Not many people are fortunate
enough to look back at their very first job and have a smile on their face.
Well, Am grinning! Almost 3 years, and yet the clichéd line ‘ It just feels
like yesterday’ is exactly what I felt. It was time to pack all the dolls and
idols I bought/ won and was gifted, myriads of invitation cards from my
colleagues, the small pieces of paper on which I had drawn my very intricate
art designs during heated meetings and concalls (Most people tend to scribble,
but hey, Why not sharpen your skills instead!). I had other stuff to pack too.
Things that meant much more – My memories and learnings.
My first day in an office was unlike
most other campus recruits since I had no one from my college/ school. An
entirely new crowd, many of whom would go on to be my mentors, guides, friends,
gossip-mates and colleagues. I had miles to go, ahead of me and being my very
first job, I must say, I had no clue of what I was going to do. I had to learn
the rules of the game and then follow those rules, I had to be a game changer
when some of the rules didn’t make sense, I had to try and be as valuable to my
team as the team was to me, I had to prove that I was as passionate about work
as I was about dancing in every office event. And after all this, I had to make
sure I stayed sane. J
When I was in school, my father
once took my mother and me to visit his office. I still remember, most of whom
I got introduced to would speak so highly of him. To me it was almost as if he
was the stud without whom the entire office would just stop functioning. I
beamed with pride. After the whole tour, we got to our car and just as my
father was out of the parking he shrugged and said – ‘At your job, everyone is
replaceable’. It didn’t make sense to me then but now I understood what that
meant - anybody could do what I did with just a few days of training. So what
difference would I be able to make? Eventually, I would just be a memory, a name
that might come up when months later, the slides I had created would be used.
But that wasn’t enough. Perhaps this thought was what drove me to try and
contribute further. Maybe the fact still remained – ‘Everyone is replaceable’
but no harm trying!
Any little step that would help
unclutter a process, any idea that may perhaps help in more effective work or
reducing timelines, any data that would help understand our clients better. The
ideas were definitely coming, but putting it to good use is always the
challenging part. You need a Boss who was willing to (first) hear your idea and
your rationale and then put it to use, atleast on a Trial mode. I was blessed
with someone who not only trusted my abilities but also was ready to take a
fall in case, some of them didn’t work. Also, my entire team which was exactly
what it was – A team in the true sense of the word.
Over the course of my three years
I was polished, tempered and filed. I learnt where to channel my energy and
where to ignore. I learnt that to be a professional, you not only had to do
your job well, but also do it right and with a honest conscience. And this, I
will very much carry with me wherever I go.
It is said that your first job
always leaves a mark. Mine’s left an entire encyclopedia.
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