Two days back, 7days had a news item with the following headline:
Commerce boss says estimate of 277,000 Expo2020 jobs is ‘conservative’
"Wow!", I thought to myself, "what an opportunity; if not now, when"; and so on and so forth. You see, I have been out of the full-time job force for almost 9 years now; saying a 'decade' makes it sound even worse. So, one, I have lost the steam that one needs to 'balance' home and work- if there is any such thing in reality, and two, I feel literally redundant as far as the corporate world is concerned- having lost touch with the latest practises, market trends, and so on and so forth.
"Look at the positive side", I chided myself, "It is an opportunity to start afresh. I can decide what is it that I will really enjoy doing in the long-term, rather than going just by my degrees, or thinking what is it that I can manage to do along with my domestic responsibilities, that will also bring in the money?"
You see, I do not want to be a super-mommy but I am sick and tired of the pity with which people treat my job of raising two kids, and looking after their well-being. Yes, while the world around me has changed in many respects, it has not yet learnt to respect the job of a stay-at-home mum, or even a house-wife who is now, in some parts of the world called, a home-maker. May be I am even thankful to these people for reminding me every now and then that I can do something more tangible (read- fathomable in currency terms) with my life and my time, it is just that I have chosen to be content with the non-tangible benefits. But sometimes even I am tempted to get back into this work-force. At the cost of turning my smoothly running world upside down, yes, I am tempted to wear those pant-suits again, feel the power of authority, indulge in buying designer bags; sessions at the spa; regular manicures, pedicures and facials; quick lunches with friends; shop without waiting for Sale- and all of this without feeling guilty- ah! the perks of being a part of this work-force.
With this is mind, I started thinking- what is that one job that will make me happy for years, what is it that I am 'meant' to do?
Googling just the same I came across an aptitude test at Oprah.com (http://www.oprah.com/money/Aptitude-Tests-Career-Assessment). Very enthusiastically, I finished it in a jiffy and turned the page to see the results.
Lo! and behold!! I had a 2/3 score in every question. In simple English, it meant that I have a 66% aptitude to be all of the following, (and yet, not 100% of any of the following):
Engineers, computer programmers, editors.
Research scientists, police detectives, lawyers.
Engineers, architects, physicians.
Economists, financial analysts, accountants.
Politicians, entrepreneurs, physicians, activists.
So, in the end, I was a bit disappointed with the ambiguity that the test left me with. I am still unsure if I will find any opportunities in the 277,000 currently estimated; and more importantly, if I will be interested in spending rest of my life doing one of those jobs. But I did learn a very interesting fact- that as a mother for over a decade now, I have been all of the above for my kids....
The bigger questions then is, is anyone in the corporate world looking for a candidate like that- an 'all in one administrator with over 14 years of experience', and even some academic degrees to meet the 'criteria'?
:)
