What do you do when faced with a career dilemma? Read to know how a pandemic time graduate battled her dilemma and found her footing in Deloitte.
I was one of them—a pandemic time graduate. I didn’t have the slightest idea that when I left my university hostel on March 23, 2020, for my home in another State in a rush—I’d left with just a backpack and a handful of clothes, hoping to come back within a week, realizing much later that there was no going back as a student again to that place for a long time.
Three months later, on an August morning, I heard for the first time “Welcome to Deloitte”. I started my first job as a communication professional in Deloitte US-India (USI) Offices with the Internal Communications team. For a while, I still felt like a perplexed student straight out of college. Everything was new—new people, new experiences, new things to do. Safe enough to say, I took my time to settle in. All my team members were supportive and kept nudging me to try new things. As time passed, I finally felt like I had got a hold of it. While the pandemic made things difficult for everyone, my job gave me a solace that was much required.
Months passed and somewhere along the way, a nagging doubt crept in—a universal question if I can say so that plagues fresh graduates after joining their first job—'Am I really cut out for this?'. This question started troubling me. While I enjoyed my work and learned new skills from my team members and was very grateful to be part of this organization, this question was always in the back of my head, “Did I make the right career choice?” From a young age, my career aspiration was very clear—to become a journalist and write about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Somewhere I felt, I was missing out on this experience.
That was also the time within USI, we were launching USI’s first internal audio streaming channel—SO Deloitte (Stream on Deloitte). I was part of a community radio channel in my college and that attracted me to this new platform. I was one of the scriptwriters for the different episodes that the channel aired. As part of the project team, I worked closely with the Purpose Office team within Deloitte, and we were planning on a series of podcast episodes focusing on our beneficiary stories. On one such episode series, we featured beneficiary stories. It was an eye-opening time for me. Working on those episodes, I learned about several beneficiaries who were able to restart their lives and build a better life for their family, and how Deloitte could support them. Stories of HIV patients, children going to great lengths for access to education, and women fighting all odds to lead a respectful life, there were numerous such stories we came across. We turned them into a series of episodes and received great feedback from listeners. I never thought while working in an organization like Deloitte, I would be able to work with communities and do what I love. Impact Day and the episodes we produced remain one of the most memorable moments of my life at Deloitte.
Getting to know about these people, their stories, and how Deloitte is creating a positive impact in communities not only helped me realize there’s no right career choice, it's about what you make of the opportunities presented. Over the years of working here, I have found my purpose aligning with Deloitte's commitment: 'Community is our business’. There's always a means to contribute back—you just need to discover your way. For me, it was discovering the power of storytelling in fostering empathy and driving change!
 | About the author: Sreelakshmi is part of the Internal Communications team at Deloitte US-India Offices. At work, she helps add a human touch to communications. She enjoys long walks and heartfelt conversations. |
The views expressed here are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of her current, former, or future employers or any organization with which she is associated.