Few centuries back, careers used to run in families. A famer’s child would mostly take up farming, an artisan’s children would take up the profession, so would an apothecary’s progeny.
This changed with access to higher education, industrialisation, and faster, easier modes of travel. People started going into professions different from that of their parents. Yet, once picked, most would stay in that profession for life.
This once again changed in last few decades; we have started to experiment with different areas of work, even making significant shifts in profession. I for example, moved from engineering to sales to HR, either by choice or chance, but not by force. We all know many who shifted gears at least few times!
The accelerated pace of technology, automation and machine learning is going to change this drastically. As mentioned by Yuval Harari in his book ‘21 Lessons for 21st Century’, people need to develop the resilience to reinvent their careers several times in their lifetime – maybe every 10-15 years… not by choice, but because certain jobs will no longer exist.
Here are few questions to prepare ourselves to constantly reinvent our careers:
Understanding of macro environment
What changes are happening / likely to happen: my field, in adjacent and distant fields?
What knowledge and skills are needed in these domains?
Knowledge about Self
What do I enjoy doing most?
What do I excel in?
What do I like least?
What piques my curiosity and learning most?
Intersection between these two aspects is likely to be the sweet spot for reinventing careers!
At the outset, I would like to thank you for stopping by my Blog.
I believe that there is nothing right or wrong in this world. What’s right in this moment and context may be wrong in another moment and context. This belief has inspired me to name my blog ‘Perspectives’.
Perspectives is a platform for me to share my experiences, thoughts and perspectives on various subjects. You may have a different point of view. I look forward to hearing them, these are the triggers for rich and deep conversations.
On personal front, I live in Mumbai, India. I love to read; Somerset Maugham and Nevil Shute are my favorite authors. My favorite books are The Razor’s Edge, Mrs. Craddock, Chequer Board and Gone with the Wind. I am thankful to my father who inculcated the habit of reading in me early on.
I am also passionate about traveling, I have been to most parts of India and to several countries across the globe.
On professional front, I work in Human Resources function. Over two and half decades, I have worked across multiple industries and cultures. I focus on Leadership Development, Talent Management, Visioning and Culture, Large-scale change, Employee Listening & Engagement, Employee Well-being, Inclusive work culture, HR effectiveness, Behavior and Mind-set shifts through sustained interventions
I currently lead Organization Effectiveness Function for Aditya Birla Group, a $44.3 billion conglomerate with 120000 employees across 35 countries.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading my blog. I look forward to your thoughts and suggestions.
Thank you!
View all posts by Padma Rajeswari Nandi
Perspectives 