I fucked up my career
I completed education from tier 1 colleges (MBA and Engineering both from coveted IIM and IIT). After MBA, I joined Wall Street bank and life was really good. Was enjoying the perks of a MNC although the work was also excruciating but was an overall good experience.
Left it for a startup (fast growth kida in me led this decision). Worked in the startup across multiple roles, learned a lot of new things. Tried staying away from office politics and earned a good name in the circle. But growth (read pay) was not that enticing and was not growing hence decided to leave. Was naive enough to quote this reason to business head and HR as well. Obviously it didn't go well with anyone.
Joined startup2, changed cities and joined it. The role was similar, although my manager was an epitome of a toxic manager. Was doing good but he always was able to find some or the other mistake in my work. If he would not find any mistake then he would suggest some tangential hypothesis and then reprimand me for not thinking about it. Was so toxic that I didn't take leave when my wife was hospitalized and giving birth to our child. Tried doing everything possible but couldn't save the job and got laid off in the 1st lay off wave.
Was shattered. Confidence was at rock bottom. Tried searching for roles. Luckily I got into startup3 who had remote work at that time. Although I joined the marketing team (which was not at all related to my previous work) thus creating a mess of my profile. Worked hard but in a "restructuring" exercise got laid off again.
Within a year 2 lay offs with random work and no concrete direction in work. Now searching for roles but not able to find anything suitable as I was in non-core roles and in this difficult time everyone is looking for cheap resources with 1-3 yoe and not looking for 7+ yoe with generalist profile.
Contemplating starting from zero in Marketing or learning coding/Data science so that can start my career again with right basics.
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You haven't screwed up your career. There is always someone out there willing to take a punt. It is just a bad market right now. Give it sometime, it will pan out. Till then try reaching out to startup founders who believe they'd be able to unlock value with your support. Never discount past experiences, they all will matter in the long run.
I tried reaching out. Startup founders are always on look out for such people but they offer 10-20 LPA... Max 25LPA. No one is offering even 35-40% lesser pay then my last drawn.
I even offered consulting on a project basis with minimum possible but they ain't agreeing.
Also, at this moment, I don't want another <2 year stint with any company. Otherwise my confidence will go for a toss (which is already at bottom)
@NaivePoint62 I can't really advise you on anything since you are so much senior to me but can say one thing for sure. You are a tier 1 undergrad and postgrad and being one myself(just the undergrad) who has seen the worst of worsts, don't ever let your confidence decide your long term trajectory. You have proved how smart you are twice in your life and that speaks volumes so just keep faith and power through on your past laurels. Remind yourself everyday who you have been.
It’s not you. It’s the market. Sorry that you had to go through this.
Stay strong. You haven’t screwed up your career. You will find something good. This too shall pass.
Yeah I know it's the market but there are people who are sailing through this market condition.
There will always be situations but I feel that if someone is not doing anything "core" then that person will soon become extinct.
Because anyone is fit into generalist profile and even people with 1-3 yoe can add 80% of what a person with 7-10 yoe will bring to the table.
What comp range are you in?
You should be a good fit for EIR / COS roles focused on Growth.
My last drawn was 50+LPA but at this moment I'm contemplating 30-35LPA range as well.. frankly I'm looking at the core roles (Sales, Ops/marketing or Data science) more than anything else.
I have realized that "strategy" is nothing in such a market situation. If you are into strategy then you ain't anywhere.
Data Science is a fad. Don't go that way
Dude stop it, this is enough, stop looking for a job and start your business if even after 7 YOE+ you can't start in your domain then reevaluate your experience for yourself (keep 7 YOE+ for corporate) the truth is jobs are for a really limited few people, either go MNC way and climb corporate ladder or simply start your own in something valuable, last option could be to go for one more startup but a bit mature so that you can get a better compensation for time being
But no matter what jobs are less and good jobs are even lesser, so gain experience with a mindset of that one day you might have to start on your own, don't switch professions and learning anymore, this is enough.
Have to realise at one moment in life whether you are wasting time or actually moving ahead. So take decisions on those basis
suggest business ideas
What industry you are seeking in?
I can totally relate with you buddy. I also feel you are right with the insights. This is not a generalist market and that’s not in your hand. Though I feel you are over discounting the fact that even these small stints help you grow as professionals and there are roles where more than a long stint one needs to have done a lot of small stints in different functions.
You have a pedigree that shows you are smart and with the package range you mentioned I think you can survive sometime without salary.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. You can connect within your network to find some founder friends and I am sure there will be something to join an try. People have new initiatives or founders office, chief of staff type roles where you can fit in really well.
Stay positive 🌻
Try to enter banking sector in a PM or similar role. Lot of generalist work. Try NPCI too. Fintech still has decent opportunities. 30 lpa should be able to crack with IIT+IIM+7 YOE. Since there has been a lot of volatility in your career early on, IMO Try to find some stable sectors. Search for PM or Ops roles in Climate, deep tech, energy, etc. I see a lot on LinkedIn and other niche sites. Atb and don't lose hope. Another suggestion: capitalize and focus to make your existing strengths stronger compared to learning marketing or data science from scratch now.
Worst case: do consulting and start your entrepreneurship journey. 1st year may make less than 15-20 lakhs. But once you pick up sky is the limit. Pitching to startup founder = bad idea. Pitch to people who have problems AND money to get them solved aka legacy business owners / Lala / foreign clients.
@NaivePoint62 Hey buddy, I’m going through the same thing with a similar background (colleges+ package + yoe) so I can resonate with what you are thinking and going through.
As a generalist, this is not the right market for us. Have patience, let’s not take a decision which we regret down the line.
If you have a substantial corpus/emergency fund, I would recommend not taking too big a cut (even I’m rejecting opportunities offering less than 80-85% of my current package, so anything less than 40 is a no).
On the role, I was also thinking of switching into a specialist role but that would push me back 7-8 years. Covering those 7-8 years would be way more difficult to cover up <1 year no matter how good you perform. Plus as a generalist, you’ll never be very happy with the specialist role making it even more difficult to cover up the lost years.
My recommendation- Stay put. Focus on your physical and mental health. Spend more time with your kid (won’t get it back, and after looking at expenses 2nd one seems doubtful). Engage with your network (best time to catch hold of old friends). And feel free to ping me if you want to have a longer conversation or vent out anger or catch up for a drink.
This is nothing like “fucked up my career”, such misleading post.