Saturday 28 December 2013

"Work"ing your way


I attempt to write about the change in lifestyle, opinion and priorities we experience as we step out of college in to the world of fending for yourself and what better time to write about it than on a Monday morning, right after the customary coffee cup.
I have been up since five, scurrying around to get ready for the two hour journey that takes me to office from my home. The breakfast will just have to be rolled up in Aluminum foil because getting late is not an option: they will charge you a half day's salary. Besides, you are perennially struggling to beat your supervisor in the race called 'I got here first' and somehow he is always there, sipping his morning tea while you frantically urge your system to boot up and record your attendance.

Contrast this with just six-seven months back: I would have lazily albeit unhappily got up at eight, had my fill at the breakfast table because home cooked food is so hard to come by and reached the metro station in a mock hurry. Yes, yes, there would be lectures to attend but who cared if you missed a couple? A well-modulated voice could always mark your presence, anyway. And, then, timings never really mattered. There was no pride to be gained in entering the lecture room before your professor. More importantly, it was all a matter of choice. A crucial (by that I obviously allude to attendance and internal assessment issues) lecture was worth a couple of hours of sleep and hunger pangs.
 Now, the choices have been taken away from us by the system. You have to suffer through the morning ordeal even when you know you are just going to idle away your time on Quora that morning. Look at me: writing away on a minimized word document on my system with a book on Structural Mechanics open in the background to lend some credibility to the paychecks. But don't get me wrong here. On peak days, we don't even have time for lunch. That is the thing about working with a team, some days you are loaded, some days you are left yawning. So, that is another thing that you are introduced to in the corporate world- there is no such thing as finishing first. Your work is the product of inputs from a number of people, which may or may not be the final thing and the end result you churn out is always susceptible to review and change.

 The job isn't over till the lead says so and till then you just sit there, waiting, working and learning. Making a mistake does not mean just a score deduction but you are forced to introspect and bring out a tangible change. Words like accountability and responsibility gain quick prominence in your dictionary. What makes enduring it all possible is the feeling you get on completion of a task. If that does not happen with you, then, my friend, I'm afraid you're in the wrong profession.
For me it is the realization that I'm not playing with paper projects any more but the drawings that we roll out are being converted to steel in some corner of the world. The sheer magnitude of the power of creation this tasks demand is what makes it worth the while for me. It would be something else for another profession, but, the contentment of a job well done should be there. Strangely enough, job satisfaction is the last of things we were looking out for, last year when we sat for campus placements. It was all about money and brand image. Well, at least that bubble has burst. It is not possible to sit nine hours a day, five days a week doing something that does not help you grow as a person, no matter what the figures in your bank account indicate.
Coming to those figures though, it is extremely gratifying to finally have some money you can call your own. Your insides do a hoopla dance every month when those folks at the bank inform you about your newly arrived riches. A steady source of income spells freedom to make choices you had shied away from earlier. The gym membership finally comes through and you will do it justice because it is your money. Dinner orders are made without a glance to the prices section. You consider yourself deserving. It is your money and you plan and plot to spend it in the most beneficial way possible. Agreed, you will fail for the first couple of months or so, when the last week before salary day would find you loitering back to your college ways, but, with time you will strike a balance between need and want.
So, in a way I can say that choices with respect to time have been replaced by choices with respect to money. But the real choice is: how much of either are you willing to sacrifice for the other?

Medha

19 comments:

  1. Nice and interesting post. If you are late by 5 minutes your manager docks you half a day’s salary? That is ridiculous. He/She is from the 19th century. What if, on a critical day, the employee comes 5 minutes late and then tells the manager “since you have already docked my pay for half a day, I will now leave and come back after lunch”.

    I am in a senior level position in my company and I will not allow any manager in my organization behave like this. A manager should know how to let go small things like this and in return make the employees work extra hours (in the future) without them even realizing it.

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  2. Oh, its much more complicated here. Coming late by five minutes is allowed for two days in the month but on the third day you have to pay. And the rule stands same for every employee. But, yes, the management should learn to let go of little things like these and focus on the hours of productive work put in instead.
    Thank you for reading!

    Medha Kapoor
    http://www.medhakapoor.blogspot.in

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  3. Any teen who has lived this kinda life would nod his/her in agreement with your brilliant post..all wishing if the good days could ever return :-) No more paper projects though life is a project in itself!

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    1. Yes, Shilpi, the good old days will never return but we are always too eager to grow up as teenagers, aren't we? :)

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  4. Nice one Medha and am sure learning the ropes is a lifetime experience after all the fun in college( not really in a professional one)... :)

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    1. It indeed is a very learning experience so far. Hope that never ends! Thank you for reading :)

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  5. well written... Keep your writing Spirit in good shape, the job may ruin it like anything..

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  6. "For me it is the realization that I'm not playing with paper projects any more but the drawings that we roll out are being converted to steel in some corner of the world". That was nice way of putting how you feel about your job. Well written!!

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  7. Yes. Well, we have to find motivation somewhere. Thanks Nikhil :)

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  8. I completely understand and relate to each and every word in this post. This is exactly what both of us are going through at the moment. I remember when I said in my interview, "I don't want to be one of millions, I want to be one that drives millions". When you say, that your design is being converted into steel somewhere, you are actually realizing how important it is to make an impact. How worthy you feel when your skill and hard work accomplish something that wasn't there before. Money just pays bills and someday you might have more than you would care. This job satisfaction and impact are there to stay!

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    1. Thank you so much Gaurav. Glad to know we're sailing in the same boat. :)

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  9. THAT is great realization Medha - that what makes life interesting and purposeful is the joy of creation - and not merely creating an impression on your bank account. THAT comes from a person who walked away from making an impact in the corporate world :) BUT, believe me, for as long as I was there that was what drove me.

    Apropos your supervisor - maybe he sleeps in ofc? :P

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    1. I believe that exercising your creative powers is the key to satisfaction. :) Thank you so much for reading CS.

      PS: The supervisor is just superhuman. :P

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  10. oopppssss.... This chapter seems to be taken out of my life :) perhaps everyone else will fill same.
    And ya, thanks for taking me on a ride to my early years in this company as a GET. It was indeed refreshing :)

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    1. Haha. Yes, I guess every GET feels the same here! :)

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  11. I miss the excitement of a new day in office. I miss those moments in office where in varied emotions flow at a time.I miss the "at peace" moment when I see the results of my work. Sometimes, I feel like I have lost a purpose. Very well written Medha.

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    1. Oh, well, I still do get depressed every Sunday evening thinking about the Monday ordeal. But, yes, the idea of purpose is one motivator. Thank you so much Pooja.

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  12. there are some good punch lines.. like..

    "Besides, you are perennially struggling to beat your supervisor in the race called 'I got here first' and somehow he is always there, sipping his morning tea while you frantically urge your system to boot up and record your attendance."

    " the drawings that we roll out are being converted to steel in some corner of the world. The sheer magnitude of the power of creation this tasks demand is what makes it worth the while for me. "

    "Words like accountability and responsibility gain quick prominence in your dictionary. "

    awesome work selection and composer... but still misses the finish.. hope to get in next...

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