Fascinating post on EscapeBlog on how President Elect Barack Obama managed his career.

For  graduates just coming out of colleges and finding themselves challenged due to dire economy, there is plenty of food for thought here:

Barack Obama never escaped from Corporate America. But he has made many courageous and non-traditional career choices — all of which helped guide him to the White House.  He graduated from Columbia University and Harvard Law School and took a job as a community organizer. “Community organizer” was certainly not the most lucrative or prestigious choice to make (just ask Sarah Palin). Obama could have easily opted for a more traditional path and accepted a position at a law firm or as a corporate attorney. I’m sure many wise people advised him that he would never make any money as a community organizer.

But Obama followed his principles and his passions. They led him to the Illinois Senate, and then to the U.S. Senate (after an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives). And now, he’s preparing to move his family and new puppy into the White House. Oh yeah, and  along the way, he also became a bestselling author (so much for those predictions that he’d never make any money).

So what is Obama’s lesson for career changers? Don’t let anybody tell you that your dream is impossible or unrealistic. Your goal may very well be a long shot, but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve it. It may take a lot of hard work and some temporary sacrifices and discomfort, but so what? Nothing worth achieving is easy.

Now step back and think. Be unrealistic. Hard work and sacrifices.

Location is important part of any career management. Not all cities are equal when it comes to providing job opportunities. Industry research report confirms this.  ASSOCHAM sponsored research found that Pune, Lucknow and Pondicherry lead among tier-II cities and they provide good job opportunities:

Pune has emerged as the leading employment provider destination in various tier-II cities in the country, followed by Lucknow and Pondicherry, points out an Assocham study on job opportunities.

Pune, with a share of 16.5 per cent, is the number one job provider while Lucknow and Puducherry accounted for 12.30 per cent and 10.50 per cent respectively, out of the total jobs tracked by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in the last quarter of fiscal 2007-08.

Titled as ‘Tier II and III Cities New Employment Centre’, the study highlights Pune’s top five employment generating sectors comprising IT, ITeS, Banking, Education, and Automobile.

The top five sectors in Lucknow which have created vast employment opportunities in the period under reference include Education, Banking, FMCG, Insurance, and ITeS.

In case of Puducherry, these are Aviation, Banking, Energy, FMCG and Hospitality, the study says.

Among tier-III cities, Ranchi has emerged as the top employment provider with a share of 13.80 per cent. Manglore and Mysore were ranked second and third, constituting 11.60 per cent and 11.08 per cent of the total vacancies offered, the study, released by ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawant says.

Nowadays, social networking has been influencing the community a lot. Here we have taken the initiative to give the developers community a new platform to showcase their technical, academic and project expertise and achievements along with their personal information.

At CodeMunch it’s our regular effort to provide community with a tool that will help them out to showcase their skills- technical and personal; in a smart way. We at CodeMunch have the general motto- come, join and showcase your expertise and skills.

Take a quick look at what geeks are doing here on CodeMunch.