should do. I really felt bad for her. Struggle was different from mine but it was equally relevant. Being financially stable and highly educated comes with a burden of being stuck in a dead end job. She was craving for more learning and growth that she had not been getting. I completely understood her struggle because once upon a time I did face the same struggle as well. I understood how frustrated it would have been.

We spoke for around 40 minutes. After the call got ended it gave me more food for thought. Two generations before me did not want to work or rather women were not allowed to work. The generation prior mine had given the freedom to work for at least some years. Then they had the choice to leave the job or a continue with it after marriage and children. They treated their jobs like novelty.

Now with my generation the struggle is completely different. Women of my generation are working for cerebral growth. Sure we do want to climb the corporate ladder but not at the cost of losing the opportunity to learn. We are ready to put in the efforts but in return we do expect the opportunity for growth and prosperity. If any job is denying us of these opportunities we would decide to step down instead of continuing.

In my case it was the same where the opportunities to learn and grow were restricted that led me to leave the organisation and start my own venture. I could see the same happening with my friend. It made me the to question the mindset of the entire industry. If the industry only speaking about the cerebral growth but are not ready to provide it to their employees? Is the growth opportunity nothing but a marketing gimmick? To most extent I believe that the industry does not want anybody to grow but to continue to remain under skilled and suffer.