Former Syndicate Bank Chairman Ajay Nanavati has shared his first appointment letter from Tata Consulting Engineers on LinkedIn, starting a discussion about career choices.
The letter, dated July 4, 1977, offered him a monthly salary of Rs 960, which is equal to about 10 US dollars today.
Why He Chose Tata
Nanavati said he had just returned to India after studying chemical engineering in the US. He expected companies to offer him good jobs, but the salary in his first appointment letter came as a surprise.
Recalling the moment, he wrote, “My father, who’d spent a small fortune on that education, took one look at my starting salary and went quiet.” His father, who was then the managing director of a multinational company, still advised him to “take the offer”.
Nanavati admitted the salary affected his confidence. “My sense of self-worth landed hard. I’d thought I was cat’s whiskers and companies would be falling all over themselves to hire me,” he wrote.
Although he had better-paying offers, he chose Tata for reasons beyond salary.
“The lure of working at Tata, inside Bombay House, mattered more than the gap in salary.”
A Career-Changing Decision
He joined as an Assistant Commercial Officer on July 7, 1977. The appointment letter also mentioned that he could be transferred to any office or project in India or abroad.
Looking back, Nanavati called it “probably the smartest career decision” he ever made.
His Takeaway
Using his own experience, Nanavati advised young professionals to focus on learning instead of salary during the early years of their careers.
He wrote, “Compensation follows competence far more often than the other way around.”
He also encouraged youngsters to build strong skills, work with good leaders and choose jobs that help them grow. “That’s a hard sell against headline salaries and instant offers. I still think it holds up,” he added.
Post Sparks Discussion
His post received thousands of reactions, with many professionals sharing memories of their own first salaries.
The discussion eventually turned into a larger debate on whether young professionals should choose better learning opportunities or higher salaries at the start of their careers.
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