A few of my friends crib in front of me all the time, about how they hate their current 9-5. I always ask them what would they rather be doing. They mostly reply with something to do with the creative side or somewhere they think they can make a change. While I do appreciate the thoughts, I always follow up with my favorite question. “So, how many people have you actually met in this domain or industry that you say you want to work in?” 95% of the time, I get a zero response, which is perfect, for then I can use my vindictive laughter to humiliate them. (Yes, I’m an evil weirdo.)

So, when my buddy from High School told me the same thing around 6 months ago, I asked him my stock question. Expecting the same stock answer, I was ready to take him up on his bullshit. Not to be. I had found my match.

ME (with a smirk on my face): “So, how many people have you actually met in this Marketing/Advertising industry that you say you want to work in?”My buddy (poker faced): 6 or 7

Blown away already, I decided to find out his story and tracked his progress over the next 4 months, while he kept hacking his way in. Read on, if you want to know the hustling steps that he took to make an *almost* seamless transition from his miserable IT job into Advertising.

Without any prior experience in Advertising/Marketing domain

Without an MBA

Without any previous contacts in Advertising, whatsoever

Without having a degree from ABC institute of Communication

Have a look at why worrying about the above is one of the biggest career mistakes people make. Find my notes and comments against AB in the brackets.

Enter Maddy

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It was a 2-year long journey with IT. I still do not know how to format a computer! Worse, I never wanted to know.

(AB: How many of you can relate to that?)

Life in IT was tough. MBA in marketing/advertising was at the back of my mind. It remained there. I knew it would not move, so long as people believed primary mathematics and ‘some numbers out of hundred you scored 5-7 years back’ have got everything to do with your marketing/advertising/creative skills. Well, I’m just a senseless layman to question the judges who are officially entitled to do my job (make no sense).

(AB: I’d generally mark that as a limiting thought; unfortunately, that is a sad but true scenario in India.)

November 8: Manager raped me in front of 10 people who ‘mattered’. In IT, verbal rape doesn’t quite qualify for ‘HR issues’. So, I put down my papers that evening and walked away. Went home, got belted, came back and withdrew my resignation.

contd………………………….

Read the rest of the blog post on my blog where it was originally posted to find out how my buddy overcame the situation.