Alternate Careers

We can all dream of going to an IIT and landing a good job. But, do we have the interest and, more importantly, the aptitude? What are your long term goals? Your goals, not your parents. Are you (or your parents) ready to look at alternate careers, something beyond engineering or medicine? Do you want to wait till you are 55 or 60 years old and say I wish I had followed my dream and become a _ _ _ _ ?


A 2012 survey conducted by Kelly Services an HR services company, revealed that around 65% of Indian worker preferred meaningful jobs over income and status. It’s clear that satisfaction can never be substituted by anything else but still, we let our dreams get suppressed under parental or peer pressure.

We will try to give you a brief on some alternate careers available to you, if your personality suits. You and I know that for a person to take marketing as a specialization during her/his MBA, s/he should have qualities like good communication skills, being a people person who enjoys having people around and interacting with them, maybe possessing the quality of being an extrovert or more outgoing etc. If you prefer to work alone, are a bit shy and an introvert with average communication skills, do you think you should take this specialization just because most of your friends (who have now replaced parents as your guides) have taken this choice? Or go for something that suits your personality?

The bottom line is that you have to have the personality traits (which can be established by a number of tests), be willing to work very hard, and be tough enough to face failure, till you succeed. No successful persons today have had it easy throughout their adult life; no one can claim that s/he has never failed in something; the difference is that they got up, dusted themselves and started all over again. Be it an actor, singer, businessman, whoever or whatever. We recommend that you consider alternate careers also in your quest.

So what are the alternatives to the routine engineering or medical career? Finance, legal, knowledge services, corporate trainer, civil services, a career in the defense forces, aviation, hospitality, travel & tourism, careers in e commerce, careers in IT/ ITES industry, advertising, fashion design, fitness, nutrition, dietitian, food designer, medical transcription, photography, nursing, film industry, entrepreneur, creative writing, calligraphy,  etc etc.   Most of the fields mentioned have multiple career options, which you will see subsequent posts.

It finally boils down to what interests you and whether you have the aptitude and determination to succeed, come what may.

You need to understand that alternate careers can not only be personally rewarding but lucrative as well if you possess the appropriate skills.