The Quarter Life Crisis 20 Something & Counting
I don't know how this term came into existence, the only similar thing I had heard about was mid life crisis(MLC). But now that I am myself facing this, I can understand that actually there exists a Quarter Life Crisis(QLC). So what exactly is the crisis? To be precise, that's exactly the whole thing is all about. One word that can best describe it is Confusion.I will not try to explain what Quarter Life Crisis is, but would rather try to put down my confusions in a rather non confusing way.
We have these four stages of life described in the Veda. Bramhacharya,Grahasta,Vanaprashta and Sanyasa. But at those times the roles and the responsibilities were well documented and there were no MLC or QLC. Being a 20 something would never have been so confusing.What exactly is this confusion? That's itself is confusing , but let's not get into that.I will try to list down things which we connect to when we are 20 something.
I think the most important and most talked about crisis is Job or Career. We finish our studies and hope for the best possible job., which somehow no one seems to get. I don't find many souls who are happy with their jobs. There are two things that come to mind when we take up a discussion on this. The most important and deciding factor being the pay and the next thing is leaving the job for an MBA after a good work experience.Being a 6 point someone I am excluding all the 9 pointers types who app to univs for higher studies. So what exactly is the problem????I myself don't know. I have not yet joined and would like to find out. But there are experiences, close ones actually. So what is a good job?? A good salary, good office, good brand name of the company you work for, good facilities etc etc . Did we leave job satisfaction? Yes, so what about that. When the campus placements are going on, everyone is just in the process of grabbing a job. It doesn't matter whether you are in Mechanical, Chemical, Aerospace,Metallurgy, Naval Architecture or any such branches. I have not included the Computer Science and Electrical branches. Not all but most of them have a different route. Most of the CS guys apply for app. And many get jobs which essentially has something to do with whatever they have studied. Ppl in EE also get good salary jobs and there are many who app, and there are also ppl who take up a job like any other guy. Now coming to the companies that hire them. Most of them come from the Software Industry. That's good. They pay a lot, and there are not many core companies who pay that much and recruit so many students. So the major chunk goes to these companies with varying salaries depending on the company, branch and work profile. The next are the big ones where branch doesn't matter. Mostly in sales and marketing types jobs. They don't recruit in large numbers, but pay a lot. Next are the consultancy services ones which is a mix of Management and IT. They also have decent salary figures. Next are the core companies who also don't recruit in large numbers but have decent salary figures. Now a days a few companies are coming which are new.Like trading or investment banking. So ultimately you fit in any of these categories of jobs, right. Well not exactly. There are a few who venture into totally different fields like music, movies, theatre. But those kind of brave souls who don't risk their life getting into some job which they never thought they will be doing are very rare. But I have seen a few of them. Mostly a person like me will end up with a s/w job, which I have got.So after an engineering degree in whatever branch you did it, you go to the next stage where the QLC starts. I will write what I have seen and felt.
Let's take a few fields.Let's take a s/w engg. I have quite a few friends who are s/w engineers. So what is it about s/w engineering that makes it such a great choice initially and later makes it feel so boring , stagnating which leads to the crisis. The work becomes monotonous, the timings are hectic, sometimes even Saturdays are spent in office,long working hours. And all these for that salary that you always dreamt about. So what are you losing out on? Rest, enough sleep, social life and the rosy picture you thought. A strange kind of confusion starts building up. Is this what I wanted to do in life? Why am I still doing this if I don't want to do this? Is this the compromise I have to make to make the money? What about sustaining the kind of lifestyle I am in? Phone bills,weekend parties,branded products or lifestyle products, living in a good house in the heart of a big city, spending on luxury stuff. And what will it cost to escape from all these? A job change, going for a MBA. But does it guarantee what exactly you want?I wish there were an appropriate answer. How about writing a book? Will I be able to do it? Do I have the talent to write a book? Will I be able to publish it? What if it fails? And what about my daily needs? Where will the money come from? While it sounds all so good to think so, its not so easy and everyone knows it. So just continue with the job and keep searching for another one which you think is what you are looking for.Let me give a few examples. I have a friend in hyderabad in TCS. Like most, she also thinks of it as boring, monotonous. Apart from these the daily grind takes whatever energy she has left. A few other are in Bangalore. Most are preparing for CAT or searching for a new job. A few are in chennai. Their view, Life just sucks. So what exactly are all these people looking for? They wanted a good job, a good salary and they got it. Why are they complaining now? Aparantley that's not what one always wants. The lack of time for other activities, absence of like minded friends, even the other everyday non work related stuff like traveling, food etc make them to think.Chilling out at the bar over a couple of drinks or beer seems to be the only social activity for which they get time. Otherwise its well spent in catching up with whatever sleep loss that happened during the week. But not all think like this, there are ppl who stick to their job and move ahead with life.
Let me give one more example. This guy was in Aerospace Engineering. He got a job in HLL in sales. The salary was good.The company was good. The perks were good. After working for a few months he quit. The reason?, too much of traveling, stress and basically doing excel work and pushing people which was something he never wanted to do. He doesn't regret quitting the job. Infact he has taken up a new job now which pays less, but he is happy.
I know a friend who did his B.Tech in Chemical Engg, but due to his CGPA could not get a job in the placement. So he joined a product based s/w company. After a few months he was fired for browsing stuff which were against the company policy. Now this guy took the job just because he could not find a good job which he wanted. He wanted to work on CFD. But no company took him because of his low CGPA. He is great at maths, really has interest in CFD but doesn't seem to have the luck. Now he had no option but to get a job from the placement cell as a trader in a startup.
Another guy left Infy because he didn't want to do coding. He could have got a fat salary job in Gulf but he choose to take a consultancy job in chennai instead. He says, if he stays in gulf he will make lots of money, but where will he spend it. There is no social life and hardly any friends.
Now with job you need to move to new places and with that comes a lot of other stuff which you need to take care of.You need a few more guys and a house to share. Once you move to a new place, you might be away from your gf. I know friends who spend hours talking over the phone with their gfs. Then there is the problem of not meeting each other for a long time. And if you don't find like minded people then you can't have fun also. These though are not a part of career or job as such, but no doubt they affect a lot.After sometime you get used to it.
So what is the solution? I don't know.I have hardly been there in. But one thing upon which everyone will agree is balance. Its difficult. But that's what makes all the difference. After watching RDB one of my friends, a s/w engg, said he doesn't feel like coding anymore, rather he should have joined a defense job. If that's the case then can he just quit and join the defense. Its not that easy. Why didn't he join in the first place itself? Like everyone else he was and is as confused as everyone else. What is it about MBA that seems to be the next step after a few years? Is it another escape route which you could not make it immediately after graduation? Or do you really know if that's what you are really interested in. Every year a few of the MBAs from the best institute don't take a high paying job and instead venture into fields which have nothing to do with what they are taught in MBA. Do they also face a QLC. Yes some of them do face it. Hardly anyone can escape it. Its a phenomenon. It happens to everyone. And that's why some of these MBAs feel its a waste of talent and time when they are busy pushing the sales chart of a soap, a FMCG product or even some liquor or cigarette which they never drink or smoke.
What is it with BPOs and CallCentres? I don't know. Ok, atleast call centers are the ones who take care of customer care and BPOs are essentially outsourced work for other ppl. The picture that emerges is night shifts, hectic work hours and too much stress along with a good pay.I know a friend who has a MBA from a reputed institute, is a Project Manager, who has to work in night shifts and its taking a toll on her. She is going to quit the job. And she is not in her early 20s who is facing this crisis.
I don't know why, but we don't hear much about doctors having hectic working hours, lawyers complaining of stress, govt employees complaining of boring mundane work etc etc . But when it comes to Engg and MBA and the jobs after that we hear a lot about these.
There was a time when, if you are around 20 something then parents used to start pushing you for marriage. Now a days that doesn't happen. Even for gals marriage takes a back seat and having a good career is what they aspire to. Having a few girlfriends or boyfriends for sometime, breaking up and moving on to new ones is not so uncommon. But even then there are ppl who stay committed. Its just that they give more priority to career then the commitment.
I am as confused as anyone else my age will be. I have two jobs. One in the prestigious Indian Navy and the other as a s/w engineer in a Product Development Company. Being a 6 pointer has never felt so bad. I screw up my academics due to many reasons and ended up being a 6 pointer. But if that goes below 6 I will lose the Navy Job. A job which has the challenge, a great lifestyle, so many facilities, and most important a core job, but minus the salary. On the other hand I have a job which is not like the usual run of the mill s/w job which are mostly service oriented, but is about designing and developing a product which has a niche market. Its a small company with huge potential.The pay is good. The work seems good. Atleast I won't be forwarding mails I guess. I don't know what's there for me in future. I am as confused as anyone else who comes to this juncture in life.I hope I will be able to fulfill some of my dreams.
We have these four stages of life described in the Veda. Bramhacharya,Grahasta,Vanaprashta and Sanyasa. But at those times the roles and the responsibilities were well documented and there were no MLC or QLC. Being a 20 something would never have been so confusing.What exactly is this confusion? That's itself is confusing , but let's not get into that.I will try to list down things which we connect to when we are 20 something.
I think the most important and most talked about crisis is Job or Career. We finish our studies and hope for the best possible job., which somehow no one seems to get. I don't find many souls who are happy with their jobs. There are two things that come to mind when we take up a discussion on this. The most important and deciding factor being the pay and the next thing is leaving the job for an MBA after a good work experience.Being a 6 point someone I am excluding all the 9 pointers types who app to univs for higher studies. So what exactly is the problem????I myself don't know. I have not yet joined and would like to find out. But there are experiences, close ones actually. So what is a good job?? A good salary, good office, good brand name of the company you work for, good facilities etc etc . Did we leave job satisfaction? Yes, so what about that. When the campus placements are going on, everyone is just in the process of grabbing a job. It doesn't matter whether you are in Mechanical, Chemical, Aerospace,Metallurgy, Naval Architecture or any such branches. I have not included the Computer Science and Electrical branches. Not all but most of them have a different route. Most of the CS guys apply for app. And many get jobs which essentially has something to do with whatever they have studied. Ppl in EE also get good salary jobs and there are many who app, and there are also ppl who take up a job like any other guy. Now coming to the companies that hire them. Most of them come from the Software Industry. That's good. They pay a lot, and there are not many core companies who pay that much and recruit so many students. So the major chunk goes to these companies with varying salaries depending on the company, branch and work profile. The next are the big ones where branch doesn't matter. Mostly in sales and marketing types jobs. They don't recruit in large numbers, but pay a lot. Next are the consultancy services ones which is a mix of Management and IT. They also have decent salary figures. Next are the core companies who also don't recruit in large numbers but have decent salary figures. Now a days a few companies are coming which are new.Like trading or investment banking. So ultimately you fit in any of these categories of jobs, right. Well not exactly. There are a few who venture into totally different fields like music, movies, theatre. But those kind of brave souls who don't risk their life getting into some job which they never thought they will be doing are very rare. But I have seen a few of them. Mostly a person like me will end up with a s/w job, which I have got.So after an engineering degree in whatever branch you did it, you go to the next stage where the QLC starts. I will write what I have seen and felt.
Let's take a few fields.Let's take a s/w engg. I have quite a few friends who are s/w engineers. So what is it about s/w engineering that makes it such a great choice initially and later makes it feel so boring , stagnating which leads to the crisis. The work becomes monotonous, the timings are hectic, sometimes even Saturdays are spent in office,long working hours. And all these for that salary that you always dreamt about. So what are you losing out on? Rest, enough sleep, social life and the rosy picture you thought. A strange kind of confusion starts building up. Is this what I wanted to do in life? Why am I still doing this if I don't want to do this? Is this the compromise I have to make to make the money? What about sustaining the kind of lifestyle I am in? Phone bills,weekend parties,branded products or lifestyle products, living in a good house in the heart of a big city, spending on luxury stuff. And what will it cost to escape from all these? A job change, going for a MBA. But does it guarantee what exactly you want?I wish there were an appropriate answer. How about writing a book? Will I be able to do it? Do I have the talent to write a book? Will I be able to publish it? What if it fails? And what about my daily needs? Where will the money come from? While it sounds all so good to think so, its not so easy and everyone knows it. So just continue with the job and keep searching for another one which you think is what you are looking for.Let me give a few examples. I have a friend in hyderabad in TCS. Like most, she also thinks of it as boring, monotonous. Apart from these the daily grind takes whatever energy she has left. A few other are in Bangalore. Most are preparing for CAT or searching for a new job. A few are in chennai. Their view, Life just sucks. So what exactly are all these people looking for? They wanted a good job, a good salary and they got it. Why are they complaining now? Aparantley that's not what one always wants. The lack of time for other activities, absence of like minded friends, even the other everyday non work related stuff like traveling, food etc make them to think.Chilling out at the bar over a couple of drinks or beer seems to be the only social activity for which they get time. Otherwise its well spent in catching up with whatever sleep loss that happened during the week. But not all think like this, there are ppl who stick to their job and move ahead with life.
Let me give one more example. This guy was in Aerospace Engineering. He got a job in HLL in sales. The salary was good.The company was good. The perks were good. After working for a few months he quit. The reason?, too much of traveling, stress and basically doing excel work and pushing people which was something he never wanted to do. He doesn't regret quitting the job. Infact he has taken up a new job now which pays less, but he is happy.
I know a friend who did his B.Tech in Chemical Engg, but due to his CGPA could not get a job in the placement. So he joined a product based s/w company. After a few months he was fired for browsing stuff which were against the company policy. Now this guy took the job just because he could not find a good job which he wanted. He wanted to work on CFD. But no company took him because of his low CGPA. He is great at maths, really has interest in CFD but doesn't seem to have the luck. Now he had no option but to get a job from the placement cell as a trader in a startup.
Another guy left Infy because he didn't want to do coding. He could have got a fat salary job in Gulf but he choose to take a consultancy job in chennai instead. He says, if he stays in gulf he will make lots of money, but where will he spend it. There is no social life and hardly any friends.
Now with job you need to move to new places and with that comes a lot of other stuff which you need to take care of.You need a few more guys and a house to share. Once you move to a new place, you might be away from your gf. I know friends who spend hours talking over the phone with their gfs. Then there is the problem of not meeting each other for a long time. And if you don't find like minded people then you can't have fun also. These though are not a part of career or job as such, but no doubt they affect a lot.After sometime you get used to it.
So what is the solution? I don't know.I have hardly been there in. But one thing upon which everyone will agree is balance. Its difficult. But that's what makes all the difference. After watching RDB one of my friends, a s/w engg, said he doesn't feel like coding anymore, rather he should have joined a defense job. If that's the case then can he just quit and join the defense. Its not that easy. Why didn't he join in the first place itself? Like everyone else he was and is as confused as everyone else. What is it about MBA that seems to be the next step after a few years? Is it another escape route which you could not make it immediately after graduation? Or do you really know if that's what you are really interested in. Every year a few of the MBAs from the best institute don't take a high paying job and instead venture into fields which have nothing to do with what they are taught in MBA. Do they also face a QLC. Yes some of them do face it. Hardly anyone can escape it. Its a phenomenon. It happens to everyone. And that's why some of these MBAs feel its a waste of talent and time when they are busy pushing the sales chart of a soap, a FMCG product or even some liquor or cigarette which they never drink or smoke.
What is it with BPOs and CallCentres? I don't know. Ok, atleast call centers are the ones who take care of customer care and BPOs are essentially outsourced work for other ppl. The picture that emerges is night shifts, hectic work hours and too much stress along with a good pay.I know a friend who has a MBA from a reputed institute, is a Project Manager, who has to work in night shifts and its taking a toll on her. She is going to quit the job. And she is not in her early 20s who is facing this crisis.
I don't know why, but we don't hear much about doctors having hectic working hours, lawyers complaining of stress, govt employees complaining of boring mundane work etc etc . But when it comes to Engg and MBA and the jobs after that we hear a lot about these.
There was a time when, if you are around 20 something then parents used to start pushing you for marriage. Now a days that doesn't happen. Even for gals marriage takes a back seat and having a good career is what they aspire to. Having a few girlfriends or boyfriends for sometime, breaking up and moving on to new ones is not so uncommon. But even then there are ppl who stay committed. Its just that they give more priority to career then the commitment.
I am as confused as anyone else my age will be. I have two jobs. One in the prestigious Indian Navy and the other as a s/w engineer in a Product Development Company. Being a 6 pointer has never felt so bad. I screw up my academics due to many reasons and ended up being a 6 pointer. But if that goes below 6 I will lose the Navy Job. A job which has the challenge, a great lifestyle, so many facilities, and most important a core job, but minus the salary. On the other hand I have a job which is not like the usual run of the mill s/w job which are mostly service oriented, but is about designing and developing a product which has a niche market. Its a small company with huge potential.The pay is good. The work seems good. Atleast I won't be forwarding mails I guess. I don't know what's there for me in future. I am as confused as anyone else who comes to this juncture in life.I hope I will be able to fulfill some of my dreams.
posted by br!j :-) at 10:56 AM
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