Vivek Paranjpe, Consultant & Strategic HR Advisor to Reliance Industries answers professional and ethical dilemmas faced by our readers at their workplace.

Question: I am an engineer with a MBA (HR) with an experience of 17 years. I was fortunate to have got exposure in financial services, cement, software, and retail industries. At this point of my career (and 42 years of age) I feel a bit saturated. I find it difficult to plan my own career ahead as I am confused on what I should update myself on? What will be the demand in HR 5 - 8 years hence, so I can prepare myself accordingly?
Sachin Khadilkar, General Manager - Corporate HR, Garden Silk Mills Ltd

In normal course one can have a career of about 35+ years, so you are just half way through. I guess you are facing a mid-career crisis which is not unusual. A HR career in the knowledge economy is most rewarding since it considers human resource as one of the most valuable assets in the company. Update your knowledge and capabilities in various facets of HR like, C&B, learning and development, shared services, organization structure and design etc. Use reading and networking as tools to update yourself. It would be great if you can get a senior HR professional to mentor you. Consider teaching as a part time activity as teaching is one of the best forms of learning.
Do not get hooked on to the titles and position; focus on the role that you will enjoy most and which will bring more opportunities to learn. For true happiness, your aspirations should be commensurate with your capabilities, persona and knowledge.

You can post your questions to Vivek by writing to ask@peoplematters.in