Have Women Assumed Significant Roles in their Occupations

Women Occupations

Call Centre Executive

Every evening at 8.30 pm, Shefali Modi walks out of her apartment, in formal attrire, to a waiting Chevrolet Tavera cab. The cab already has five other ladies seated, along with a Security Guard and a driver. This is a 5-day routine for Shefali who works in the graveyard shift for a multinational BPO, as a Senior Call Centre Executive.

Says Shefali, “I am just 24 years old and I think I am doing professionally well. Though most senior positions are male-dominated, I would be happy to take over such positions someday, as I am very ambitious and hard-working.”

Secretary or an Executive Assistant’s

“Historically, a Secretary or an Executive Assistant’s job has been confined to women, though now men have started exploring these career options,” reveals Vandana Malkani, who works as an Executive Secretary to the Managing Director of a tea company.

“Organising, managing and coordinating come naturally to a woman. A woman can really taste success in a Secretary’s role by working for good organisations, under great bosses. For instance, real-estate magnate Donald Trump has always acknowledged the role of his lady executive assistant in his worklife.

Bookkeeper

“Bookkeeping might not be a great career option for most girls of my age today”, says 29-years old Suparna Chatterjee, who works in a financial firm in Pune. She continues, “This job gives me a decent income and I get adequate time to spend with my husband and kids. I feel material success is not always important and a career such as bookkeeping is good to earn a livelihood but it would be nice to see more girls going for this profession.”

IT Programmer

Sheetal Jha, has nurtured her dreams of making it big in the IT world, ever since she finished her Software Programming course from Patna. “One does not find too many women in the IT industry – which is such a huge component of the Indian economy. Somewhere, I feel a woman compromises her dreams of making it to the top, either when she gets married or have babies and stop working.”

“I have decided to make a mark for myself in the field of IT – as we lack women leaders here.”

Retail

Snigdha Roy, Head – Sales Disision, of a garment retail chain, says, “I make annual targets for my entire team in India and ensure that these targets are met. My performance, in a way, finally impacts the company’s bottomline. I am glad to be in such a responsible position, especially being a woman.”

Housekeeper

“Every day I have to ensure that a guest staying in our hotel feels at home – right from giving the guest clean towels to bedsheets and soap bars to the fruit basket,” says Seema Vidyarthi, Manager – Housekeeping in a luxury hotel. “My job is akin to what I do at home. So, I take my job personally and enjoy every bit of it. I am happy that most women are assuming such roles in the hospitality industry, which was otherwise a man’s domain.”

Travel Agent

Usha Singh, is a Senior Relationship Manager with a travel and tour company in Delhi. “As women, I feel, we have better relationship-building and persuasive skills than men – which is important in our industry. Though my lady colleagues have done as well as men in our organisation, we are not promoted to higher posts like men.”

“I would like to see myself in a senior position someday soon. Else, mostly, in family-run businesses, do we get to see a woman in the top leadership.”

Receptionist

As a Receptionist in a hotel that has just started its operations in Delhi, Rupa Arora has this to say about her profession, “As a Receptionist, I feel empowered. I see myself as a facilitator, a coordinator and an important fulcrum in the entire running of this hotel business. An interaction gone wrong with our guest can lead to tremendous loss.”

“I understand the value of this profession and I feel that it has always been a woman’s area of expertise and will remain so.”

All the interactions that we have had with individuals from the eight different occupations seemed to be pointing towards one direction – “A woman is very focussed in what she is doing today and is poised to fill the void of making it to the top leadership position through sheer determination and hard work”.

 

- Suniet Bezbaroowa  (views expressed in the article are that of the author)

 

 

 

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