New mom seeks meaty projects
Pavitra’s Story
Despite only working for others for four years, Pavitra soon had the world of employment sussed. She quickly felt the constraints and lack of inspiration in that perfunctory world.
Pavitra soon felt stunted, “It was difficult for me to accept the fact that although I gave my 100% to all tasks assigned to me, my superiors were not inclined to invest time and effort in my professional growth.” The endless search for approval for every step completed was frustrating for her, and though it made sense from a quality perspective, it was clear that the process was creating a bottleneck in project progress. Combined with the constant wait for direction from a particularly uncommunicative boss, and the delays became endless.
When Pavitra returned to the workplace from the birth of her baby girl she found a new challenge waiting. “The management was under the impression that as a new mom, I wouldn’t be able to cope with the workload and would eventually leave; I saw a gradual decline in projects assigned to me. Even though I submitted the projects on or before time, I wasn’t given ‘meaty’ projects.”
The support and encouragement of her family and friends to leave that world hardened her resolve to get out. The decision to make the leap was made.
So how did she go about making the transition to freelancing?
“Disappointment at the workplace prompted me to get in touch with a former colleague and mentor. I interned under him in my previous job; he was largely responsible for creating a strong work culture there. I was fortunate to have had such a mentor at the beginning of my career. A few minutes into the discussion, he told me to quit with immediate effect. He even extended his support by assigning me some projects.”
Unfortunately, that experience didn’t work out because of the time difference: he was based in the US and Pavitra was in India. Nonetheless, he encouraged her to explore other avenues of self-employment. Projects soon came in thick and fast and she did not have time to look back at her decision. “I did not regret it even for a minute. Apart from a few bumps along the way, it has been a largely upward climb for me.”
In a reflection that echoes my own experiences, Pavitra says the biggest change that self-employment has brought her is the increased flexibility and self-confidence. She also says that she is now able to be herself in her business, “an important aspect of self-employment is not putting up a pretence. Whatever the business, the way you conduct it reflects who you are as a person. Your business is a mirror projecting the inner workings of your mind and there is nowhere to hide!”
But that is not the only mindset shift she has made – she has had to learn how to handle criticism objectively. “In my initial years as a freelance translator, negative comments by reviewers would throw me into depths of despair. Days on end, I would wallow around in self-pity. It took me quite some time to develop a thick skin to analyse the reviewer’s comments.”
“I realised that negative comments actually help you assess your work objectively. In hindsight, I am a better translator, thanks to my reviewers. Because of them, I can identify my weak areas and work on improving them.”
It has also improved her decision-making ability. She says that accepting a project as a freelancer means taking all aspects such as deadlines, subject-matter expertise and the relationship with the client into consideration. Not to mention, most decisions have to be taken under a time crunch; you really need to have an efficient thought process in place to accept or reject potential projects.
(I think we could all do with a bit of her decision making and criticism taking skills).
Thanks to having a spouse who was the primary breadwinner, Pavitra has had the flexibility to craft her route into freelancing with almost zero expectations. “The learning curve is much steeper than the earning curve when you are a freelancer and it is good to have a financial support system.” The only driving force for her was the freedom to choose the kind of work she wished to do.
Though she is still wary of the corporate world and her trust has definitely eroded, she can now look back at that world with a less myopic view and appreciates there must be some companies out there doing it right (there’s some acceptance right there), but she is certainly in no rush to go back there.
“After a decade plus of self-employment — a period which I have thoroughly enjoyed — it would be difficult for me to go back to a hierarchy setup.”
I agree. Perish the thought.
Pavitra Baxi - Freelance translator