One of the best decisions I made was dodging my ex-manager when she moved to CTS as an SD. She pulled her entire prev...
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.
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