Saturday, February 20, 2010

Quitting the Job

Quitting the job or continuing with it is one dilemma that many of us face while deciding to prepare for the civil services. Quitting your job to write civil services is definitely not an easy decision to make. Again, there is no hard and fast rule that one must quit her job in order to prepare for the civil services. There are people who manage to do both . However, I do not think there are many people who have managed to achieve that feat. I personally do not know any one who has done that. I think it is extremely difficult to manage a full time job and prepare for civil services simultaneously. The nature of the examination is such that it requires at last a year of preparation.

I was working at Amarchand Mangaldas, one of the oldest and a very reputed law firm of the country. Working for a good law firm is hugely rewarding, atleast monetarily. Less than a year into my job, I realized, I was not cut out for a corporate job. I saw no point in working as a corporate lawyer since, I was not going to be very happy doing that. Moreover Civil Services was always there at the back of my mind.

I guess, the fact that I had no family/financial obligations, made it much easier for me to quit my job. My law degree has been a great comfort factor too. I know I can always fall back on it in the event of non materialisation of civil services. Undoubtedly, the comfort of a professional degree takes off some of the stress and pressure but it could also make one complacent. I remember, everytime I would get frustated with the entire process, I would imagine myself to be a star lawyer. While it is always nice to have a professional degree as your back up option, it is equally important not to find an escape route in it.

To me, it makes complete sense to give a shot to civil services,if that's what one has been aspiring for. No one can take your professional competence away. One can always go back to one's job in the event of civil services not working out. There is absolutely no point in regretting about the missed opportunity later in your life. I would rather risk failure than regret not doing something that I had always wanted to do.

1 comment:

  1. it is very much inspiring.I appreciate your risk you took.No body going to share your woes and frustration and neither you successes. But it some way inspired me. I am thankful to you...even I not yet succeed.

    ReplyDelete