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Before You Find “Your Thing”, Try Everything: The Case for Exploring Diverse Roles

We often hear the advice: “Pick your career path and stick to it.” And usually, it comes from someone like “that uncle who is your father’s friend”—the kind of advice every 90s kid has heard growing up.

That’s easy to say, but careers rarely follow a straight line. Many of us feel pressured to specialize early, worrying that trying different roles might make us look unfocused.

Let me tell you: “Career Clarity Comes from Curiosity”. Exploring diverse roles early in your career can make you sharper, more adaptable, and more prepared for the future. It helps you build a versatile skill set, gain perspective on different functions, and discover what truly excites you—all before committing to one path.

In this blog, we will explore why dabbling across multiple domains can be a smart career move, illustrated with real-life experiences from my journey across marketing, operations, and sales, and how it ultimately set me up for success in consulting.

The Value of Trying Multiple Hats: From Marketing to the World of Production

Fresh out of college, a job can seem glamorous. When you first start your career, a role might look exciting from the outside—but once you start, you quickly realize there is much more to it than meets the eye.

I kicked off my career in marketing at an automotive firm. If you think marketing is all about glossy campaigns and meetings with brand ambassadors, think again. A lot of it happens on the ground:

Chai (tea) over research: I spent hours at naka (check) points, chatting with drivers over a cup of chai, asking why they preferred a competitor’s product over ours.
Digging deep: Comparing performance, understanding pain points, and analyzing what really drives customer decisions.

Connecting the Dots

Every small insight matters! Marketing taught me that the “shiny” part is just the tip of the iceberg—real impact comes from understanding people, problems, and patterns.

But my curiosity did not stop there. Like many 90s kids inspired by shows like Food Factory, I wanted to see how things were made, not just sold. That is when I moved to plant operations.

Walking the plant floor was like stepping into a live version of that show—machines whirring, raw materials transforming into shiny finished products. And the responsibility was real:

Every second counts: One small issue can delay the entire production process.
Hands-on problem solving: I often had to stand on the production line for hours, ensuring that a problematic part did not halt operations.
Interconnected systems: From material supply to assembly and quality checks, every function relies on the other; one delay, and everything slows down.

Plant operations taught me discipline, precision, and resilience. It also showed me the importance of variety: life at the plant could be monotonous at times yet intensely fast-paced, a paradox that keeps you on your toes.

Read: Sales vs. Marketing: Differences, Roles & Alignment for Growth

The Humbling School of Sales

After operations, I moved into sales—and honestly, I think everyone should try a sales role at least once.

Sales teaches lessons you cannot get anywhere else:

Rejection builds resilience: Hearing “no” day after day quickly teaches you to keep going.
Listening is key: Understanding what the customer truly needs matters more than what you want to sell.
Gratification is real: Closing a live deal, seeing the tangible result of your effort, is unmatched.

But sales also humble your “wanderlust” a bit. You spend days traveling from customer to customer, only to sometimes sit and wait at the reception for hours, hoping someone shows up. Some days feel slow, frustrating, or even a little lonely. Yet, enduring these moments makes it easier to handle all other rejections and setbacks in life and career.

Leveraging the MBA

After working across marketing, operations, and sales, I pursued an MBA to connect real-world experience with structured learning. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made.

Relating to case studies: Concepts came alive because I had faced similar situations—supply chain bottlenecks in operations, customer behavior insights from marketing, and field-level sales challenges. Solving cases felt like applying lessons I had learned.
Tailoring my CV: My multidomain experience lets me position myself for multiple summer roles—strategy, operations, and consulting—showing recruiters breadth, not just specialization.

Weaving my story, connecting experiences across operations, sales, and marketing, helped me secure my consulting role.

Doing an MBA after work experience worked well for me. I could relate theory to reality, ask deeper questions, and leverage past roles to get the most out of learning. Of course, this path is subjective, but it shows how multidomain experience can make the MBA journey more rewarding!

Also read: 9 MBA Myths Busted: What They Don’t Tell You About IIM Life

Detours are not Delays – They are Discoveries

Exploring multiple roles early in your career is not about being indecisive; it’s about building perspective, skills, and resilience. Each experience, whether in marketing, operations, sales, or further learning through an MBA, adds a unique layer to your professional toolkit.

The key takeaway? Your career is a journey, not a straight line. Embrace detours, stay curious, and be willing to step into roles that challenge you. These experiences do not just fill your resume; they shape your problem-solving abilities, adaptability, and confidence.

At the end of the day, the smartest career move is not about picking the “perfect” path immediately; it is about exploring, learning, and connecting the dots along the way. For anyone starting out, my advice is simple: do not rush to specialize. Try different roles, gather insights, and let your unique journey become your greatest professional advantage.

Want to learn directly from the mind behind this article? Connect with Anchal Sara on Unstop for personalized 1:1 mentorship, expert guidance, and more!

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Anchal Sara

Unstop Mentor

Anchal is a technology consultant and an MBA graduate from IIM Lucknow. She’s navigated multiple roles and believes that detours aren’t mistakes—they’re career upgrades in disguise. In her words: "Your journey is like a chai, best brewed with curiosity, variety, and just the right amount of experimentation."