| | 8 APRIL 2022HIGHERReviewIMPORTANCE OF MAKING THE RIGHT CAREER DECISIONBy Srividya Kannan, Founder & Director, Avaali SolutionsThe number of interviews I have been taking has in-creased four-fold this year versus the previous year. The significant demand pick-up has fueled this in-crease, and the increasing need to get increasingly selective about the talent we hire to help make a substan-tial impact. I have interviewed candidates who completed their Masters in Computer Applications or did a Bachelor in Technology and eventually got into an HR role, which they continued further. Some others specialized in HR in their education years, but moved into Marketing roles. It is rare to find someone who has clarity early on in their life about what they would like to do. This is more often discovered over a period, with some even experimenting various roles till they eventually settle, and some others more being more conser-vative to stay with their area of specialization. The problem with this approach is the number of years lost before arriving at a compromise or finding the place one loves.Most people reach others for their opinions or sugges-tions, be it their parents, siblings or in many cases, their friends. It is common for people to focus primarily on po-sition & money and benchmark their progress versus their friends to determine how they are positioned versus others. While there is nothing wrong with this approach, it may not work for people going after finding true satisfaction and joy at the workplace. People generally spend at least over one-third of their lifetime at work. Finding happiness and fulfill-ment at work is paramount to keep at it year after year.What is the best way to make a career decision that con-nects one with a sense of purpose? The key to this is intro-spection. Use these five tips to help you decide:1. Journal: Keeping a journal is an excellent way of pen-ning down your thoughts. Using this journal to keep not-ing your ideas, something interesting you read, lessons you learnt, career advice you received from mentors, and your aspirations & dreams is a great way to grow or make career choices. And this is not some online journal; rather, it would be good to keep a small diary handy. 2. Connecting to What Matters Most to You: Several people struggle to decide between conflicting priorities. For example, you get a job from a known, large company and another offer from a small startup. Which one would you choose if they both have similar pay scales? This question is best answered when you connect to your why. As an exam-ple, if you love a highly structured set-up with a defined set of responsibilities, you may choose the large company, but if you thrive in doing multiple high energy roles and multi-task-Srividya Kannan, Founder & Director, Avaali SolutionsIN MY OPINION
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