JOIN USIt is widely said that a job is your first step into the real world. You move out of the comfort zone of your college and enter a world of responsibilities, deadlines, late hours — which also includes internal politics, unreasonable superiors, missed opportunities and a relentless race to the top. Our professional lives are one of the most important facets of life and everyone wants to do well here. But in a world where everyone is competing against each other, is talent the only criteria for getting to the top?
Says Deepika J, a professional, “Preconceptions are a huge problem. People form opinions about you with the barest possible details. In my previous job, the tag of ‘small town’ was attached to my name in the first week itself and consequently, my superiors shied away from giving me responsibility for important projects. Juniors were selected to give presentations and I was subjected to additional supervision. It took some time before I was able to prove that I was as capable as anyone else. After that, my boss himself admitted that he had been prejudiced and even apologised to me.”
The perceptions of your employers have a huge role to play in shaping your career, even though these may be pretty biased, says Eldho, an MNC employee.
“As long as you stay in the good books of your superiors, you can be assured of favourable appraisals and lenient treatment. I was in charge of 2 projects in my company, was meeting all my targets and had been selected for a promotion. Just before that, in a meeting one day, I pointed out a few things which were not being handled properly by the management. It was a very friendly talk and my superior seemed receptive to my ideas. But when the final list came out, a junior was favoured over me for the promotion. When I enquired, my boss told me that I needed to improve my attitude and behaviour towards my superiors. That incident left me feeling quite disillusioned.”
For Subha Rao, who recently quit her job after working for more than 4 years in the same company, it was quite the opposite that happened. “My boss was a very nice person and I loved my job. I put my heart and soul into the work and tried to give my best every time.
The superiors were appreciative of my efforts and I was featured among the top performers in my office time and again. But certain senior colleagues couldn’t handle the fact that a younger person was performing better than them and pretty soon, nasty rumours started doing the rounds. All the appreciation I got was attributed to the fact that I was a woman. It disgusted me no end. Fortunately, I got married soon after and happily resigned.”
Vipin Kalarickal agrees to the fact that despite the social advancements made, women continue to face discrimination at their workplaces.
“I have seen colleagues spreading malicious rumours about female employees who perform better. It is a usual practice in many companies, whether big or small. There are also employers who shy away from giving their female co-workers additional responsibility or even due credit, feeling that it could be interpreted by people in a wrong way.”
While it is a fact that the gruelling routine of the corporate world is a challenge that everyone needs to take head on, it is unfortunate that this is compounded for some people. Seems as if success is not just about hard work after all.