“Beta, MBA kar lo. Safe rahega.” - This Papa-nahi-manenge-itis is the real epidemic facing Indian youth today.

If I had ₹10 for every time an Indian parent said this… I'd be richer than all the MBAs they forced into it.

Let’s not sugar-coat this. Most Indian careers are not chosen. They’re inherited. Imposed. Or blindly guessed.

We are a nation of 1.4 billion — but our dreams fit inside 5 professions.

The Problem Isn’t Lack of Ambition. It’s Lack of Alignment.

Most of us are chasing careers like arranged marriages —
“Accha hai, settle ho jaaoge.”
“Placement mil gaya toh life set hai.” "Plan B kar lete hai pehle"

But here’s the brutal truth:

You can crack a job. You can’t fake fit. Without fit, you will be miserable.

If you’re waking up tired, unmotivated, switching from UPSC to coding to CAT to content creation — you’re not lazy.
You’re lost.
And you’re not alone. I have been there too.

The Data Nobody Talks About:

• 93% of Indian students are aware of only 7 career options (India Today, 2022)
• 82% of Indian graduates are considered unemployable (India Skills Report, 2023)
• 70% of employees in India are disengaged with their jobs (Gallup Global Survey)

And yet… we still say, “Do MBA. Safe rahega.”
Safe for what? Mental breakdown?

The Missing Link: Your Personality

Most Indians never ask, What kind of person am I?
We just ask: Engineering ya commerce? Sarkari ya private?

But science has already answered the question: The Big Five Personality Framework — tested across 60+ countries and 2,000+ studies.

Let me break it down simply:

The 5 Traits That Predict Career Fit:

Trait Career Meaning

Openness

Curiosity, creativity, comfort with new ideas

Conscientiousness

Discipline, order, reliability

Extraversion

Energy, sociability, leadership

Agreeableness

Empathy, cooperation, team harmony

Neuroticism

Emotional sensitivity, anxiety management

💡 Most of us know our blood group. Few of us know our personality blueprint.

And that’s why people with low Conscientiousness try UPSC 4 times.
Or why someone with high Openness is dying inside a bank job.

Use Psychology to Save Your Sanity

Let’s flip the script. What if we picked careers after understanding:

How you think (Openness)

How you execute (Conscientiousness)

How you lead or follow (Extraversion)

How you collaborate (Agreeableness)

How you respond to pressure (Neuroticism)

Some real-world examples:

• 🔹 High Openness + Low Conscientiousness

Creative but chaotic. Big ideas, poor structure. Needs autonomy.

Ideal Roles:

• Startup founder
• Content creator
• UX designer
• Film/music, branding, creative strategy

Examples:

🔹 Tanmay Bhat – Comedian, YouTuber, Brand Strategist

• Public about mental health, weight, burnout.
• Extremely high Openness (writing, stand-up, content, crypto, AI).
• Self-admittedly struggled with consistency & structure — now rebuilt through collaboration and systems.

🔹 Rajat Sharma (Hoopr/Former Sony Music) – Cultural entrepreneur

• Co-founded Hoopr (music licensing startup), roots in indie music + brand strategy.
• Constantly blending creativity with fast pivoting — a chaos-resilient founder with cultural fluency.

🔹 Low Openness + High Conscientiousness

Systematic, methodical, prefers structure over novelty.

Ideal Roles:

• Civil services
• Law enforcement
• Finance, auditing
• Manufacturing or supply chain management

Examples:

• Kiran Bedi – No-nonsense, structure-driven leadership. Iconic for enforcing systems and discipline.
• Raghuram Rajan – Data-first, intellectually rigorous but restrained in creative speculation. Precision and depth over novelty.

🔹 High Neuroticism + High Openness

Emotionally intense + deeply thoughtful. Ideal for empathy-led, expressive careers.

Ideal Roles:

• Design psychology
• Art therapy
• Social impact storytelling
• Writing, psychology, human-centered design

Examples:

• 🔹 Varun Grover – Writer, lyricist, satirist
• Combines dark introspection with biting commentary
• Wrote Masaan, Sacred Games dialogues, Tum Na Aaye lyrics
• Public about childhood trauma, socio-political anxiety, depression
• Turns pain into purpose — without theatrics

A poster child for High N + High O done right: art with edge, empathy, and existential clarity.

🔹 Deepika Padukone – Actress + Founder, Live Love Laugh Foundation

• One of the first celebs in India to publicly discuss clinical depression
• Now funds mental health programs, schools, digital therapy
• Balances commercial success with cause-driven living
• Open, sensitive, uses platform for psychological impact

🔹 High Extraversion + Low Openness

People-oriented, but not into abstract concepts or deep introspection.

Ideal Roles:

• Sales
• Marketing
• Real estate
• Ground-level politics, union organizing, direct client servicing

Examples:

• Anand Mahindra – Public-facing business leader, highly expressive, action-first, not caught in analysis paralysis.
• Nitin Gadkari – Bold, people-centric, makes things happen quickly with a focus on execution over theory.

🔹 High Agreeableness + High Conscientiousness

Team player. Reliable, cooperative, wants to serve or build community.

Ideal Roles:

• NGO sector
• Education leadership
• Project management in social impact
• HR/People Ops in mission-driven orgs

Examples:

• Sonam Wangchuk – Innovator with social conscience; blends discipline with humility.
• 📉 AI Is Coming For Your Job. Your Personality Is Your Moat.

The World Economic Forum says 44% of core skills will change in the next 5 years.
Coding, finance, even legal writing — AI is eating everything.

What can’t it copy?

• Your judgment
• Your creativity
• Your relationships
• Your unique wiring

These are traits defined not by your CV, but your psychological DNA.

A Personal Note:

I was once in a job that gave me power, stability, and a government bungalow.

But I didn’t feel alive.

It took me 11 years to realize: I was optimized for clarity, not command. For meaning, not maintenance.

That’s when I walked out of the IRS and built Syllabus of Life.

Not to preach. But to help you build the life I never had the guts to build earlier.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ?

If you’ve read this far, you know this isn’t just another “career gyaan” article.

This is your nudge.

Take the Big Five test.

Rebuild your career based on who you really are — not who your marksheet says you are.
And remember: a job should fit your soul, not just your skills.

🎙 “Kar lo career ka DNA test. Nahi toh life ek beta version ban ke reh jaayegi.”

If this makes sense,
Click here to take your Big Five test.
And build from clarity, not from fear.

By Ravi Kapoor, IRS (Retd)
Host – Syllabus of Life