by For some the dreams are sky high. They want to prove themselves to the society, be known for their achievement and carve a niche in whatever industry they want to be in. These group of youngsters is collectively known as entrepreneurs. They never believe in working under someone for a salary, nor being told what to do constantly. Instead , they develop a product on their own (be it a handmade product or even a computer/mobile application) that has the potential to earn a sizable amount of income.
This aspiration and dream , in the early days of childhood plays a huge factor in shaping the child’s future. As the child holds on to his wishes , with every passing day, the passion towards achieving the goal becomes a whole lot stronger. He/she can develop a force to achieve his goal, that can be unstoppable by any external reasons such as society, friends or relatives.
The society usually accepts a standard college degree with placement in a Multinational as a norm. If the person ventures into something he wants to do like music, sports or even movies the society casts a dark shadow as an outcast. He’d be questioned endlessly by his pesky relatives as to why he isn’t pursuing a standard IT job like their own son.
I’ve been a strong advocate of pursuing one’s dream no matter what the situation is like. Losing out on a dream and settling for a job you don’t like is equivalent to losing out on life. The whole point of existence is to have a purpose, a dream , a wish and an aspiration sky high that you’d like to hit one day
My Path to Success
Growing up, I had a strong inclination to pursue a management degree and not really settle for a typical programming or developer job. Though the idea of placements soon after engineering entertained my mind, I knew it was never my destiny. I never let sight of my dream and wish , as I began to constantly strive towards it. All around me , I could see people happily settling in for a job , secured by campus placement, giving up on their wishes and accepted what was in store for them. Though the society gave me the toughest opposition , calling every step I took as a failure , I battled rough weather for several months. Sometimes it looked completely bleak and gave me the notion that I had to settle in for something, even if it’s not the most ideal job. The only thing I knew that kept me going was my belief in a theory : “This too shall Pass on”. Nothing was permanent and a change will come that can make everything alright, overnight. Least to say everything did change for the better, overnight and I have never looked back since.
#Advice That Mattered !
So here are somethings I did to achieve victory (Most of them are generic and can be applied to almost anyone)
From the start, I took this goal as a challenge, never giving up even for a day
I constantly reminded myself that any struggle I face is temporary and the real fun in life is to accept it as a challenge and defeat it
I was given a “No” by a million companies or denied the profile I was looking for . I never saw them as setbacks but rather an elimination in my consideration list.
I increased my network in the industry to get better contacts in related jobs to understand the requirements
I was constantly guided by friends and a few professors to tackle my problems and focus on the solution. I was strongly motivated by their advice that added fuel to my passion to say the least
I took up free online courses that enriched my resume for the jobs I was applying to.
My only aim was to get into the field of Analytics and become a Data Modelling & Prediction Scientist. It felt like an unbelievable , unattainable dream 7-8 years back, with almost no experience on that front.
I never knew the path or what lay ahead in my direction. But I knew the end only mattered
More than what my resume said , I knew it was my personality and confidence was more important to secure the job and impressing the interviewer .
When I was finally called in for a Business Analyst position with a minimum foray in Analytics I knew this was the job for me. A job that can easily take me all the way to the end, with enough hard-work and determination. I’m not sure if it was luck or anything, but I was given a succession of excellent managers who saw the potential in me and kept me going. Sometimes more than the money or position, that’s all it mattered to get me to my destination
After almost 5 years, I finally secured the position of a Data Scientist, a position that I always coveted. Looking back at the past decade, if you were to ask me if I can do this all over again , I don’t know what I might do. But then one thing I definitely would NEVER DO: TO GIVE UP
In case you are pursuing a career in Data Science, please read my post on 10 steps to become a data scientist.
I am blogging about my dreams and the people who helped make them true for the #AdviceThatMattered activity at BlogAdda in association with Stoodnt.
