Ankur Warikoo says one job need not define you, shares his first job experience

A Rs 15,000 salary, a physics degree and a PhD left unfinished did not look like the start of a polished career story for Ankur Warikoo. His first job eventually put him on a path that changed his life, but he says it need not define the entire future.

Warikoo recalled that his first job paid him Rs 15,000 a month. He had a physics degree, was a PhD dropout and found himself surrounded by MBAs while creating training content for sales professionals.

“I felt out of place,” he wrote in a post on X.

At the time, there was no grand plan behind taking that job. Warikoo said he simply needed an income.

The turning point came through his boss. She told him that her husband worked for the Indian School of Business, or ISB, which was then only five years old, according to Warikoo’s account.

That introduction led him to apply to business school. He got through and took what he described as the biggest loan of his life to pay for the programme.

“That year changed my life,” he wrote. But that was not how it felt while it was happening.My first job paid me Rs 15,000 a month.I had a physics degree.A PhD dropout.And here I was - surrounded by MBAs - meant to create training content for sales professionals.I felt out of place.One day my boss told me that her husband worked for a place called ISB.That is— Ankur Warikoo (@warikoo) October 1, 2026YOUR NEXT JOB DOES NOT NEED A LIFE STORYWarikoo used the experience to make a broader point about how people approach jobs and careers, and their futures.

“We put so much pressure on the next job to explain the rest of our life,” he wrote, listing questions about whether a role will become their calling, career or a decision they will always be proud of.

His advice is simpler: a job does not have to explain your entire future.

“Sometimes the job just needs to pay you, teach you something and put you around people you can learn from. That is enough work for one job to do.”

For jobseekers, Warikoo pointed to practical needs: “Money is a need. Experience is a need. Growth is a need. Work-life balance is a need. Network is a need.”

His final message is reassuring: “It is ok to take up a job without being able to tell an impressive story about it yet.”- EndsRead | Ankur Warikoo shares 5 money rules that helped him build wealth after age 40Read | JEE failure didn't stop him: Ankur Warikoo shares story of self-taught designer