你职业生涯中最好的决定是什么？

Robin Thomas
Back in fourth year of BTech (Bachelor of Technology), I had couple of job offers from IT service giants. Mind it, I was from ECE (Electronics & Communications Engineering) background. I picked X and waited for their joining letter.

回到BTech（工程学士）的第四年，我收到了几家IT服务巨头的几份工作邀请。请注意，我是来自ECE（电子与通信工程）背景的。我选择了X，并等待他们的入职通知。

I graduated; nothing from X. My friends finished their job training; no call letter from X. I was counting months; still no call letter from X.

我毕业了；X没有任何消息。我的朋友们完成了他们的工作培训；X没有打来电话。我数着月份；X仍然没有打来电话。

That’s when I decided to do MTech (Masters) in Computer Science, which was not even in my dreams before. Classes had already started in coaching institutions and I was stuck to self-study. Come next February, I wrote the GATE exam.

就在那时，我决定攻读计算机科学的硕士学位（MTech），这在之前甚至不在我的梦想之中。辅导机构的课程已经开始了，而我只能坚持自学。到了第二年二月，我参加了GATE考试。

Results were announced. As I started college hunting, I came to the scared realization that I was ineligible for many, as my BTech was not in Computer Science. I still was able to apply for a few.

结果公布了。当我开始寻找大学时，我惊恐地意识到我没有资格申请很多学校，因为我的BTech学位不是计算机科学。尽管如此，我还是能够申请一些学校。

X must have remembered me now, as the joining letter finally came through! Started with the job training. All thoughts of MTech had vanished as I started getting used to Bangalore. One month later, I saw my name in the wait-list for a college.

X现在一定记得我了，因为入职信终于来了！开始了工作培训。随着我开始适应班加罗尔，所有关于MTech的想法都消失了。一个月后，我在一所大学的候补名单上看到了我的名字。

I was confused, but decided to pursue MTech. Broke the service bond with X; paid the hefty fine. Gained the MTech scholarship. Interned at a company with salary greater than what X offered me. Got PPO later greater than what even Google India pays freshers. Sat for campus placements, and got the highest package in the history of my university. Got featured in many prominent newspapers. And I just finished interviewing with Google last week.

我曾感到困惑，但决定继续攻读MTech。我解除了与X公司的服务合同，并支付了高额罚款。获得了MTech奖学金。在一家公司实习，薪水比X公司给我的还要高。后来获得了比Google印度给新员工更高的全职offer。参加了校园招聘，并获得了我们大学历史上最高的薪资包。被多家知名报纸报道。上周我刚完成了Google的面试。

I now think back, what if I had decided to stay with X instead?

我现在回想起来，如果我决定留在X身边会怎样？

R J Holland
As a kid, there were two things a wanted to be. A soldier or a locomotive engineer.

小时候，我有两个想成为的人。一个是士兵，另一个是火车司机。

I remember in Sunday School, the Sister went around to each of us asking what we wanted to be. I think I was about seven here. Well you heard policeman, fireman, teacher, a nun (suck up) and then she came to me. I said, “An army man!” Well the whole class erupted in laughter because that’s what we called plastic soldiers. I was crushed. I wanted to run out and never come back. Why didn’t I say ‘soldier?’

我记得在主日学校时，修女走到我们每个人面前问我们想成为什么。我想我当时大约七岁。你听到了警察、消防员、老师、修女（拍马屁的），然后她走到我面前。我说：“一个军人！”结果全班都大笑起来，因为那是我们对塑料士兵的称呼。我感到非常沮丧。我想跑出去再也不回来了。为什么我没有说‘士兵’呢？

Well, later in life, I did become a soldier following in the footsteps of my dad and grandpa. I liked the soldier life. However, I did not become a locomotive engineer. I was a soldier for a few years then got out of the Army.

嗯，后来我确实成为了一名士兵，追随了我父亲和祖父的脚步。我喜欢军人的生活。然而，我没有成为一名机车工程师。我当了几年的兵，然后离开了军队。

In school, I was in choir and school plays. I loved acting in the school plays. All through school I was in school plays. I started as a bit player, ha ha, and working up to getting lead parts. In high school I was in a lot of great plays doing great parts and even got to kiss the girls in the plays, something their boyfriends were not happy about.

在学校里，我参加了合唱团和学校的戏剧表演。我喜欢在学校戏剧中表演。整个学校期间，我都在参加学校的戏剧表演。我一开始只是个小角色，哈哈，后来逐渐演到了主要角色。在高中时，我参演了很多精彩的戏剧，扮演了重要的角色，甚至还在戏剧中亲吻了女孩们，这让她们的男朋友很不高兴。

So I loved being in the limelight. The stage, the laughter, the applause the make up everything. I wanted to be an actor. If the next chapter in my life hadn’t of changed my direction, I would have been an actor. Hell, I was already doing TV commercials, some with my sisters.

所以我喜欢成为众人瞩目的焦点。舞台、笑声、掌声、化妆，一切的一切。我想成为一名演员。如果我人生的下一个篇章没有改变我的方向，我本会成为一名演员。天哪，我已经在拍电视广告了，有些还是和我的姐妹们一起拍的。

My older sisters, two years older, twins Lori and Tracy were in modelling, teen models then and that became their life career, fashion models. I remember mom saying, “So my kids will be in the arts; modelling and movies. Who would have thought.” After retiring from modelling, the girls went into business with dad’s car dealerships. They took business in college. I did not go into college.

我的两个姐姐，比我大两岁的双胞胎洛丽和特蕾西，当时是青少年模特，后来成为了她们的终身职业，时尚模特。我记得妈妈说过：“所以我的孩子们会从事艺术行业；模特和电影。谁会想到呢。”在从模特行业退休后，女孩们和爸爸一起进入了汽车经销行业。她们在大学里学了商业。我没有上大学。

So I was going to be an actor. That’s what I wanted to do. My sisters and I would do small skits for mom and dad and later in our teens, would make movies of each other lip synching and acting to the songs of the day. The first musical videos.

所以我本来要成为一名演员。这就是我想做的事。我和我的姐妹们会为爸爸妈妈表演一些小短剧，后来在我们十几岁的时候，我们会互相拍摄电影，对口型并表演当时的歌曲。这就是最早的音乐视频。

The funny thing was that my sisters were asked to come to Hollywood to try for a TV pilot of twins in high school; Nancy Drew types that would solve mysteries that went on in school. They declined wanting to stay in modelling. Later there was a series about a girl in high school that would solve mysteries. Played by Kristen Bell, the popular series was called Veronica Mars. I remember Lori saying, “Hey! They must have found the old scxt and dusted it off.”

有趣的是，我的姐妹们曾被邀请去好莱坞试镜一部关于高中双胞胎的电视试播剧，她们的角色是类似南茜·德鲁的类型，负责解决学校里发生的谜案。她们拒绝了，想继续留在模特行业。后来，确实出现了一部关于一个高中女生解决谜案的剧集。这部由克里斯汀·贝尔主演的流行剧集名为《美眉校探》。我记得萝莉说过：“嘿！他们一定是找到了那个旧剧本，然后把它翻新了。”

So, next stage in my life, The Beatles changed my world like they would many others. Ringo Starr on those beautiful drums with that beautiful style of his and all the girls screaming for him, I knew what I wanted to be. A drummer in a band.

所以，在我人生的下一个阶段，披头士乐队像改变许多人一样改变了我的世界。林戈·斯塔尔用他那种美妙的风格在那些漂亮的鼓上演奏，所有女孩都为他尖叫，我知道我想成为什么。一个乐队里的鼓手。

I made up a set of home made drums, practiced to records, finally got a real drum set, practiced to records. Got in my first band at age fifteen and was a professional drummer playing schools and community clubs and getting paid for it. So in a way, I was back on school stages.

我自制了一套鼓，跟着唱片练习，最后得到了一套真正的鼓，继续跟着唱片练习。十五岁时加入了第一支乐队，成为一名职业鼓手，在学校和社区俱乐部演出并得到报酬。所以在某种程度上，我又回到了学校的舞台上。

From there, I became a career professional drummer, session, gigging and touring, and I owe all those years of doing something I love to Ringo Starr.

从那时起，我成为了一名职业鼓手，从事录音、演出和巡演，我将那些年能够做自己热爱的事情归功于林戈·斯塔尔。

THAT was my best career choice.

那是我职业生涯中最好的选择。

Jonathan Finegold
Out of college I expected $50,000/yr. jobs minimum in finance. I had a degree in quantitative economics, I had given lectures on monetary policy and banking internationally, and — frankly — I thought I was the shit.

大学毕业后，我期望在金融领域至少能找到年薪5万美元的工作。我拥有数量经济学学位，曾在国际上讲授货币政策和银行业，而且——坦白说——我认为自己非常出色。

Nobody would hire me.

没有人会雇用我。

It was humbling.

这让人感到谦卑。

Humbling enough to take a content writing job at a small business marketing agency for $10/hr.

足够谦逊地接受了一份在小企业营销机构的内容写作工作，每小时10美元。

I thought it was just a temporary stop.

我以为那只是一个临时的停留。

It turned out to be the best decision I ever made. My career is now in marketing, I can’t even see myself in finance. I not only worked my way up to well, well above $10/hr., but I was able to learn skills I didn’t even know of beforehand.

结果证明这是我做过的最好的决定。我现在从事市场营销工作，甚至无法想象自己还在金融行业。我不仅将时薪提升到了远高于10美元的水平，而且还学到了许多之前根本不知道的技能。

The company paid $10/hr. because that’s what it could afford at the time.

公司支付了每小时10美元，因为这是当时它能够负担得起的。

I learned that, if I added value and helped the company make more money, then I too could make more money. It taught me the value of problem solving versus problem stating. It taught me to be a leader.

我了解到，如果我增加了价值并帮助公司赚更多的钱，那么我也可以赚更多的钱。这教会了我解决问题的价值，而不是仅仅提出问题。这教会了我如何成为一名领导者。

About two years in, I went to work for Tony Robbins as the digital analyst there. I loved it.

大约两年后，我去为托尼·罗宾斯工作，担任那里的数字分析师。我非常喜欢这份工作。

But you know what? A year later I came back to that same small business marketing agency. Now as a marketing director.

但你知道吗？一年后，我回到了那家小型企业营销机构。现在，我成为了营销总监。

There’s no way I could have guessed at this trajectory before taking the job.

在接手这份工作之前，我根本无法猜到这样的发展轨迹。

I’m glad I didn’t think about that.

我很高兴我没有想到那件事。

I’m glad I just needed a job, any job.

我很高兴我只需要一份工作，任何工作都可以。

Because I found something new to love, something new to give me fulfillment, something new I enjoy. Something I would have never learned of had I still been arrogant to hold out for that high paying job I was never going to get, because I still hadn’t learned to prove myself.

因为我找到了新的热爱，新的满足，新的乐趣。如果我还傲慢地坚持等待那份我永远得不到的高薪工作，我永远也不会学到这些，因为我还没有学会证明自己。

Payel Das
To leave academia, moving back to India and transitioning to industry.

离开学术界，回到印度并转型进入工业界。

I have always loved academics; I had even my entire academic path chalked out in my mind since I started my Bachelor’s. I carefully navigated that path in order to fulfill my dreams of doing a PhD and eventually run my own laboratory. My goals were crystal clear to me.

我一直热爱学术；自从我开始攻读学士学位以来，我甚至已经在脑海中规划好了整个学术道路。我小心翼翼地沿着这条路前进，以实现攻读博士学位并最终运营自己实验室的梦想。我的目标对我来说非常清晰。

However, once I started my PhD, things took unexpected turns, something that I had not anticipated beforehand. I fell terribly sick which affected my PhD journey to a great extent. I got demotivated, my supervisor didn’t think I wasn’t competent to do good research, while I battled with excruciating pain due to advanced endometriosis. I somehow survived the journey, and although I had a good defense where I answered most questions correctly and my supervisor supporting me throughout that final phase, I was worn out after getting that degree.

然而，当我开始攻读博士学位时，事情发生了意想不到的转折，这是我之前没有预料到的。我病得非常严重，这极大地影响了我的博士生涯。我失去了动力，我的导师认为我没有能力做好研究，而我在与晚期子宫内膜异位症带来的剧烈疼痛作斗争。我勉强完成了这段旅程，尽管我在答辩中表现出色，正确回答了大部分问题，并且我的导师在最后阶段一直支持我，但在获得学位后，我已经筋疲力尽。

I won’t say getting that degree despite all the odds wasn’t worth it but I was tired of continuing on the same path. I had got better by then health wise and I wanted to explore other career paths, something that I had never once thought in more than a decade of my academic career.

我不会说排除万难获得那个学位不值得，但我已经厌倦了继续走同样的路。那时我的健康状况已经好转，我想探索其他职业道路，这是我在十多年的学术生涯中从未想过的。

I was scared of making that leap but the transition was surprisingly very smooth. My job interview went great and I eventually joined a small pharma company here in Bengaluru. It has been more than a satisfying journey so far.

我曾害怕迈出那一步，但过渡过程出乎意料地非常顺利。我的工作面试进行得很顺利，最终我加入了班加罗尔的一家小型制药公司。到目前为止，这是一段非常令人满意的旅程。

I feel I have finally found my lost passion back, I am motivated to do good work, I work hard and I also accomplish most of my tasks within deadline. During my first assessment cycle, which was also my confirmation meeting, my manager praised me for my work ethics and how much value I have added to the team.

我感觉我终于找回了失去的激情，我充满动力去做好工作，我努力工作，并且大多数任务都能在截止日期前完成。在我的第一次评估周期中，也就是我的确认会议上，我的经理赞扬了我的职业道德以及我为团队带来的价值。

I don’t regret moving back to my country either. My mental health has tremendously improved. I am also healthier than before and I get to be close to my family which is the most important aspect of my life.

我也不后悔搬回我的国家。我的心理健康状况有了极大的改善。我也比以前更健康了，而且能够和家人在一起，这是我生活中最重要的部分。

Germany was great but it wasn’t home and some of my memories there are too painful to be forgotten. India has been a great healer and I won’t have it any other way.

德国很棒，但那不是家，我在那里的一些记忆太痛苦了，无法忘记。印度一直是一个很好的疗愈之地，我不希望有任何改变。

Anonymous
Took many twists and turns in my career. Turned out to be lucky always.

我的职业生涯经历了许多曲折，但最终总是幸运的。

I did my Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering. By end of my second year decided that a career in computer programming is what I wanted to do.

我获得了机械工程学士学位。在第二年末，我决定从事计算机编程的职业。

Got a job in Mumbai, refused as the work was not in network management software. Jobless came to Bangalore searching for a job. Got one in an established company, chucked it to join a company based out of an apartment (I was the first employee discounting the founders). And yes the job was in network management (TCP/IP networks).

在孟买找到了一份工作，但因为工作内容不是网络管理软件而拒绝了。失业后来到班加罗尔寻找工作。在一家知名公司找到了一份工作，但放弃了它，加入了一家从公寓起家的公司（我是除创始人之外的第一个员工）。是的，这份工作是关于网络管理（TCP/IP网络）的。

Two years later switched jobs to an established company in a completely different area - Telecom networks. Learnt telecom.

两年后，我转职到了一家完全不同领域的知名公司——电信网络。学习了电信知识。

Quit the job to start my own company. Timed it perfectly to match the dot com bust of 2000. Shut it down.

辞去工作，开始自己的公司。完美地选择了2000年互联网泡沫破灭的时机。关闭了它。

Joined a very prestigious company $20B in revenue terms. Quit shy of 3 months to join back the previous company.

加入了一家非常知名的公司（收入达200亿美元）。不到三个月就辞职，回到了之前的公司。

But now joined as a manager. Did that for 4 years. Managed some software releases and did management stuff during the day and coded in C & C++ by night. Wrote a complete UNIX shell and screwed around with the C++ compiler to have my version of C++.

但现在作为一名经理加入。做了四年。白天管理一些软件发布和处理管理工作，晚上用C和C++编程。编写了一个完整的UNIX shell，并捣鼓了C++编译器，以拥有我自己的C++版本。

Management was boring - full of MS Excel, PowerPoint & Outlook. Changed job to become a techie, became a systems engineer. Filed and was granted a patent in network management. Worked extensively on DSL technology for 2 years, co-authored standards that area.

管理工作很无聊——充满了MS Excel、PowerPoint和Outlook。换了工作成为技术人员，成为了一名系统工程师。申请并获得了网络管理方面的专利。在DSL技术领域工作了两年，共同撰写了该领域的标准。

Life became boring, switched to pre-sales, did that for 2 years.

生活变得无聊，转做售前，做了两年。

Needed more excitement, switched to sales in 2007–2008. One year into sales 2008 happened. Ya, like in comedy, timing is everything in life . Did sales for 3 years. Well, to be honest it was because someone told me that I wasn't cut out for a sales job. Beat my numbers every year. In the third year did a sales achievement of about 50% above target.

需要更多的刺激，于是在2007-2008年转行做了销售。进入销售行业一年后，2008年发生了。是啊，就像喜剧一样，时机在生活中就是一切 。做了三年销售。老实说，是因为有人告诉我我不适合做销售工作。每年都超额完成目标。第三年完成了大约比目标高出50%的销售业绩。

Sales was boring now. Met the CFO of my company and talked him into taking me into the corporate finance team. Didn't know the difference between debit and credit then.

销售工作现在变得无聊了。我遇到了公司的首席财务官，并说服他让我加入公司财务团队。那时我还不知道借方和贷方的区别。

Set up pricing team for the company and ran it for 3 years. Moved on to manage talent for corporate finance. Studied accounting standards and tax laws in depth. Made some real badass case studies for the training programs.

为公司设立了定价团队并运营了3年。之后转去管理企业金融人才。深入研究了会计准则和税法。为培训项目制作了一些非常出色的案例研究。

Did that for couple of years and then added revenue team , pricing team to my portfolio. Came up with a whacky idea of hiring top-class engineers into finance team. To do predictive and deductive modelling using mathematics. In my view Excel was dead and Python was more like it for analytics. CFO gave a green signal set up that team as well. Added accounts receivables to my portfolio. Have spoken in a few forums in finance. People mistake me for an accountant.

做了几年后，我又将收入团队、定价团队纳入我的职责范围。我提出了一个大胆的想法，将顶级工程师引入财务团队，利用数学进行预测和演绎建模。在我看来，Excel已经过时，Python更适合做分析。CFO批准了，并组建了那个团队。我还将应收账款纳入我的职责范围。我在一些财务论坛上发表过演讲。人们常常误以为我是会计师。

Have done pretty well in my career so far. Travelled to about 30–35 countries. Worked with people from 60+ nationalities. It's been a fun ride and a very hectic one. I still write programs and can pass off as an accountant. PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook haven't left me alone though. A part of my story has been featured in a book - non-fiction of course 

到目前为止，我在职业生涯中表现得相当不错。已经去过大约30到35个国家，与来自60多个国家的人共事过。这是一段有趣的旅程，也非常忙碌。我仍然编写程序，并且可以冒充会计师。PowerPoint、Excel和Outlook也一直陪伴着我。我的一部分故事被收录在一本书中——当然是非虚构类的 

So that's it. Thats where I am a after lot of twists and turns post 22 years of my first job. Don't know what the next career move is going to be. But one thing is for sure, I am not done yet. 

这就是我，在经历了22年第一份工作后的许多曲折之后的位置。不知道下一步的职业发展会是什么。但有一点是肯定的，我还没有结束。

Chitrarth Sharma
I am from a business oriented family but after completing my graduation, i went to engineering College pursuing IT. It was my mom's wish that I become a successful engineer but this was not something I want to do, so I started my e-commerce business while doing my studies.

我来自一个以商业为导向的家庭，但在完成学业后，我去了工程学院攻读信息技术。这是我母亲的愿望，希望我能成为一名成功的工程师，但这并不是我想做的事情，所以我在学习期间开始了我的电子商务业务。

I learned to create websites and developed my own.

我学会了创建网站并开发了自己的网站。

I learned how to create advertisements on Instagram Facebook Google and all over the social media network.

我学会了如何在Instagram、Facebook、Google以及所有社交媒体网络上创建广告。

I learned how to import products from different countries.

我学会了如何从不同国家进口产品。

I learned designing in illustrator and Photoshop.

我学习了在Illustrator和Photoshop中进行设计。

Just within 6 months of my first year, my business statrted picking up the pace and that's when I decided that I should put more and more focus to my business instead of studying. Days passed and i realised that maintaining the work and study balance is very difficult task.. and that's when I decided to drop out of my college . Even though my parents never approved of my decision. They Used to think that having a job is a safe and secure way because businesses have lots of ups and down. Also because I dropped out of my college after paying the annual fees. We were never financially strong.

就在我第一年的6个月内，我的生意开始加速发展，那时我决定应该把越来越多的精力投入到我的生意中，而不是学习。日子一天天过去，我意识到保持工作和学习的平衡是非常困难的任务……于是，我决定从大学退学。尽管我的父母从未赞同我的决定。他们认为有一份工作是安全可靠的方式，因为生意有很多起伏。还因为我是在支付了年度学费后从大学退学的。我们从未在财务上强大过。

I had the confidence inside me but I was too stressed as I my faced a lot of struggles in my earlier days. I used to work 18 hours a day because I did not have enough money to hire someone and I could not ask my parents for money.

我内心充满自信，但早期面临诸多困境时，我倍感压力。我每天工作18个小时，因为我没有足够的钱雇佣别人，也无法向父母要钱。

We live in a small city where talent is hard to find usually people migrate to bigger cities for their studies or jobs. So I knew all the management part was to be done by myself.

我们生活在一个小城市，这里通常很难找到人才，人们通常会为了学习或工作而迁移到大城市。所以我知道所有的管理工作都必须由我自己来完成。

I took this as a challenge and together with my sister's support we managed to crack our sales record every year. We grew more and more. I trained a few people and automated my work. Now I am living a healthy lifestyle.

我把这当作一个挑战，在我姐姐的支持下，我们每年都打破了销售记录。我们不断成长。我培训了几个人，并自动化了我的工作。现在我过着健康的生活方式。

Now I have enough time to spend on things I love.

现在我有足够的时间花在我热爱的事情上。

Enough time to visit the places I never been but I wished to.

有足够的时间去参观我从未去过但一直想去的地方。

Enough time to take care of my family, satisfy them.

有足够的时间照顾我的家人，满足他们。

Enough time to write long answers on quora.

有足够的时间在Quora上写长回答。

So I can say this has been the best decision of my career and now my parents are proud of me.

所以可以说这是我职业生涯中最好的决定，现在我的父母为我感到骄傲。

Dhiraj Singh Chauhan
Just like a bright indian student, I started preparing for IIT-JEE after 12th, and just like an average hardworking guy, I couldnt qualify for it but during preparation, Once I visited book shop to check if any engineering college form was out, and I found the form of B.Sc. entrance of Banaras Hindu Universit at just Rs. 50, I happily bought thinking it to be my back up plan but when checked details after coming home, I found that challan of Rs 600 was also required.

就像一位优秀的印度学生一样，我在12年级后开始准备IIT-JEE考试，就像一个普通的勤奋学生一样，我没有通过考试，但在准备期间，我曾去书店查看是否有任何工程学院的申请表，我发现了一份巴纳拉斯印度大学的B.Sc.入学申请表，只需50卢比，我高兴地买了下来，认为这是我的备用计划，但回家后查看详情时，我发现还需要一张600卢比的缴费单。

I was obsessed about b.tech. then so gave up the idea of applying for it and tried to sell it to some of my friends but no one agreed. On the last date of application, I don't know why but I filled the form with challan and sent it hesitatingly.

我曾经对B.Tech非常着迷，但后来放弃了申请的想法，并试图将其推销给我的朋友们，但没有人同意。在申请的最后一天，不知道为什么，我犹豫地填写了表格并寄出了缴费单。

Then I appeared in many engineering entrances as well as BHU entrance but I could qualify only one exam…….that was BHU so was left with no option but to join it though I was damn frustrated at that time.

然后我参加了许多工程入学考试以及BHU入学考试，但我只通过了一个考试……那就是BHU  所以尽管当时我非常沮丧，但别无选择，只能加入它。

But I enjoyed the 3 years at BHU and found it to be a great place to learn and be with awesome guys. I learned a lot and regained my lost self confidence. Later, I applied for SSC CGL and got all India 27 rank and post of Income Tax Inspector.

但我很享受在BHU的三年时光，发现那是一个学习和与优秀的人相处的好地方。我学到了很多，并重新找回了失去的自信心。后来，我申请了SSC CGL，并获得了全印度第27名的成绩和所得税稽查员的职位。