Monday, July 09, 2007
On The Job: Alternate Careers
The other day I was watching one of the TV shows on M-TV. The show is called “On The Job”. It’s a very fresh concept and with a very different perspective. The show concentrates on the alternate careers. In this show people every week there is a alternate career in focus, something like a product designer, choreographer, DJ, VJ, radio jockey, bartender or a stylist. People are screened in the top 3 make it to the screen where they are provided with the setup and facilities and made to do tasks which they need to do on the job. During the course of the show it provides ample information for people who are planning to pursue the alternate career of the week. Finally the winner of the show who does the given job best gets a chance to be an intern with one of the best names in the career in focus.
First time in India, the alternate careers are being focused by such a mass media. One of the greatest problem with the people who are willing to follow alternate career paths is the resistance from the family. Despite all the cosmopolitan culture influencing India, still the mom’s psyche out when a son says he wants to be a bartender or a daughter says that she wants to be a choreographer. Answers like “Kya tum engg ya medicine nahi kar sakte” or “ Complete your degree from here and do an MBA”. This resistance from the families majorly because of two reasons one being lack of information, and the second being the amount of uncertainty associated with alternate careers.
With M-TV bringing the idea of alternate careers right into our living rooms, makes it acceptable that people are willing to join these careers. There has been a plethora of shows which were necessarily talent shows and they primarily concentrate on the talents of people and career opportunity associated with them. First time with “On The Job” a TV show has tried to sneak peak into the world of alternate careers. Focusing not on the talents of the participants but on the career choices people would like to make.
It is a very good opportunity identified by M-TV, as it connects very well with its target audience. Which essentially consist of youth and the cosmopolitan crowd of India. It not only entertains but also gives a very different perspective to the people who actually are looking forward to pursue alternate careers. With all the monotonous monologue on the television, “On The Job” provides a refreshing change.
