{"id":794,"date":"2021-12-26T19:06:53","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T13:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/?p=794"},"modified":"2025-10-22T14:54:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T09:24:26","slug":"career-switches-perpetual-query-grass-looks-greener-on-the-other-side-reality-check-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2021\/12\/career-switches-perpetual-query-grass-looks-greener-on-the-other-side-reality-check-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Career switches – Perpetual query (Grass looks greener on the other side – reality check) – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Being a visiting faculty for the last few years, I hear this one question many times. Is my current role, industry and job something I can spend my career in, I am not sure whether I will make it here. With time spent in this one area & increasing age what happens to me in long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is what I tell them:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Think of your career as climbing a 100 floor building. You can’t climb 100+ floors in a short period of time like Will Smith generally, he is more of an exception. The elevator is not available many times – you have to take the stairs and climb 5-10 floors per year and in 8 to 15 years you will be where you want. Patience & persistence is what is needed.<\/li>
  2. Competition & stress is everywhere – marketing, engineering, medicine, human capital management, finance, operations, art, sciences, computer science, investing, government and more. There is no free lunch generally. Running away from something you like only because of competition is not always the right approach.<\/li>
  3. Go step by step – changing your path mid way is ok if you realize you genuinely don’t want to do something that you are doing currently.<\/li>
  4. Try and avoid crazy shortcuts, smart work is welcome but crazy short cuts generally land us into trouble. Optimization like finding a new shorter, smarter way of doing an old thing or inventing a new area is good too but an abrupt shortcut that you know is not really the right way is not preferable.<\/li>
  5. Build your own niche, network and talk to people, get into habit of reading and writing, interact with people and learn things that you want to learn by short courses, certifications and so on. That tells you where the market is going and what you want to do.<\/li>
  6. Grass is always greener on the other side – what we do looks tough and what others do looks easier, the common thinking many have. Marketing & sales feels finance is easier, finance feels human capital work is easier, engineering feels management is easier and so on. In reality to succeed you need to work hard \/ smart in all areas and statistically very few get things by pure luck like a lottery – if they get it, its good but generally for majority of us, it’s going to be your smart \/ hard work with experience that will get you to success.<\/li>
  7. Be open to various types of roles and experiences across cultures in your initial 2-5 years of career as that will tell you what you really like and where you can excel \/ innovate \/ build \/ research and work.<\/li>
  8. Create opportunities out of whatever limited resources you have. Internet is a great leveller, you can build opportunities where none exist. Use it to learn, interact, write and read or to experiment.<\/li>
  9. Cultivate your interests and hobbies.<\/li>
  10. I have seen people switching after significant experience from banking to information technology, information technology to management, information technology to various types of businesses \/ startups, operations to human capital management, engineering to management, routine 9 to 5 jobs to teaching, engineering to acting and so on. If you pay attention to people around you, you will see many examples like these.<\/li>
  11. Just because you are different and others are not doing something you want \/ can \/ are doing does not mean you should stop – maybe they don’t understand you yet!!! Rather it could be the start of something that is better than many other current models – that’s how many of the best things have started sometimes.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Email me:<\/strong> Neil@HarwaniSystems.in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Being a visiting faculty for the last few years, I hear this one question many times. Is my current role, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182,178],"tags":[183,184,185],"class_list":["post-794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-building","category-experience","tag-career","tag-career-switch","tag-experience-building"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/MakeThingsHappen.jpg?fit=1920%2C904&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7do02-cO","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":851,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/stories-from-my-career-education-part-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":0},"title":"Stories from my career & education – Part – I","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Have been observing people posting their stories on LinkedIn and other places. This is my attempt at short summaries of learnings over the years from my career and education - Part 1. As this peeks into 1990s and 2000s, its difficult to recollect details but the overall learnings do remain.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Next-Step.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Next-Step.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Next-Step.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Next-Step.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Next-Step.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":458,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/my-journey-on-social-media-internet\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":1},"title":"My journey on Social Media & Internet","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"June 6, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Internet is the greatest enabler of work and education in human history as per me and the opportunities it opens up in terms of what we can study, learn and work on are amazing. My suggestion to all youngsters in school, college and who recently have started their career in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Internet"","block_context":{"text":"Internet","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/internet\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Human-Observer-1.jpg?fit=960%2C503&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Human-Observer-1.jpg?fit=960%2C503&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Human-Observer-1.jpg?fit=960%2C503&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Human-Observer-1.jpg?fit=960%2C503&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/formula-for-successful-innovation-driven-companies-in-it-industry\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":2},"title":"Formula for Successful Innovation Driven Companies in IT industry","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"August 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many formulas to build a successful company: 1. Passion 2. Great investors and board with good mentors 3. Great product 4. Niche skills and services 5. Great legacy 6. Recruit the best, train them, mentor them, give them good career growth, etc. And so on But one that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/culture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Innovation.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Innovation.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Innovation.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Innovation.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Innovation.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":164,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2018\/04\/what-should-managers-be-doing-in-it-industry-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":3},"title":"What should managers be doing in IT industry – Part 1","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"April 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"There are many things that senior engineers and managers do well in IT industry among which few are listed below: Architecture Presales Solutioning Debugging and solving problems Exploring new technologies around the areas they have learned in the past Analysis of scenarios Product Management Project Management Setting up processes Team\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Skills"","block_context":{"text":"Skills","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/skills\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mgrs.jpg?fit=1156%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mgrs.jpg?fit=1156%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mgrs.jpg?fit=1156%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mgrs.jpg?fit=1156%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mgrs.jpg?fit=1156%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":930,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/management-outcomes-for-departmental-analytics-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":4},"title":"Management outcomes for departmental analytics – Part 1","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"July 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"What could be the outcomes for various departments in an organization in terms of using analytics? Here is part 1 for the same. Background and context:\u00a0Most organizations struggle at some point of time in their lifecycle for management outcomes and as per the latest trends try to use analytics to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Analytics"","block_context":{"text":"Analytics","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/analytics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bag.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bag.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bag.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bag.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Bag.jpg?fit=1200%2C802&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":611,"url":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/2020\/06\/building-data-models-that-everyone-can-understand-and-more-importantly-believe\/","url_meta":{"origin":794,"position":5},"title":"Building data models that everyone can understand and more importantly believe","author":"Neil Harwani","date":"June 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Building data models that everyone can understand and more importantly believe. Faculty Article - Author: Mr. Balakrishnan Unny & Mr. Neil Harwani. Thank you Sapience - IMNU's (Nirma University) Alumni Newsletter for publishing our article in Changing Times 2.0 (A Special Edition). Sapience-2.0Download","rel":"","context":"In "Analytics"","block_context":{"text":"Analytics","link":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/category\/analytics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":799,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794\/revisions\/799"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techandtrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}