Steering clear of the mainstream

Career Choice

Although the race for placement at most management colleges in the City might suggest otherwise, there is still a section of young professionals who have determinedly turned their backs on the corporate world. Evidently, the nine-to-five routine of deadlines, appraisals and presentations isn’t something that appeals to them.

Despite the fact that most of them understand that compensation outside the
corporate arena is generally much lower, they have realigned their priorities and made a conscious attempt to follow their area of interest.

The reasons for this decision are numerous. For instance, Sudhir Selvaraj, a member of the Renegade Arts and Theatre Society, decided to steer clear of corporate life because he felt it wouldn’t suit his method of working.

“As someone who gets the job done always, I enjoy a high level of flexibility that allows me time to do the things I love around the people I love. Hence, I see a corporate life
as one which would never provide that flexibility to be me. It would instead actually stifle my creativity. I have never worked in a corporate firm,” he explains.

For others, it is simply a matter of following a passion. Maliha Ibrahim, also a theatre enthusiast, worked in a corporate set-up for a period before deciding it wasn’t her cup of tea. She says, “Theatre was an area I was quite involved with from a young age, through school plays that eventually led to a few productions with theatre groups. I wanted to also integrate my passion for psychology and theatre in working with people
therapeutically,” she explains.

She goes on to add that her short stint in the corporate arena actually helped her in terms of understanding what she really wanted to do.

“I worked in a corporate set-up for a year and although this functioned smoothly and I learned about running a business, it did not seem to lead me to some of my personal dreams. I found myself slowly making my hobbies my mainstay interests, which resulted in the switch,” she says.

Switching was anything but easy, though. “Theatre is indeed a career that is low-paying,” admits Maliha. She adds, “There were other challenges — building a network within a field without relying on a corporate company data base can be daunting.”However, Sudhir is of a different opinion. He believes that most creative fields do have scope to earn, although not on the scale that a corporate job allows.

“The performing arts space can be relatively financially rewarding — if you are good at what you do. There is a ton of potential to teach, perform and write, which all provide income,” he explains.

The other problem that youngsters face when they’re planning on leaving a corporate firm is external pressure. Vishal, a photographer who quit a lucrative banking job a while back, says, “There were a lot of eyebrows raised at the time, considering that jobs were hard to come by when I quit. But there was never a question of not doing it. Besides, the question of money is subjective. It’s never enough. So that never affected my decision.”
What really spurs these professionals to making the shift is that they now understand they aren’t alone. While Vishal says that around a third of his immediate colleagues quit when he did, Sudhir goes on to add that at a certain point, any employee begins to question their motives for sticking to a particular job.

“I am not one to question people’s choices of career as I hope nobody questions mine. I feel that if you don’t love what you are doing, it’s not worth doing. Slowly, people are beginning to see things this way. This is a great trend and I feel it will bring about a cultural and intellectual renaissance in the City,” he concludes.