“So, what are you going to do after graduation”  Perhaps you heard this question thousands of times already! from your parents, teachers, your friends, cousins, neighbors, etc. Now, anytime you even think this question might arise, you avoid the conversation or try to change the topic. Because the answer is, “I don’t know!”  You know you do not want to go for higher education at this time; you want to start your career instead.  But you are not so sure about the right path for your career! You are not sure whether you want to apply for jobs that are directly related to your field/degree, or apply for what sounds interesting to you! You are scared to go to interviews because you think you will never be able to win one! You are not happy with your resume but do not want to talk about it to friends or family!

You are not the only one! We all go through this ˜how to start my career phase!” Of course it is tough, but we sure can approach this stage working together!  Here at Adhunika-Career, we will discuss about different aspects of our career. Whether you are about to start your career, or you are tired of unsuccessful interviews, or you already have a job but are unhappy, or you do not like your boss, or you are having hard time balancing your work and life, we can discuss it all here, share our experiences and try to find a solution for you!

In today’s society, ‘working mother’ is a well established term regardless of its existence in the traditional dictionary or not.  Women are not only taking care of their families and children these days but they are also having professional careers at the same time.  You might be a VP of Marketing or an architect or a physician or a nurse practitioner for your profession and are really busy all day long. Then at the end of day you come home to start your other job as a mom and a wife at the same time. You had to take care of your clients at work, made some negotiations, ran meetings and gave presentations during the day. But now that you are at home (after you picked kids from the day-care), you also need to make dinner for all, change baby’s diaper, clean the kitchen, start the dishwasher, wash and fold laundry clothes, help children with homework, put them into sleep and then prepare lunch for all for the next day!  And then, don’t forget to take care of your love life, you are a wife “ a loving wife as well!!  Oops! You didn’t really get to spend any time for yourself to relax!! You had borrowed a book from the public library that you already renewed for the final term but never got to pass the first chapter!  It is just not so easy to maintain a good balance between work and home.  We all have good days and bad days but over all we try to make the best use of our times. Sometimes we win and of course sometimes we fail to win.  Just need to be careful that there is a balance of failure and winning as well. We cannot afford to choose only one at the cost of the other. Therefore, we anticipate some good discussions here on this work-life balancing.

Over the time, we will post article(s) on various topics as how and where to search for jobs, how to prepare for tough interview questions, following up after interviews, networking, email etiquette, coping with your new job and office, child care options, working mother’s helper, etc.  However, our discussions will actually be led by our readers. We will try to answer your questions and stress on what you would like us to talk about. We hope women who have managed to make hard choices in their career, homes and lives will participate here to share their experiences and challenges!

Occasionally, we will invite experts who have insights into the various topics raised by our readers in this forum to contribute their ideas.  If you would like to participate as a contributor or author, please leave a comment here, or email me at ishretshimu@adhunika.org.