XIII – Working in India

Almost half my time in India is already over. Most of this tome I spent at work. Here are some of my thoughts. Of course, my insights as a recent graduate in her first full-time job are not suitable as a reliable and objective standard. But having worked multiple part-time and volunteer jobs in three different countries my observations could be at least partly useful to those who want to work in India.

On the one hand it might not have been the brightest decision to work 50 hours a week for my very first full-time job. A 50 hour week is normal by Indian standards, and yes, it is exhausting. The time flies by and I feel like I am spending far too much of it on work, especially when making about 1€ per hour. I know that money and workload are not supposed to be the most important factors in a job but they do make a big difference of how motivated I am to work and how much I dream about earning more money and raising my living standard.

That being said, I do like my job. Being part of a very young business is in fact very energizing and inspiring. I estimate the average age at BHIVE to be about 30 years, definitely not more than that. Another advantage of working at a young company that is still growing and discovering its possibilities is that I get to do a lot of things that I want to work on, things that I am interested in.

One example: Content writing. I have always enjoyed writing a lot. Although I was not very good at it when I started doing it on a more regular basis I became much better throughout the years. Today, I can proudly say that I feel confident to make myself understood in multiple languages, mostly English and German. My Russian and French could need a little bit of a polishing job J I love writing, I love to come to the point and to bring that point across to whoever takes the time to read it. My job gives me the opportunity to do this professionally, which is what I really enjoy about it.

I am curious as to what my future career will bring. Will I stick with content writing? What challenges am I going to face? Is work in the marketing domain in Germany going to be fundamentally different? Could I even make a living off of freelance writing? So many questions in my head when I think about my professional future. Only one thing is sure: My time in India will leave many traces – positive as well as negative.