Last week presented an opportunity to conduct an career workshop for young professionals just out of university and working for less then 3 years. It has been an interest for me and it feels good to help out some people whenever time permits.

Some of them were not satisfied with their job but could not see any alternatives. And some wanted to know how to discuss with prospective employers. One thing came out clearly again, for the Nth time… those who were enjoying their job were producing the best results, and also winning recognition/awards alongside….and equally capable guys but who were not really motivated by that particular work (and they expressed this clearly)….were ranked average and received.

My questions to each of them: “Why were they not making a change then?” revelaed their fear that new jobs won’t come. What if the current employer comes to know? etc. It took a while to explain how to go about it, and I hope at least some of the candidates will take action to start working on a job they truly enjoy. For example, a 22 year old guy (with great enthusiasm for IT and software applications) who’s been working for only 2 years till now, recently got promoted to deputy CIO role in his company – that’s the kind of stuff, which can happen only if you are batting with 100% – and which can happen only when it’s the job that you truly enjoy doing. It matches the observation and learning from 500+ professionals that I have worked with in the last 5 years.