Introspection and realistic self-assessment before making a career shift ensures you make the right shifts, the right way, and for the right reasons.

By Chitra Iyer

Very few lucky souls have the privilege of loving their work! For most of us, feelings of negativity towards the manager, dissatisfaction with the work content, discomfort in the workplace environment, among other irritants, are common. The worst is when the deal seems sweet enough (good pay, good profile, good team, good terms) but the feeling of ‘something’s missing but I don’t know what’ haunts you.

When faced with dissatisfaction, we tend to react by trying to change the present situation. However, will changing our team, job, city or industry really address the real problem? If changes are made for the wrong reasons, it won’t matter where one works or how many jobs/careers one shifts; once the initial excitement of change wears off, the niggling pain-points and the feeling of ‘je ne sais quoi’ tend to return. So, how can we know what really drives us? What the right career changes could be? What would help unleash our true potential?

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Medical writing, Science writing, Business development, IPR, Contract research – here are some alternative career paths for Ph.Ds and postgraduates in Science.

By Dr. Chandrima Pal

Sunidhi Patil* is a final year Ph.D student, one among many unsure about continuing on the same career path for the next 20-25 years of her life. She likes writing or presenting science much more than doing it in the laboratory. She does not enjoy the repetitive, technical, indefinite and time pressing aspect of a  scientific career. She and many others like her are often unaware of alternative yet fulfilling career paths in science.

Besides teaching and active research in a private or government run  institute, there are several other fulfilling careers in science where the skill sets and knowledge acquired during post graduation or Ph.D comes handy. They are all well-known alternative science careers in technology and policy driven western countries. In India these are upcoming fields and need to be  looked into.

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Does motherhood help you gain unique skills to leverage at the workplace? A few mothers share their career tips.

By Jaya Narayan

Being a mother is an intense life changing experience. “Parenthood has changed me as a human being. As a mother, I have experienced expansiveness in myself. I think it would be impossible for this experience to be contained only at home”, says Shonalie Gupta Ray, Human Resources (HR) professional working as a retainer consultant.

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Telephonic interviews might be your first step to getting that dream job. Here are a few interview tips to talk your way through!

By Jaya Narayan

Amrita Samant, 25, Human Resources Executive currently in the process of switching jobs has become a veteran in appearing for telephonic interviews In Amrita’s experience, “All new age companies have embraced telephonic interviewing like never before. In fact, with one prospective employer, I had 7 rounds of telephonic interviewing! Though I understand the benefits of a telephonic interview, my grouse is that interviewing over a telephone isn’t easy”.

There are multiple objectives for which a telephonic interview is scheduled during the hiring process and one needs to be suitably prepared. According to Shyamala Krishnan, 38, Managing Partner, E Milestones India, a staffing firm, “The first telephonic contact is an exploratory discussion with the recruitment manager. The most common purpose for which a telephonic round is scheduled is to evaluate the candidate on their functional or domain skills. For senior roles, an in-depth telephonic discussion with key stakeholders (including their prospective boss) is expected.”
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Motherhood today does not always mean a dilemma of whether to work full-time or stop earning. Some mothers find a creative middle path.

By Dipika Singh

Having a baby is a life-changing experience in more ways than one. For instance, a lot of women discover that it is extremely challenging to go back to a full-time job and career. This can be either due to a lack of support to look after the baby or because they want to devote more time to the child. However, this is not to say that they don’t want to apply themselves to anything beyond the baby. But what are the options?

Ketaki Harmilapi* was working as an Account Director with a leading national advertising agency when she had a baby. While she had planned to go back to full-time work once the baby was 6 months old, she realized that she just didn’t want to. Yet, she missed doing something creative and productive with her day, something for her own self.

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A mother-to-be shares her thoughts on the high expectations from mothers and on how motherhood may affect her career.

By Sowmya Rajendran

I don’t know much about pregnancy as such. All I know about it is how I’m dealing with it. So if the following makes no sense to you, find respite in that oft-repeated and endlessly frustrating statement – every pregnancy is unique.

I’m a career woman. I’m fiercely convinced of the need to take home a fat paycheck every month so that I can retire really early and go fishing (which I’ve never done, but it sounds fancy enough to be a goal in life). It so happens that I’m a writer and I don’t need to interact with too many people to get my job done. I work from home. Usually from my sofa. Or sometimes from my bed. Depending on what scenery appeals to me on that particular day. I have flexi-hours. Which means I can take those blissful naps that so many pregnant women crave but cannot take when in office. I can also take as many eating breaks as I want and keep my energy levels up. I don’t need to apply for maternity leave. My maternity clothes needn’t be office-appropriate. I could wear a sack and have a telecon and nobody would question my professionalism.

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For women on a job search after a career break, how you write your resume can make a significant difference to your career.

By Aparna V. Singh

Whether your break was due to motherhood, due to moving abroad without a work visa or other reasons – given the bias against breaks in employment history, it is a fact that women with gaps on their resume may never get called at all for interviews.

While we have addressed before the issue of improving your employability and on adding to your resume after a break, in this article, we have for you very specific resume-writing tips from HR experts and career counselors, from India as well as the U.S, where back-to-work counseling has been around for some time now.

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Is your job search getting stumped by these common interview questions? We get you expert interview tips to help you crack them!

By Jaya Narayan

Being interviewed is a humbling experience. Whether you have tons of work experience or are fresh out of college there are always some interview questions that will catch you off-guard.

The following 5 questions are a good starting point for your interview preparation so that you don’t fumble during your interview and carry off your job search confidently.

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One scientist’s personal account of her love for Science and the special challenges that the scientific life poses for women.

By Chandrima Pal

I was in class six when I read about Madam Curie. I was amazed by the strength she possessed in her endeavours to seek science, by the Nobel prizes she had won. And she also managed to be a mother and a wife, all at the same time. This was exactly the time I was falling in love with Science, the cycles of water, nitrogen and oxygen and the Archimedes principle. Reading about Madam Curie gave me my dream. By class eleven, I read about Rosalind Franklin – another great scientist but one who did not get her due credit in spite of her great role in deciphering the structural details of DNA. It provoked me a little, but by then, my mind was set; all I wanted was to study Chemistry.

I had a great time at University during my Bachelor’s and Master’s although the facilities and the emphasis on practical training was negligible. A small stint in a research institute to pursue a Ph.D and then I left India. The decision to explore science outside India was a decision made more to follow my husband, who was looking for better opportunities. I took up the challenge and also kept up with the convention of an Indian woman who follows her partner all over.

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While motherhood often means career setbacks, some women are negotiating to keep their job roles satisfying and vital to their firms.

By Aparna V. Singh

In the first part of this series, Mothers on a new track, we looked at how working mothers end up moving to a slower career track or waiving off raises, promotions and other recognition.

In part 2, we look at an emerging trend where women, while making changes to their career paths due to motherhood, nevertheless continue to work on roles that are vital to the organization and satisfying to them. They accomplish this due to four key factors – their own skills and reputation, their initiative in negotiating new roles with employers, a greater willingness at firms to offer such transition and increasing family support for their careers.

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