Manas Nigam is a 2009 batch passed out in B-Tech chemical engineering. Currently, he is working as a Product Manager at Bytedance Technologies. Current Pandemic & 2008 Global recession - a comparison of time
There are many more similarities between the two events which impacted the globe but the recent one has a greater impact on our life.
During the recession, our placement session was already impacted but another event happened towards close to the placement that was the Mumbai terrorist attack. We got this news and the placement cell informed us that this time a lot of multinational national companies would stay away from that year’s campus placement.
Some companies did turn up for interviews but the no. of open positions was very less. Companies like Schlumberger came for tokenism. This resulted in a huge no. of students remaining unemployed till the first session of placement i.e the end of December.
I had a personal preference to join one of the top oil and gas American companies. I was seeing myself working for Schlumberger, Transocean, or similar companies. But unfortunately, none came to the campus and I was unplaced till the end of March. I kept the composure high but I knew the situation was not at all good. I got placed in Ispat Industries now part of Jindal Steel works (JSW).
Before getting placed once I considered staying in the campus and working as a research assistant (RA) under an esteemed professor who agreed to take a few of us under him. Other options that I considered along with it to give GRE and go for MS next year. But that was the very last option because before entering into IIT I decided to go for a job. Higher education wasn’t something that I had in my mind because of many personal reasons.
A lot of my batch mates went for Master in US/Europe next year immediately or just after the end of their programs. Those times few startups were cropping up but not many of my batch mates trusted it. In fact, I also reached out to a few startups at IIT-B SINE. They were ready to take us as interns if we were interested in solving business problems. But anyhow that didn’t materialize.
After joining Steel Plant, I worked partly as a field engineer and partly as an analyst in their research and development unit. But certainly, I didn’t like the work culture and didn’t see my future working there in a steel manufacturing company. Even the working conditions were not favorable for my health. I decided to move on after working for 2 years in the steel company and decided to pursue IAS / UPSC in Delhi because it was something that drew my attention & interest in the last few years. So I quit in mid of 2011 and started preparing for IAS and of course to bear some expense I started teaching IIT aspirants Maths on a part-time basis to afford my expenses. But I couldn’t get into UPSC after 2 attempts. I decided to quit because of personal reasons I was not in mental & financial condition to pursue that interest for long. I decided to go back to corporate life but this time I knew I needed to start something fresh and definitely not in a Steel plant. I tried applying in American Oil and Gas companies again but the industry itself didn’t evolve even after 4-5 years of recession and I faced rejections multiple times because the position needs experienced professionals only.
By the way, I didn’t pursue higher studies because family conditions are not allowing me to leave India. My parents are kind of dependent on me. So I decided to own the family responsibilities first.
Then again I decided to switch from a chemical domain to some other Industry where jobs are in abundance in India and where I can apply my skills of the problem-solving, analytical bent of mind. I decided to pursue my career in the technical world, maybe as a business analyst but having no background in technical fields like IT or related fields it was hard to get a job easily. Some people are ready to take me as a programmer job with a salary -half of what I used to get in 2009. It was like 3LPA. I was supposed to work and learn on the job.
I was quite disappointed at this point having lost five years in trying multiple things, emptied the saved earnings, and didn’t have any experience which can get me a job in a corporate world easily. It was like complete darkness for me. But I decided to give a try in the teaching field because I was doing the same as a part-time basis so I went to get myself interviewed in FIITJEE then I realized a lot of other folks from different IITs also showed there. So the employment scenario wasn’t that good either after like 5 years from recession. I got the offer from FIITJEE and secured at least ‘a job’.
Still, I continued looking for a better opportunity in the technology world so luckily I got an offer from Times Internet to work as an Analyst in the technology division. Then I joined them despite having lesser compensation from FIITJEE. Then one thing led to another, I was exposed to multiple technologies and industry-related problems. I worked as an analyst for some months then I moved to a technical product manager then I started liking more and moreover the years and I proved myself as a product manager with a technical bend of mind. I excelled there and led multiple projects and learned a great deal of stuff.
Now it's like I feel myself to be very much part of the technology world. I lost hope-- not just one time but many times. I got into depression multiple times but I came back successfully- thanks to being closer to the lovely family and having very good friends which I got during IIT. I still believe the struggle is the part and parcel of life. No one should feel disappointed just a few bad incidents in your life. I have faced so many troubles in life since my childhood and faced them over and over again. I don’t like to share my personal things with everyone but I struggled through my childhood. I studied in Hindi medium that too in a government school that was in a very shamble state. Hardly anyone takes education seriously that would get them into any competitive exams. Even preparing for IIT wasn’t that easy either.
What kept me motivated all this time? My family and stern believe in God and I believe in this that the future will be better. If situations go bad it is just to teach you something where you were not paying attention to.
My suggestion for you at this time.
Keep your hope high. Don’t be disheartened. Focus on your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Situations never remain the same. It will change for you as well.
What should you do?
Higher Studies - This is the natural first option for you. You can definitely pursue it at this time. To be very frank since most of the classes are going online so you can take online courses in the field where you have an interest and which have a return on investment.
Entrepreneurial - Those who have innate qualities of being visionary and can provide leadership in a particular domain that might give you return, you can start pursuing it. But again only those can take this option who have some sort of backup.
Research - The best time to stay in the campus and join as a research assistant under a professor whose work you admire the most and who you also want to pursue it
Teaching - Those who feel they have great pedagogy skills and love being closer to the students you can start pursuing teaching IIT JEE aspirants, FIITJEE, BYJU, VEDANTU, and many other institutes may take you and pay you well.
MBA - Yes if you believe adding a business management degree helps you grow in the business world you can certainly start taking CAT/GMAT but again classes are being done virtually.
During this pandemic, a couple of industries which is going to thrive is gaming, steaming, ecommerce, health care, Technology-driven sectors - fintech, martech/ adtech
Don’t join the travel and hospitality business. It will be down for the next 2-3 years. Consulting is also not doing good for now. I guess investment banking is also down these days.
To have a better idea which industry will be performing which not, you can reach out to domain experts within the IIT-B community, they will be happy to share insight about their industry status in the current pandemic Thanks!!
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