When students graduate, one of the first questions they are usually asked is, “What job are you getting?” It is understandable. After years of education, getting a good job appears to be the immediate destination. But Dr. Anand Deshpande, Founder and Chairman of Persistent Systems, offers a much larger perspective.
Speaking to graduates at IIT Bombay in 2023, and later addressing the graduating class at IIIT-Delhi in 2025, he placed the idea of a career in the context of a rapidly changing world. His central message is particularly relevant for today’s students: do not think of your first job as your career. Think of it as the beginning of a much longer journey of learning, creating value, reinventing yourself and contributing to society. At IIT Bombay, he specifically urged graduates not merely to become job seekers, but ultimately to become job creators. भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान मुंबई
Your First Job Is Only the Beginning
The world of work is changing at a speed that previous generations did not experience. Technology is evolving rapidly, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly capable, industries are being transformed and the nature of work itself is changing.
At the same time, people are living longer. A student graduating in their early twenties today could potentially remain professionally active for several decades. Dr. Deshpande has therefore spoken about the idea of planning for a 60-year career, rather than thinking only about the first five or ten years after graduation. In another convocation address, he cautioned graduates against assuming that a particular technology or even a particular company would remain relevant throughout their working lives. His advice was to keep learning and adapting. The Times of India
This changes the way you should look at your first job.
Your first company does not have to be the company where you spend your entire career. Your first designation does not have to become your identity. Your first salary does not determine your ultimate earning potential. Even the discipline you studied may not determine the work you eventually do.
Think of your career as a long journey with several stages. You may begin as a trainee, become a specialist, move into management, develop expertise in another domain, become an entrepreneur, consultant, educator, advisor or mentor. You may reinvent yourself several times.
The objective, therefore, is not to find the perfect first job. It is to use the first stage of your career to develop the capabilities that will help you succeed in the stages that follow.
From Job Seeker to Job Creator
One of Dr. Deshpande’s strongest messages at IIT Bombay was that graduates should not remain merely job seekers; they should aspire to become job creators. भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान मुंबई
This does not mean that every student must become an entrepreneur or start a company immediately after graduation. Entrepreneurship is only one way of creating jobs. The larger idea is about creating value.
Imagine two graduates. The first asks, “Which company will hire me?” The second asks, “What problem can I solve, and how can I create value through solving it?”
The second mindset is much more powerful.
You can create value inside an organisation by developing a new product, improving a process, finding new customers, reducing costs or solving an important business problem. You can create value outside an organisation by starting a business, becoming a consultant, developing a technology, creating educational content or building a new service.
As India grows economically, there will be enormous amounts of work to be done. But economic growth does not necessarily mean that traditional employment will grow at exactly the same rate. Artificial intelligence and automation can allow organisations to accomplish more with fewer people. Dr. Deshpande has therefore highlighted an important distinction: there can be plenty of work even when there are fewer conventional jobs. The Times of India
For students, this means that employability should not be understood simply as the ability to obtain a job. It should increasingly mean the ability to identify opportunities, solve problems and create value.
Dream Big, But Put Your Dreams on Paper
The first principle Dr. Deshpande shared at IIT Bombay was to dream big. But dreaming is only the beginning. A dream that remains in your head can easily remain a fantasy. When you write it down, you are forced to give it some shape. Ask yourself what you want your professional life to look like five, ten or twenty years from now. You do not need to know every detail. In fact, you cannot possibly predict the world twenty years from now. But you can identify the direction in which you want to grow.
Perhaps you want to become an outstanding marketing professional. Perhaps you want to build a technology company. Perhaps you want to become a researcher, doctor, designer, teacher, consultant or business leader. Perhaps you want to combine several of these roles during your lifetime.
Write it down. Then revisit what you have written periodically. Dr. Deshpande’s idea of careers moving through S-curves is particularly useful here. A new skill, role or career begins slowly. You learn and build capability. Eventually your growth accelerates. You reach a level of maturity and performance. Then, after some time, the growth curve begins to flatten.
That is the point at which you should start thinking about your next S-curve. You might learn a new technology. Move into leadership. Enter a new industry. Start something of your own. Develop a completely new area of expertise.
A successful 60-year career may therefore contain several different S-curves rather than one straight line. The important question is not, “What will I do for the rest of my life?” It is: “What is the next mountain I want to climb, and what do I need to learn to climb it?”
Learn How to Learn
If you are beginning your career today, many of the skills you will need ten years from now may not even be obvious today. This is one of the biggest challenges facing students in the age of AI. Your degree provides an important foundation, but it cannot possibly teach you everything you will need over a 60-year career. Technology, business models, customer expectations and professional roles will continue to evolve. Therefore, one of the most valuable capabilities you can develop is the ability to learn continuously. Instead of asking only, “What do I need to study for my examination?” start asking, “What do I need to learn to become better at what I want to do?”
Develop a personal learning system. Read regularly. Take courses. Attend seminars. Work on projects. Talk to people who know more than you. Experiment with new tools. Study what is happening in your industry. Most importantly, practise what you learn. Learning should not be something you do only when an examination is approaching or when your organisation sends you for training. It should become a professional habit. If you spend even a small amount of time learning every day, the effect can become significant over several years. This is where the power of compounding becomes important.
The Power of Compounding Applies to More Than Money
When people hear the word “compounding”, they usually think about money and investments. But the principle applies equally strongly to careers.
Knowledge compounds. Skills compound. Relationships compound. Reputation compounds. Good habits compound. So do poor habits.
Suppose you become slightly better at communication every year. You become slightly better at analysing problems. You develop stronger industry knowledge. You build relationships with more experienced people. You become known as someone who can be trusted. None of these improvements may transform your career overnight. But over ten, twenty or thirty years, the accumulated effect can be enormous. This is why you should not become obsessed with immediate results.
A student may spend months developing a skill without seeing an obvious reward. But that skill may become the foundation for a major opportunity several years later. Your career is built not only through dramatic breakthroughs. It is also built through small improvements repeated consistently over a long period of time.
Don’t Just Learn—Learn How to Adapt
The arrival of AI makes continuous learning even more important. A technology that is considered cutting-edge today may become ordinary tomorrow. A job that requires a particular skill today may require a different combination of skills five years from now. This does not mean you should chase every new technology. It means you should understand the difference between temporary tools and enduring capabilities. For example, a particular AI application may become obsolete. But the ability to understand a customer problem, analyse information, communicate clearly, exercise judgement and make decisions will remain valuable.
This is why students should develop both fundamentals and emerging skills. Learn the new, but do not abandon the basics.
A computer science student needs to understand fundamental computing concepts, not simply the latest AI tool. A management student needs to understand customers, finance, people and business models, not merely the latest management buzzword.
Technology changes rapidly. Strong fundamentals give you the ability to adapt when the technology changes.
Build Your Network Before You Need It
Another major part of Dr. Deshpande’s IIT Bombay message was about making friends and learning to network. भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान मुंबई
Many students misunderstand networking. They think networking means collecting hundreds of LinkedIn connections or approaching senior people when they need an internship or job. Real networking is much deeper. It is about developing relationships with people who know you, understand what you can do and trust you. Start building those relationships while you are still a student. Talk to your professors. Interact with alumni. Participate in professional communities. Attend conferences. Speak to people from other disciplines. Connect with people from different generations, industries, cultures and countries.
And do not approach every relationship with the question, “What can this person do for me?” Instead ask: “What can I contribute to this relationship?”
Share something useful. Introduce people who could benefit from knowing each other. Help someone with a problem. Appreciate someone’s work. Offer your time or expertise. A relationship built on mutual respect can last for decades. And importantly, build your network before you need it. If you wait until you lose your job to start networking, you are already late. If you start developing relationships years earlier, your network becomes a genuine professional asset.
Find Mentors While Things Are Going Well
Mentorship is another dimension of networking. A mentor is not simply someone who gives you instructions. A good mentor helps you see possibilities, mistakes and opportunities that you may not see yourself. As a student, you do not necessarily need one lifelong mentor. You may have different mentors at different stages. Someone may help you understand your first career choice. Another may help you develop leadership skills. Someone else may guide you when you consider entrepreneurship or a career transition. The important point is to build these relationships before you are in trouble. You should not contact an experienced person for the first time only when you need a favour. Build the relationship gradually.
Develop a Strong Value Compass
Your skills may change throughout your career. Your organisation may change. Your designation may change. Your industry may change. Your values provide continuity. Every student should spend some time thinking about what he or she will not compromise on. It could be integrity, honesty, fairness, respect, professional responsibility, quality or treating people with dignity. This becomes particularly important when your career starts becoming successful. At some point, you may have to choose between a shortcut and the right path. You may be offered an opportunity that brings money but conflicts with your principles. You may have to decide whether a particular business practice is acceptable. Your values become your internal decision-making system. A successful career is not simply about reaching a high position or earning a large income. It is also about being able to look back and say: “I achieved what I wanted without losing the person I wanted to be.”
Failure Should Become Feedback
Persistence is another central theme in Dr. Deshpande’s message. But persistence should not mean blindly repeating the same action. The example of Sachin Tendulkar illustrates this beautifully. After encountering difficulty against Glenn McGrath’s bowling, Tendulkar did not simply hope that the problem would disappear. He studied the deliveries, analysed what was happening and practised repeatedly. The lesson is important for students. When something goes wrong, don’t immediately conclude: “I am not good enough.” Instead ask: “What exactly went wrong?”
Was it lack of knowledge? Lack of preparation? Lack of practice? A wrong strategy? Poor communication? A technical weakness? A decision-making error? Once you identify the cause, you can work on it. This is the difference between failure and learning from failure. You will fail examinations, interviews, presentations, projects and business ideas at different points in your career. You may be rejected for jobs. You may make a poor career decision. You may build something that doesn’t work. These experiences can become valuable if you analyse them properly.
Persistence means continuing the journey while changing and improving your approach.
You Don’t Have to Be Perfect at Everything
Students sometimes believe they need to eliminate every weakness before they can become successful. That is unrealistic. You will have strengths and weaknesses throughout your career. The objective is to understand yourself well enough to know where you are naturally strong, where you need development and where you should seek help from others. Great teams are built because different people bring different strengths. A successful professional does not necessarily know everything. A successful professional knows how to learn, whom to ask, when to collaborate and how to solve problems. This becomes even more important in an AI-enabled world.
AI Will Change Jobs, but It Will Also Change Human Value
Artificial intelligence is one of the biggest reasons why students need to rethink career preparation. AI can increasingly perform tasks that once required significant human effort. This will undoubtedly change many occupations. But the right response is not fear. The better response is to understand where human beings continue to add distinctive value. If AI can produce an answer, your value may increasingly lie in knowing whether it is the right answer. If AI can write code, your value may increasingly lie in understanding what should be built and why. If AI can analyse data, your value may increasingly lie in understanding which question the organisation should ask. If AI can generate content, your value may increasingly lie in judgement, originality, context and purpose. Therefore, students should develop a combination of technical capability and human capability—problem framing, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, ethical judgement, domain knowledge and decision-making. The future is unlikely to belong simply to people who know how to use AI. It will increasingly belong to people who know how to use AI to solve meaningful problems.
Your Career Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint
The most important message students can take from Dr. Deshpande’s thinking is that your career is going to be much longer than you probably imagine today. Do not judge your entire future by your first job. Do not panic if your first career choice is not perfect. Do not assume that one degree will be enough for the next sixty years. Do not wait for your organisation to tell you what you should learn. Do not build relationships only when you need something. Do not allow one failure to define you. And do not measure success only through salary or designation. Instead, build a career in which you continuously learn, create value, develop relationships, remain grounded in your values and reinvent yourself when the world changes. Think of your professional life as a series of stages. At one stage, you may be learning. At another, you may be building expertise. Later, you may be leading people. Then you may create something of your own. Eventually, you may become a mentor to others. The possibilities are not fixed when you graduate. They are created throughout your journey. That is why the question you should ask yourself today is not merely: “What job will I get?” A much more powerful question is: “What kind of person and professional do I want to become over the next 60 years, and what am I going to do today to move in that direction?”
Your degree is the beginning. Your first job is the beginning. Your first failure is the beginning. Your first success is also the beginning. There will be many more chapters.
Dream big. Keep learning. Build relationships. Create value. Hold on to your values. Learn from failure. Reinvent yourself. And, wherever possible, create opportunities for others as you create them for yourself.
That is how you prepare not merely for your first job, but for a 60-year career.
