The First Two Years

Sep 23 2024 31 ep. 22 mins 13

The First Two Years Podcast artwork

An early careers podcast from the newsroom of The Ken, hosted by Akshaya Chandrasekaran, The First Two Years will ask—and answer—the most important and interesting questions about learning to succeed at work.

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Season finale: Finding joy in your first job

Sep 23 2024 26 mins

In the final episode, host Akshaya Chandrasekaran searches for what makes people in the first two years of their careers happy. And the right way to say goodbye to the listeners. One last thing before we go. You can always write to us at [email protected] with feedback, tips, and suggestions for upcoming shows. Thank you for listening. The First Two Years is produced from the ne

Best early-career advice we've got so far (part 2)

Sep 16 2024 23 mins

Take the happiness survey to be a part of the season finale here.The debut season of TFTY was jampacked with insight, international guests, and interesting takeaways. This season, we learned how to ask for help without worrying about looking stupid, turn a job that you have into the one that you want, network when you hate networking, look for a Dravid in a mentor and build a perso

Best early-career advice we’ve got so far (part 1)

Sep 09 2024 23 mins

The debut season of TFTY was jampacked with insight, international guests, and interesting takeaways. This season we walked away from unhappy jobs, built trust with difficult colleagues, asked for feedback even when we dreaded it, fought for promotions, and bounced back from mistakes. We spoke to forensic psychologists working in maximum-security prisons and former poker players tu

How to take a gap year without being left behind

Sep 02 2024 24 mins

Graduates entering the workforce are no longer quitting jobs because they are unhappy. They are doing so because they realize they could be happier. After facing one of the most challenging placement seasons in years, many are left with the feeling of compromise. They either compromised on the role, the company, or the pay package. Instead of, making do with what they have, they ar

Special episode: Know when to walk away from an 'unhappy' job with Annie Duke

Aug 26 2024 26 mins

Have you ever struggled with knowing when to walk away from a job? You know you’re not happy with where you are, but you are scared about taking the next step. You don’t entirely know what the future holds. This is especially harder when you are starting out in your career. You don’t have the benefit of hindsight or years of experience to leverage. Every decision you make –

InMobi's Piyush Shah on ditching passion in favour of curiosity

Aug 19 2024 33 mins

Career paths are spoken about as though it's linear. When we say climbing the career ladder, we mean no change in directions, no jerks in movements, only straight ahead and upward. But today’s guest has a career path which is anything but linear – Piyush Shah, co-founder of InMobi group and President of Glance. His entrepreneurial journey has seen numerous pivots, innovations,

"Can you even have a personal brand without any work experience?"

Aug 12 2024 25 mins

It is conventional wisdom that building a personal brand is good for you. But in a tough job market, it can become your competitive advantage. Something that will set you apart. Something that will give you an edge. Something that will get you a foot in the door. But how does one build a personal brand without any work experience? Is there a way to do it without coming across as in

How to say no to ‘non-promotable tasks’ and advance your career

Aug 05 2024 23 mins

A year into her first job, Shreya feels like she’s not learned anything concrete. She said yes to every task, every request, and every opportunity that came her way as an associate product manager. “Proofread your colleague’s presentation.” “Take notes at a meeting” “Plan an intern’s onboarding” “Participate in someone’s brainstorming meeting”Shreya wanted t

Your first salary will determine your career earnings. Should you negotiate?

Jul 29 2024 29 mins

Your starting salary determines all your future raises and bonuses — meaning it will have a long-term impact on your career earnings. Still, most companies have fixed pay ranges for entry-level positions with little to no scope for negotiation. You are new. You don’t have years of experience. You probably went to a decent college. But you have very little bargaining power even

Why you need a 'boomer bestie' at work

Jul 22 2024 26 mins

In his first few months at his first job, Arya had made some lifelong friends. Unlike many work friendships, his just happened to include a nearly three-decade age gap. It all began when Arya, a multimedia producer, decided to join a TV news company. Shy and new to the city, he looked around to see there was nobody in his age bracket except him. “Initially, it was a bit daunting,