Mohammed Zeeshan is the CEO and Co-Founder of MyCaptain, an online mentoring platform. His vision has always been to impact Education and bring a societal mindset shift when it comes to Careers in India and all across the World, and MyCaptain is a step towards this. He comes from a B.Tech Mechanical Engineering background and has a keen interest in Policy, Education, and Impact.
In 2017-18, UNESCO invited him to Jakarta to help design the Education Policy for girls in STEM fields. Under UCLA Berkley’s Program, Zeeshan was also invited to Jordan to facilitate Entrepreneurship Development amongst young students. Zeeshan is a GSEP scholar and a 4 times TEDx speaker and has delivered guest lectures at esteemed Colleges like IIM Bangalore, Symbiosis Pune, amongst others.
Gone are the days when people thought that the only career choices available are becoming an Engineer, a Doctor, or a CA. With the constantly evolving industries around the world, finally, some lucrative career streams are coming into limelight. India is evolving and how Careers are looked upon also will have to evolve in the process. I believe while young people might have heard about such things or come across them, there is still a huge gap in the “how” of actually taking the step. And then there are societal prejudices.
Following your passion, career, or both?
Educators like me, who believe in looking at 21st-century requirements and how young people can get jobs in the same way, believe in one thing indefinitely: This is the age of multipotentiality and multidisciplinary experience. What I mean by that is that in each modern-day profession that you come across, you won’t be doing just one thing: You need to have your feet in multiple boats and understand different disciplines. Liberal arts is one such example that marries disciplines and creates new age professionals, who not only can follow their passions but also make a living out of it.
Exploring career options
Take your classic example of becoming an Entrepreneur. Everyone wants to be their boss, but entrepreneurship is a lot more than just that. India as a country seems to be realizing that. In 2019 alone more than 1300 startups launched themselves in India. I, like many educators, think that Entrepreneurship should be introduced to students at an early age. It opens new gates of imagination, opportunities, and achievements. To leap to become an entrepreneur is to start.
Someone also called the 21st century, the century of Content. The world runs on Content. Every brand is working on strengthening their communication with Clients, and every brand wants creative people, both in full time and freelance jobs. I think this is one of the best times for a writer or designer in terms of putting themselves out there. The more you can marry to Content alone, the more you advance yourself in this industry. You start as a writer maybe, but then also write scripts and work on videos. Add a little bit of design understanding and sense to that, and voila – you could be an Online content creator, a content consultant, a very valuable asset to any Content team, or even the Head of the team itself.
Photography and Short film making are quite booming careers, especially as freelancers right now. Digital platforms have made it easier for creative geniuses to showcase their work to a massive audience easily.
The argument against social media goes: “It causes mental health deterioration for many”, for some it is “scary sometimes”. Let’s talk about mental health a little. India has 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000 population. Now that is scary. According to statistics we need at least 3 psychiatrists per 100,000 population, but every year only 700 psychology majors complete their postgraduate across the country. Does society need more Engineers than Mental health specialists? I don’t think so. Psychology is not only an enthralling field, it’s a noble one as well. Leap.
Stepping up the ladder
While it is important to have your basic education in place to meet industry protocols, there are many ways to explore various Career Opportunities. The most readily available and cost-effective way is to go for online courses in the field of your interest. There are plenty of paid as well as free programs available for students. Along with learning the fundamentals of the profession, it is equally important to understand the real-life opportunities in your field, and that is when quality mentoring comes into the picture. Mentoring will help you get started with your career.