In fact, I recommend you start your career with a 9 to 5

In 1993, Sundar Pichai moved from India to the US for higher education.

In 2015, Sundar was appointed as the CEO of Google.

Such ascent was possible due to his talent and hard work. But it was also possible because he became part of an ecosystem like Google.

While there are many ways to have a successful career, regular jobs (9 to 5) get the least credit. Startups, side hustles, and passive income appear more glamorous and desirable than 9 to 5.

There’s nothing wrong with that. A full-time job does have its shortcoming.

But that shouldn’t keep us from appreciating the benefits of such systems. Here are five ways my jobs have helped me become a better professional and individual —

A 9 to 5 can help in personal growth

I was an introvert who preferred to avoid speaking in public.

Fast forward a few years — I became a brand manager who had spoken in front of 600+ audiences, participated in a press conference, and led multiple internal projects.

Without my 9 to 5, I wouldn’t be pushed to come out of my shell. If I could choose, I’d choose my comfort zone over my development back then.

But I am glad I didn’t have that option.

While 9 to 5s are getting a lot of bad rep these days, I found them to help in my personal & professional growth over the last decade.

In addition to my public speaking, my 9 to 5 helped me become better in at least 5 areas —

• One-on-one communication as I needed to manage different types of internal and external stakeholders as a marketing professional
• Negotiation as I had to negotiate with vendors and media agencies (and often the company’s supply chain)
• Patience as not everything moved at the same pace as mine
• Listening as I had to listen to consumers as part of research and colleagues as a way to build rapport
• Money management as I had to manage a steady flow of income (salary) and funnel it to savings, investment, and expenses

Better project & time manager

I am also glad that I needed to clock in by 9 in the morning.

My workplace was quite far from my home. The public transport situation wasn’t that great either. In my early days, I took expensive modes of transport directly from home.

But over the months, I uncovered hacks of combining multiple forms of transport to get to work faster (and often cheaper).

Like better time management, I also learned to plan better for projects.

I once had to manage a rejuvenation project with 20+ members in the team (4 sub-teams). The project took over six months and we had to cover huge ground. From product development to route-to-market planning, we did them all in six months.

I didn’t feel comfortable about the project in the beginning but things changed when I started working on it. In the end, after the launch, the product ended up having a 42% YOY growth.

That not only helped me become more confident but more proficient in project management.

More productive & focused

I quickly realized that my mornings were my most productive hours.

From 9 to 1, I would do my best work. That propelled me to put in tougher work in the morning hours. I tried to postpone any meeting that was scheduled in the morning.

Even in the mornings, I eventually learned how to start with the most important project.

Within a few months, I knew how to prioritize work better and what to do when.

When 3 experienced colleagues from my department left after a year, I took over most of their responsibility temporarily. Despite the added workload, I could manage those due to the systems I put in place.

Empathetic people manager

I once worked with a CEO who meddled (micromanaged) in all sorts of business functions’ activities.

The problem was, that CEO never had a proper full-time job. But that didn’t stop the CEO from getting involved in marketing and sales activities.

That didn’t work well as the CEO’s involvement mostly derailed the team and wasted time.

That kind of time wastage is possible if someone doesn’t know how things should work in an organization. Any exposure to a full-time job can counter that.

For my role, I needed to work with external agencies, market research team, product research & development, supply chain, IT, and Finance department.

In addition, I learned to manage my supervisor, the department head, and also create a working relationship with the managing director. That kind of exposure to industry veterans wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t joined that job.

Eventually, I had the chance to lead my own team. That gave me the hands-on opportunity to learn and test my leadership skills.

There was one time when a team member was having a tough time at home. That team member shared that with me and I allowed for longer & flexible work. By showing empathy during a time of need, I created a stronger culture within the team that resulted in devoted work later on.

A job allowed me to manage

• Laterally by working with people at the same level
• Upward by handling expectations of senior executive
• Downward by guiding & learning from team members

Lifelong learner

As my performance depended on it, I invested in professional development by doing courses on branding and digital marketing.

In most cases, my company covered the costs and enabled those training. In addition, I had the chance to apply all of those learnings hands-on which firmed up those skills.

On top of that, I got the opportunity to work with experienced professionals from whom I learned quite a bit. Through my company connections, my network expanded even beyond the company.

But the most important lesson I learned was —

I need to keep learning no matter how experienced I become

The world is changing at a very fast pace. I led digital marketing teams for two companies. Yet, when I graduated, no job existed in Digital Marketing. It was a nascent concept back then.

Similarly in all fields, new areas open up. We need to ensure we are on top of them to stay relevant.

To summarize – 9 to 5

Yes, 9 to 5 limits freedom and often takes up more time than it should.

But it also opens doors to many possibilities. Although I listed just 5 areas above, my jobs have opened numerous doors for me.

While a startup or freelancing sounds like a good idea, I believe any exposure to a full-time job will only make us better in those areas.

If we focus on the positives of a full-time job, we will be the ones who’d benefit the most from it.

This article was first published in Better Humans publication.