I live in a competitive city, where there are a lot of professional Pakistanis. I feel like based off my age and the fact I grew up in the US and went to college here I should be in a higher position. I am making inroads to get to a higher position, but it’s so tough being in my current position as it is very entry level.
I have many demands-taking care of parents, buying a home, getting married, etc. How do I handle this predicament? Do you sometimes feel, compares to other Pakistani professionals, you are not up to par with them?
Re: Career Development Progress
I live in a competitive city, where there are a lot of professional Pakistanis. I feel like based off my age and the fact I grew up in the US and went to college here I should be in a higher position.
Um no. You can't use being born and raised in the states as your golden ticket. Only white males can do that ;) Kidding (sorta)
In all seriousnes though, I've seen that immigrants tend to be a lot more ambitious than people who were born and raised here. I think it's because they have more to lose (?). The demands that you mention are not unique to you, and you can't use them to justify your thinking. Granted, some people climb the career ladder much faster than others, but that is usually because they are either: a) super talented, b) super charming, or c) smart enough to make their bosses think they are either super talented or super charming.
Work on developing your people skills. They will take you far :)
Re: Career Development Progress
LOL….thousands and thousands of other desis were born/raised in the U.S. and went on to get their Bachelors’s/masters/JD/MD/PhD etc. here. Let’s not even mention that you’re competing with white men.
If you feel that other Pakistani professionals you know who are the same age as your that are doing better…then look to see what they did different. Higher ranked college/impressive grades/great previous work experience/outside community activities that impresses most employers/aggressive networking……there are MANY things they could have done to make themselves more attractive to employers.
Why do you have to buy a home? Something wrong with renting an apartment or a home until you feel more financially stable? 
I’m assuming you’re a guy so again….what’s your rush to get married if you don’t feel you make enough to support a wife/child….especially since your parents already depend on you.
Trajectories differ and paths differ. Starting point is important which is often dependent on name of uni, grades, and program. Aside from that things can happen that throw you off your plan/path.
The three ways I have seen is getting in a larger company with career paths and growing and moving up with effort as well as ppl skills, networking, looking for opportunities etc. The second thing is to make moves, making moved up to a different organization should be a focus and not just lateral or parallel move. Third is to go to a senior role in a smaller company, with a goal to return to a larger company at a more senior role. Essentially bypassing the churn and rise phases at the large company.
Parallel moves are fine if they place you in a position to move up, but you will spend some time before moving up.
Two risks
1- staying in a dead end role or team, because you have diminishing returns for each year you are there. The big risk here is that you may end up being too expensive for that level role on a different organization so parallel moved are tough, and u have to focus on getting up.
2- making too many parallel moves. If you feel you are not moving up and move sideways to another team or company, now you have to put in the time before you can move up, and if you don't and make a move again, you can be in the same situation
Now aside from just moves and all, what will enable you to do that or more.
Skills... What is up and coming that will have need of experts. Go get trained, spend own money even, try getting into projects that have some overlap with this growth area, get involved in associations, meet up groups etc.
Build your brand, who are you, what differentiates you from others.
Lastly, career success is relative, title, money, passion, fun, interest all play a role. Some ppl want to be experts in their field and don't want mgmt responsibilities for some it's something else. Don't gauge success by any other scale than your own primarily. That is first and foremost. Others come after that.
As far as your question, yes there are some who are doing much better than me, and others who are not. Fields, drive, plan, luck, circumstances all play a role. The question is if you feel you can be doing more, how do you get there..so that calls for honest introspection, goal setting and planning. It will not happen in a day or a year, but every day or year you are not going on a plan you are losing out on driving to the plan
Re: Career Development Progress
Make connections, get out there and meet people. Nowadays, sad to say a lot of the good jobs come with meeting people who are also in higher paid jobs and mingling with them. I would attend any office get togethers and really make yourself known.
Everything is good on paper, like a post grad degree, wide range of experiences, etc. but that won't help if the person can't put a name to a face. I've seen this a lot and also heard about it a lot from friends in differing careers, from CA's to doctors. Sometimes you need to go the extra mile if you really want the job.
Re: Career Development Progress
I live in a competitive city, where there are a lot of professional Pakistanis. I feel like based off my age and the fact I grew up in the US and went to college here I should be in a higher position. I am making inroads to get to a higher position, but it's so tough being in my current position as it is very entry level. I have many demands-taking care of parents, buying a home, getting married, etc. How do I handle this predicament? Do you sometimes feel, compares to other Pakistani professionals, you are not up to par with them?
I've (kind of) been in a similar position. Born and raised here in a similar city, educated here as well....when I started looking for a job I was frustrated because I thought it shouldn't be so hard.
Growing up, (and based on what I've read on other forusm, it's NOT just a desi thing, it's more of a generational thing) we're taught that once you graduate college, getting a job would be so easy.
Personally, there was never an emphasis on me having a career, or even a job when I was in HS/college....when I was done iwht school, the thinking was--I can speak English fluently, have a Bachelors degree, know how to use computers, it should be so easy to get a job.
Not true at all.
Now, a lot of my friends who graduated with me, they're successful in their careers, but the biggest difference (or hte only difference rather) was, that they had the focus in college that I didn't. They had clear goals in their mind and knew what they wanted and went after it. That's it.
I know what my priorities were in college/after college, and I know I've been on a completely different track than most people.
Re: Career Development Progress
Let me give you very specific personal examples
3 companies...
one which never moved beyond initial discussions,
another that sent me a form rejection letter,
and 3rd which went dark after an initial discussion
...now are all in play.
First one because I met an SVP from that company at a conference and he was impressed, send his personal recommendation to hiring manager of a team which did not even have roles posted but I am in offer stages with them.
Second one, i knew the hiring SVP there from previous interactions where i was actually trying to sell services to him, once i pinged him, he forwarded my info to recruiter who contacted me in 30 minutes after that and I am in offer stages with them now.
the last one...she knew I knew ppl at the company, and then I ran into the recruiter at a job fair...but that personal interaction drove her to get me to come in for final round, same place the hiring manager who was interested in our phone conversations told me to call him asap if my situation changes and I need to make a decision on another role
..meanwhile another company that had made a lowball offer had me meet with the new guy they hired who would be my boss. as we were speaking he decided to move me to a higher role and said he will try to figure out a better package.
The intent here is not to show off...I also applied and interviewed for roles paying less and were going to be backup safety net options, and they went nowhere, clearly I had the skills and knowledge, but that was not enough, they went dark. The point is that networking and getting face time is critical..plus what do you do to differentiate yourself. Those on this site who know me more personally know that I write for industry publications, speak at events etc, and that is one key reason..not just saying i am an expert or am passionate about the field...but showing it.
Last, this is an ongoing process...you have to do it in good times and bad. help others out, pay it forward, stay engaged..keep building your brand, network. It will make a tremendous difference. Just 5 years ago, I was in a strange position where my new boss and I simply were at massive odds and he would have forced me out. horrid economy in 2009, and I had invested all my goodwill and networking in the company but not out as much. I decided then that I had to make a change there and slowly not only build the network but get myself established as a professional who works at company xyz and not just a company xyz employee..meaning i had to stand out as a professional on my own, not just be seen as or have the title or company name define me professionally.
Tons more to be done for me too, but taking that first step was important. I would encourage you to have networking and personal brand building as part of your plan.
Re: Career Development Progress
I live in a competitive city, where there are a lot of professional Pakistanis. I feel like based off my age and the fact I grew up in the US and went to college here I should be in a higher position. I am making inroads to get to a higher position, but it's so tough being in my current position as it is very entry level. I have many demands-taking care of parents, buying a home, getting married, etc. How do I handle this predicament? Do you sometimes feel, compares to other Pakistani professionals, you are not up to par with them?
When you are in entry level position you are competing against everybody not only the Pakistani professionals. You need to make yourself standout. How do you do that? Think out the box , be a bulldozer, volunteer to extra assignment , present ideas , solicit ideas to improve your work , improve your performance , improve your surroundings , improve your environment, make an impact on others , their lives , their work. Now the high demands you are talking about, a lot of folks have those but they do not consider those as a reason not to excel at work they consider them a reason to excel. These should not be your handicaps , these should be your challenges, they should give you adrenaline rush not depression. These challenges should help you bloom not wilt.
If life did not offer challenges and people did not tackle them we all would still be living in caves and would be eating insects.
I can find 1000 reasons which are preventing me from utilizing my full potential and I can use those same reason to utilize my full potential and more and achieve my goals and dreams.
Re: Career Development Progress
Trajectories differ and paths differ. Starting point is important which is often dependent on name of uni, grades, and program. Aside from that things can happen that throw you off your plan/path.
The three ways I have seen is getting in a larger company with career paths and growing and moving up with effort as well as ppl skills, networking, looking for opportunities etc. The second thing is to make moves, making moved up to a different organization should be a focus and not just lateral or parallel move. Third is to go to a senior role in a smaller company, with a goal to return to a larger company at a more senior role. Essentially bypassing the churn and rise phases at the large company.
Parallel moves are fine if they place you in a position to move up, but you will spend some time before moving up.
Two risks
1- staying in a dead end role or team, because you have diminishing returns for each year you are there. The big risk here is that you may end up being too expensive for that level role on a different organization so parallel moved are tough, and u have to focus on getting up.
2- making too many parallel moves. If you feel you are not moving up and move sideways to another team or company, now you have to put in the time before you can move up, and if you don't and make a move again, you can be in the same situation
Now aside from just moves and all, what will enable you to do that or more. Skills... What is up and coming that will have need of experts. Go get trained, spend own money even, try getting into projects that have some overlap with this growth area, get involved in associations, meet up groups etc.
Build your brand, who are you, what differentiates you from others.
Lastly, career success is relative, title, money, passion, fun, interest all play a role. Some ppl want to be experts in their field and don't want mgmt responsibilities for some it's something else. Don't gauge success by any other scale than your own primarily. That is first and foremost. Others come after that.
As far as your question, yes there are some who are doing much better than me, and others who are not. Fields, drive, plan, luck, circumstances all play a role. The question is if you feel you can be doing more, how do you get there..so that calls for honest introspection, goal setting and planning. It will not happen in a day or a year, but every day or year you are not going on a plan you are losing out on driving to the plan
great post....the only thing i would add....in larger organizations, one should try to get into leadership programs as early as possible. If you are in finance organization in a Fortune 100 firm, you will never move up unless you were product of company's finance leadership programs which will put you on an accelerated path otherwise you will be one of those 1000 FPA guys...and nothing wrong with it if that is what you want. remember money and promotion bring a lot of stress....A LOT OF STRESS!