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Can you begin your career in your mid-30s? Two Indian women share their career tips for women who are beginning late careers.
Many Indian women do not really have a chance to pursue a career in their 20s. There could be many reasons for this – marriage, looking after the children or parents, and other factors prevent some Indian women from following a career early in life. However, the desire to start working is present in several of them and for some, it never really goes away.
Here are some useful career tips for women who want to start afresh in their 30s.
Indian women who have no work experience are hesitant about fitting in. Age is not the problem here; fitting in is. Another challenge is either retraining oneself or learning something new altogether. It is quite daunting to go out and either look for work or retrain yourself when you’re so much older.
However, Sairee Chahal of Fleximoms states that there are many Indian women who get into fields that interest them or where they have been comfortable before, like apparel, baking, art and craft.
Sairee opines, “A certain comfort zone exists – for instance a person who has done English Honours can get into journalism”. You have to find your niche, is how she sums it up.
Bangalore based Aparna Chetan, 41, started Twam Global Advisors Pvt Ltd seven months ago. Married at 22 and living in a joint family meant that she could not go out to work. She rues, “They didn’t like a daughter-in-law going out to work.”
Life went on, she had a son and when he was about a year and a half old, she started wondering what to do with her time. Aparna had moved out of her in-law’s house by then. She started working a part-time job, when she was 28 and taught basic English at a spoken English centre.
This exposure made her realize that her strong communication skills were her advantage.
A short while later, she was offered a job as an HR consultant. This was the turning point. Aparna realized that she was born to be an HR professional while working for this firm. She states, “You have to find that link to what you’re good at. If you’re good at what you’re doing, nothing else matters.”
4 years later, she moved to CISCO, did her post-graduation from XLRI and then there was no looking back. She believes, “Being a mother and a wife was not good enough for me. I was determined to do something with my life, and I have.”
Aparna shares her career tips for other Indian women in similar situations:
Ritu Garodia, a 38-year-old lawyer in Delhi, has a similar story. Like Aparna, she too married young and into an orthodox family. She says, “There was no question of working women.” Time went by, she had two children, after which she became more independent, and tried her hand at selling Tupperware and supplying educational toys to schools.
These initiatives did not really satisfy her. She soon realized that she needed a strong educational background. Ritu elaborates, “I was about 30 when I started studying Law in Delhi University. I chose this subject because it sounded interesting and also because I could choose my working hours. That was very important for me.”
Ritu soon learnt the ropes of the trade and started her own practice last year. “I am doing very well, and can arrange my dates according to the needs of my family. This is exactly what I wanted. I am very happy I did it, when I did it. My children were younger and easier to manage at that time.”
Her career tips to other Indian women who are starting their careers late includes:
Image Source via Unsplash
Melanie Lobo is a freelance writer. She grew up in cities across India but now calls Pune home. Her husband and son keep her on her toes and inspire her with new writing material daily. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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