After I graduated from engineering in March 2020, I had no idea what I was going to do career-wise.
Like any other middle-class kid, I had taken engineering after high school. The only visible options after that were an MBA from a top-tier college or a master’s degree abroad. I chose the easier-sounding one — the MBA.
I was completely unaware of why I wanted an MBA. I convinced myself it was to learn about business. After the MBA, I would start my own business. Worst case, I would become a manager at some company. Because back then, I believed you needed an MBA to become a manager.
My biggest blind spot was not realizing that skills should come before degrees. But being a typical unaware middle-class guy, I kept chasing the degree.
After graduating, the pandemic hit. I was stuck at home. Instead of attending job interviews like my friends, I pretended to study for MBA entrance exams in front of my parents.
My plan was rough: get into an IIM, earn a great salary, use that money to build a business. I did not realize I was not putting in the right effort, and the odds of getting in were slim compared to the millions competing for limited seats.
Being alone with unlimited internet, I picked up the habit of listening to podcasts and reading articles. The more I consumed, the more my perspective shifted. I started to see that my path was not unique — millions shared the same belief that this was the only way to succeed.
I gained a different perspective on business. You do not need an MBA to understand business. The only way to learn business is by doing business. Theoretical concepts can be self-taught from newsletters, books, and articles.
The myth broke. Now I had to convince my parents about this new way of seeing things. Eventually, I got interested in marketing. That story is for another time.
I started learning about marketing online. But no matter how much I learned, I was not confident enough to handle the responsibility of a job.
Most people who apply for jobs do not question whether they actually have the required skills. Many just want a job for the paycheck, without thinking about long-term career growth.
As a fresher, landing a job is hard because employers are hesitant to take a chance on you. I wanted to become a performance marketer — running ads for businesses, dealing with budgets and returns. For a fresher, this is an even harder sell.
The only way in was to gain an employer’s trust. But you cannot gain trust without a track record. Why would someone hire and pay you with no guarantee of results?
So instead of searching for a paid job, I took an internship. My employer said if I performed well, they would hire me. It was a win-win for them — they just had to show me the basics and get the most out of me. After all, I was working for free.
With the help of Google, YouTube, and online resources, I managed to exceed expectations and perform better than an average employee in the same role. But had I gone through a traditional interview, I likely would have been rejected.
Even without immediate pay, putting in the effort for a short period gave me a massive boost in confidence and experience. With that, I was able to kick-start my career in the field I wanted.
If you want to kick-start your career in any role, get your hands dirty and work for free initially. It builds confidence in handling real responsibilities. And it is an effective way to earn the employer’s trust. Instead of going through the hurdles of the hiring process, they will most likely keep you for the job.