Got a career problem? Who hasn’t? Especially in a world where new technologies are coming in at an alarming rate, newer management formats are being tried out and compensation packages are turning flexible. A large section of the current workforce is always in a state of apprehension today.
Author Shiv Shivakumar’s new book, The Right Choice, attempts to bring the confused lot in touch with an array of successful people who have navigated the quagmire themselves. These experts include Sudhanshu Vats, the CEO of Essel Propack or Rohit Kale, the MD of Spencer Stuart India, Krithiga Reddy, partner at SoftBank Investments, Debjani Ghosh, the president of NASSCOM, and more.
The merit of Shivakumar’s book is that it gets into specifics instead of providing broad or vanilla answers. It breaks down career problems into dilemmas like — Should I do a second MBA? Or Should I take a sabbatical? The benefits of switching industries, etc. He then brings these expert answers broken down to the problem at hand.
However, he, too, provides his own experiences and admits to the fact that he himself never had any contribution in his own career path that started as a marketing person, culminating into a glorious career as the group executive president at Aditya Birla Group. The author has seen many career choices made by people over the years.
Most of them are fired by monetary compensation, ambition, designation that led people to switch jobs from larger companies to smaller companies and vice versa. However, things have changed in the last couple of decades. One thing which was common with many professionals in the ’90s was that most of the domestic responsibilities were handled by wives. Fortunately, that is changing, slowly, but steadily.
Now, children, caregiving are also key elements in the career choices that both male and female professionals make. To bring up this point well, the 24 experts interviewed for this book has a generous dash of successful women, who tell the story of the other half too. So, if you are stuck making a difficult choice, this book might help unwind the many questions entwined in your brain.
Title: The Right Choice: Resolving 10 Career Dilemmas for Extraordinary Success
Author: Shiv Shivakumar
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 240; Price: Rs 399
