How would it be to change your profession every 2 years!!

Switching companies every now and then is pretty common these days. In fact as a fresher, unless the person is in some very good company or profile, it is considered a bad career move if he sticks to his job for more than 2 years. There is a common notion that in the initial years, a software engineer can grow only by switching jobs. But, how about switching the profession?

I am a Software Engineer and have always worked in some or the other IT company. I have never worked in any other field; have no experience what-so-ever of the outside world.  Eight weekends of teaching in a school and recording 2 shows for a friend doesn’t count. I often wonder how it would be to change my profession, my line of work, every 2 years.

I recently got a slight glimpse of the insides of the theater world, got to see some behind the scene action. One of my friends is a theater artist and performs for various production houses. Last month, he was performing in one of the countless plays that take place every week in Bangalore and asked me to record his play. It was then when I got a chance to look at the proceedings that take place behind the scene. I got a chance to see how a bunch of amateurs get together for their rehearsals, how they manage their props, how they get nervous before every show as if they were appearing for some exam, how all the teams do their stage rehearsals before the show begins, how they manage the sound and the lights during the show, how the producer gives special instructions to all the actors, stage attendants, prop managers, sound and lights manager before the show begins, how the director bullies his actors, how it feels to film a show. This one experience has made me crave for various experiences from different fields and now I want to experience it all.

I want to be an HR and experience how difficult it is to keep the employees happy, want to be a doctor and save a life, want to be a teacher and educate children, want to be a CA and audit a firm, want to be a Judge and give a sentence, want to be a writer and write a romantic-cum-thriller-cum-sci-fi novel, want to be a traveler and write a travel blog, want to be an economist and make policies that can make or break a country, want to be an investment banker and be a part of a merger, want to be an actor and kiss the leading lady, want to be a businessman and negotiate with the vendors and customers, want to be a priest in a church and listen to people’s confessions, want to be a politician and help someone, want to be an astronaut and travel space, want to be a super-hero and save the world, want to be a police officer and solve a criminal case, want to be a scientist and discover something cool, want to be a chocolatier and craft delicious pieces of chocolates, want to be an environmentalist and protect the environment, want to be a musician and create some soul cleansing music, want to be a sportsperson and play for the country, want to be a stand-up comedian and make people laugh, want to be a time traveler and experience history in making, want to get wings and fly,

Obviously, this is not a real-time scenario and it is not possible in the real world. But for someone like me who lives a delusional life, who is a day-dreamer and dreams with open eyes, this entire idea, is quite intriguing. Just imagine the new challenges that a new profession will bring with it. It will have its own share of risks involved, but how cool would it be to be a Software Engineer one day and a teacher the next? I have been thinking about it from quite some time now. I have friends who were brave enough to attempt such a transition at an early phase of their lives, some of which are now very successful in their new profession. Such people can also be seen at Tedx and Converge; so I believe that this is something which is doable. At some point of time, I would definitely like to resign and try something new; the transition may happen slowly and steadily but I know it will happen one day.