My 9+ Years of Experience on Career Paths… Reality Vs. Expectations
Disclaimer: I’m going to be very transparent in this post. If you disagree or see the other side of the fence, your comments are more than welcomed.
Dreams
When I was a little kid in elementary school, I have always wanted to become an architect. The passion I had for that job was enormous. I always dreamed about becoming the best architect. That dream grew with me until I reached a point where I had to choose my “career path”. The education system I was involved in — like any ordinary system — was to set you for the next step, college or no-college. In my country — Kuwait — it is known that smart students, or those who got higher grades, get better opportunities to join university. Kuwait University was the only option back then. Getting accepted into such a university was the regular “higher grade gets in the top schools”. Medicine, engineering, and law were the top schools and were the highest among all other schools. It was not because these schools were the toughest. It is because these were the schools that get you in the highest paying jobs.
Culture
In the Kuwaiti culture/community, the smartest — had more grades — get into these schools. Architecture school was — ironically — included in the college of engineering. Although architecture had nothing to do with engineering, they — the people behind the government — decided that it is appropriate to do so. The acceptance rate was too high and hard to get in. Not sure to this date why that is. Long story short, I couldn't get in.
Struggle
After facing the truth, I decided to find other ways to fulfill my dream. I asked around and found out that getting into the college of engineering can be a gateway to switch to architecture school — as stupid as it might sound but if this was the only way, then be it. I applied and did not get in and got accepted into the college of science. I now want to switch to the engineering college to switch to the architecture college — that was the only plan. I did my best and finally got accepted to switch to the college of engineering. I now want to switch to the architecture college — keep in mind that I’m now getting good enough scores that grant me to get in. After applying, I got refused twice. The reason was that they had a two-seat opening, and the students that got accepted were both 4.0 GPA students . Apparently, architecture is only for higher scorers rather than other acceptance criteria like interviews or tests. One student in the architecture department then advised me to join civil engineering then get a double major in architecture later on. This sounded like a plan — and was the only and last chance — so I went ahead and decided to go for it. Applying for civil engineering, then computer engineering as my second choice — you have to give 3 choices — I got accepted in computer engineering, which was the end of my architecture dream.
Hope
After getting accepted into computer engineering — which I was not familiar with — I decided to let it go and focus on my studies. Earlier — and in preparation for the civil engineering switch, which didn’t happen — I took 12 credits in civil engineering, which meant that I wasted a whole semester on civil engineering courses that won’t count for graduation. I got through with exactly 5 years and graduated with my colleagues after pushing myself and taking summer courses every year. I graduated with a computer engineering degree after passing 156 credits — 144 was required only, but I have 12 extra credits that did not count.
Punch
After getting a computer engineering degree, I started applying to the top paying workplaces in the country, given the fact that these places are numbered, and all people know that they require what we call “WASTA.”
So applying to paying workplaces was a waste of time without a proper Wasta. I finally got to work in one of these places, “The Central Agency for Public Tenders”. Working as an IT engineer and an auditor on the public tenders. Working there for 6 years only to leave for another “Wasta place” that I did not use the Wasta for this time — ironically, they were looking for IT auditing expertise, which I had. Adding 3 years, now I’m working for more than 9 years in a career that I did not have the intention or passion for working for in the first place. That was a punch in the face.
Reality
The story was not meant to get you — the reader — down in any fashion. It was intended to show you how hard it is to pursue a career that you might want to get in but can not because of your country's system. I was not a believer in Wasta, but after seeing everyone using it to get where they got it, I used it. I’m not ashamed to say that I used it, but I’m at the same time hate to say that this is the one way to get around in my country and aperantly everywhere in the world. Getting what you want comes with a price and the value that people with power are getting from you. Life is running on services and will always be the same in government jobs. The only way to skip this is to avoid government jobs from the beginning. Reality can be disappointing, but it is how the system is built. The good thing is that you can get into the system, gain some experience — if you can — then get the hell out before it’s too late.
Bottomline
Building careers in government jobs is a big waste of time. Unless you aim to become a manager/supervisor, your career is just a matter of — allow me to say this — useless job titles that make your self-esteem and ego better when you talk about it. Oh, plus the slow rise in income.
If you are looking for serious career paths, go for startups or cooperate companies. You might face the same Wasta concept, but you can get into better places if you prove great value. Those looking for job security over career paths and passion get a government job. Otherwise, go for startups. That’s my 9+ years of experience working in both worlds — startups, and government.
