How to Choose a Job!

Also published on Techstory  and Women's Web

This was one legendary milestone crossed inadvertently, and the episode is, now, graved in my mind forever for having taken the step, despite the circumstances that there were. 2016 has been one hell of a year and as it slowly comes to an end, the adventure seems to be quadrupling. I forgive God for being tipsy while writing these chapters of my life, but he kept me sane all this while, so that’s a reason enough for not going entirely ungrateful.

Irrespective of the reasons, I confess I accepted a work offer, registered my attendance the first day and resigned the next. There’s a reason why they say learn from an experienced and not from an oldie! I am here to share the capsules of my wisdom thus acquired so you don’t repeat what I did wrong. Moreover, there is no feeling of remorse for having taken the step that I did, so yay! It is still a positive sign.

Choose your place of work wisely: You’re going to be giving around 40% of your entire day to this place of work for the coming many years, so you better be sure if you really want to do this.

The atmosphere matters more than the actual work: Work atmosphere is a primary factor that determines your productivity. Therefore, do not compromise on the quality of the atmosphere where you’d obviously try to give the best of your abilities.

The vibes: Trust me, they work wonders if they start working in favor of you. It works quite strongly in my case, so I kind of blindfoldedly give full marks to what vibes tell me about any person, place or circumstance. The first impression, the first notion or that sensation that runs through you when you set your first foot in your workplace should actually determine whether you should continue spending any more time there.

The scope to grow: There’s nothing wrong in thinking more about yourself more than you do about the organization you work for. Any place of work you choose must guarantee a scope of honing your skills, becoming a better professional and leaving your mark in the bigger picture. The organization, too, thinks of you as a propelling tool to become bigger and better and you doing the same is no crime.

3 Ps: Thanks to my husband for giving this piece of valuable information to me, for this solves all the major confusions for me regarding choosing from job offers with just a simple mathematics. Place, Position and Package – if any two of these factors better your stand in the market from where you currently are, you must give that offer a hug. Place means the brand; position, obviously refers to the designation you’re offered and package needs no definition. Therefore, a simple mathematics and voila! You know your next move.

I would say it’s better to wait for the right opportunity than to jump on to anything that comes your way. I agree desperate circumstances call for desperate measures and that’s why it is better to clear your stand while you are still in a job. There are times when we are bereft of any good offers and we seriously start to doubt all our knowledge and expertise, but I would still suggest to take it easy. Things will eventually fall in place and all that you need to do meanwhile is keep preparing for the time whenever ‘that’ opportunity is going to knock at your door. Stay positive and never let your identity bleed away with the challenges you face. Stay strong and keep that trust intact!   

The Birthday Dilemma

I safely landed in my late twenties last Wednesday and I must say the wisdom coming with ageing is nowhere close to what I had imagined it would be when I was far too young to look at this age with awe. This moment, this very second while I breathe and type this out, I have realized how time is tricking me into ageing while my brain is not budging from the status quo. It’s all in the mind, as they say, I realize how people take ages to grow up, while their body timeclock happily ticks away their minutes left to live.

I see people getting overtly crazy by the idea of celebrating the weekends, but I am also amazed thinking how living life by the weekends is leaving them with only four chances to ‘actually live’ every month. The rest of the time, they were just striking days off the calendar doing the stuff they call their routine. This was dark!

Never mind, while I'm still trying to fit in to the world of ‘grownups’ now, there are a few shocking acceptances that I have made, that I never thought I would but never did I know that I would be given options to choose from. Growing up is, indeed, funny and it gets sexier with age!

Aunty: You have got to make friends with this salutation, if you’re like me, a still-young girl in her late twenties. Kids do not know what to call you, because their moms, who you hang out with, are already planning their second. You cannot be the kids’ ‘rakhi sister’ because you just don’t fit in; hence, aunty.

Hola books!: They will be the sanest, safest, most interesting piece of wisdom you will ever come across. Besides, they don’t judge you and, yes, they don’t care.

Learn to earn: For a girl like me who belongs to the digital media space, learning never really stops – the sooner you accept this, the better. You’ll grow stale in the industry if you let your knowledge stay buried in your closet.

Tyaag-balidaan: Sometimes you would stop and wonder if it's really you, but trust me, having reached at this stage and this point in life, I DO think about my parents and spouse before I actively think about myself, be it in any front. I wouldn’t call it tyaag-balidaan per se, but hell yeah, it does feel like it and it silently engulfs your way of thinking in entirety. Now you know why your mom is the way she is.

Kids, yes I want to PLAN: I remember talking with my girlies, while still in my teenage, on how we would be able to put this to our parents that ‘yes we did it, and yay, we have been successful’; it would just get so effing apparent. This concept kind of feels nauseating in early twenties, but I am amazed how things change. While you’re still riding double happily after initial years of marriage, you feel the need of the third. Gradually, you start feeling being a part of this universe, you might just have a darn serious role to play in Darwin’s theory of evolution!

Money is the lube: No love, no trust, no other bullshit can replace the power of this five-letter word. It could actually engulf all merry, madness and magic; yes, money matters.

There’s more to you: Why not keep surprising yourself with things you never knew you could do, talents you never knew you could acquire and skills you never knew you could master – there’s no age barrier to learning, after all.

An open heart: In the era where we live, nobody really cares what others think of his personal life, but trust me, he would silently want to seek support from people around him. Carrying an open heart and increased degree of acceptance would lead to way simpler lives of people around you and, of course, to you commanding great respect for yourself.

Some more ME time: I love the girls who love themselves, who take care of themselves – what they wear, how they look, how they carry themselves, the style, the attitude – the girls who actually give time to themselves. I love this section of the community. They do not know how they become an inspiration for millions, who want to become like them. Some time is all it takes!

Nobody cares: Yes! So, at the end of the day, the only person who needs to be happy, satisfied and content is the person I’m gonna be looking at every day in the mirror! Trust me, rest everyone is totally busy to even think about us. So, I would rather do the things which make me want to embrace myself and love myself a little more.

This concept of birthdays, the time passing and its sudden reminders look all too amusing; you know when the last second passed, but do not know how the last year did. Why not we all might as well be our happiest in these years tiptoeing by us?

Put That Damn Nail Paint On!

Get facts right in your head – you are a lady and the society, despite it being a nag, happily allows you to do stuff she would not to a man. Making your body speak for itself is one, first art, that you should learn to master. And that, dear lady, doesn’t seek any excuses of you – it only demands the final result, the better YOU.

Talking about polishing your aura, you know what can a properly applied nail paint do to your overall image? Well, it can substantially lift your spirits; it can make you want to look at one of your body parts time and again – your nails, obviously; it can make you look younger and sassier; it can add to your sex appeal; it can add colors to your bland personality and can beautify your otherwise very plain-looking hands and, lastly, it can send a message out to the world that you DO have time for yourself!

I hear females quetching why they can’t apply nail paints all the time – they have gotta handle house chores, which do not let the nail paint stay for long or the nature of their jobs refrains them from applying nail paints or they don’t like them chipping often and removing the chippings to reapply a fresh coat seems too much of a task to them or nail polishes look damn too expensive for them to shed their money on. Whatever the shit they say, it all sounds guff to me.

Did you ever realize your body is the ‘only’ permanent residence you are ever gonna have? If you did, why, on Earth, would you still abstain from looking beautiful? I am so sure none of your excuses would sound light enough for gravity to let you stay with them. Drop that to the floor and let it break. Head out to a spa or a parlor and get yourself a manicure/pedicure. Don’t let this be a task you only get done if it’s your birthday/someone’s marriage or karva chauth nearing soon.

The rules of the game are simple – chipping-offs are a big turn off, so, don’t let that happen to you. Either invest in a good nail paint that lasts for long or keep a watch on when the existing one chips. Second, keep experimenting; nail art is so much fun! Third, manicure, please? Fourth, keep a nail polish remover handy. Fifth, keep in mind that you’re sexy and that nail polish just reiterated that out to everyone. Stay gorgeous and please, put that damn nail paint on!