JOIN USA design engineer at a multi-national company in Gurgaon, Neha Durga’s bank account has been swelling since she started working around 18 months back. But she hardly has any time to go for shopping or to party with friends.
Leave alone party, she has a tough time maintaining the relationship with the same friends who were part of her daily routine not so long back.
Neha is not alone whose life has changed 360 degrees after landing their first job. There are others like her who wished for a job throughout their college life so that they could spend and enjoy, but are completely gripped by their work that leave them with little time to do anything else.
“I wait for weekends like anything because that is the only time I get to rest, meet friends, to go out with family, shop or finishing pending work. Sometimes I have time but my friends are busy during weekends also. On the other hand, in college, there were ample time and opportunities to go shopping anytime but yes less money. Now it is a totally opposite case. At times I start hating my job and feel like going back to college life,” says Neha.
As the college time was coming to an end, students knew they are going to miss their college life andbeing together, but had little idea that it would be tough to meet even once a month despite being in the same City. Long working and travelling hours leave them too tired to hangout during offs as much as they used to during college days.
“My working hours, including the travelling time, range from 12-14 hours everyday.
Sometimes I have to go to office also on Saturday. In that situation I don’t feel like going anywhere on Sunday not even meeting friends. I just want to relax. When I was in college I t hought I will shop more after getting a job but there is hardly anytime for anything. I miss out on so many things I want to do like learning guitar or watching movies,” shares a graduate engineer trainee Abhishek Singh, who has been working for the past six eight months.
Despite earning well and gaining work experience, freshly employed youngsters crave for college life in the absence of no time for friends or their hobbies.
An executive trainee Punit Gupta regrets that why he joined job instead of choosing to study further as his work is killing his social life.
“It’s been eight months I have not even shopped once properly because I don’t not getting time at all or I am too tired for that. I call friends in night after my day is over but they are also busy for lengthy talks. It would have been better had I chosen to study further as money is not everything,” he adds.
Sushruti Sachdev, who works as an associate consultant in Ernst & Young feels that life was more fun when the money was less and time ample. “There was a unique fun in having party or eating out by pooling in money and we didn’t have to make special plan for meeting friends. They were part of life. After starting work, it is difficult to even maintain that friendship let alone meeting regularly. College was definitely more happening,” she says.