"Being in a noble sector brings its own difficulties too, both financially, and professionally."
That honesty is exactly what makes Aaditya's journey in the social sector worth hearing.
Aaditya Kumar belongs to Sitamarhi, a border district in Bihar. His father's transferable government job meant he lived, studied, and worked across multiple states growing up, an experience that broadened his outlook on life early on. His mother is a homemaker, and today he's married with a young daughter. An introvert at heart, he finds joy in reading, traveling, collecting coins, and good food.
Contrary to what people might expect from someone in the social sector, Aaditya is an Electrical Engineering graduate who went on to work with an MNC in IT, followed by an MBA in Marketing from BHU.
Since 2016, he's been working in the social sector, particularly in education, a path he describes as entirely accidental. He joined an organisation, and simply never left the space, drawn in by something hard to replicate elsewhere: the genuine smiles on the faces of the youth he works with.
The challenges haven't been small. One of the toughest has been fighting misconceptions, the assumption that people in the social sector couldn't land a "real" job, aren't well educated, or work for free.
Alongside that comes real instability: funding shortages and project closures that have cost him his job more than once, in a sector where performance isn't always what determines growth. Joblessness, he says plainly, is as tough here as in any other field, and explaining that reality, or simply asking for a fair salary, is often harder than people realise.
What he's learned is to take life as it comes and keep improving. His focus has shifted to constant upskilling, treating every setback as a reason to get better rather than give up.
Mahatma Gandhi remains his biggest influence, alongside Gautam Buddha, both guiding the quiet, grounded way he approaches his work and his life.
His advice to anyone entering the job market: keep learning, and try to earn one or two practical skill certifications every month.
His advice to anyone considering the social sector is even more direct, that it demands real corporate-level professionalism while still delivering genuine social impact, financially and emotionally. If you don't have the intent to handle both, he says honestly, this isn't the sector for you.
His honest message, grounded and real: this work isn't easy, and it isn't always stable, but if the smile on a young person's face is enough to keep you going, it's worth every challenge.
Aaditya Kumar belongs to Sitamarhi, a border district in Bihar. His father's transferable government job meant he lived, studied, and worked across multiple states growing up, an experience that broadened his outlook on life early on. His mother is a homemaker, and today he's married with a young daughter. An introvert at heart, he finds joy in reading, traveling, collecting coins, and good food.
Contrary to what people might expect from someone in the social sector, Aaditya is an Electrical Engineering graduate who went on to work with an MNC in IT, followed by an MBA in Marketing from BHU.
Since 2016, he's been working in the social sector, particularly in education, a path he describes as entirely accidental. He joined an organisation, and simply never left the space, drawn in by something hard to replicate elsewhere: the genuine smiles on the faces of the youth he works with.
The challenges haven't been small. One of the toughest has been fighting misconceptions, the assumption that people in the social sector couldn't land a "real" job, aren't well educated, or work for free.
Alongside that comes real instability: funding shortages and project closures that have cost him his job more than once, in a sector where performance isn't always what determines growth. Joblessness, he says plainly, is as tough here as in any other field, and explaining that reality, or simply asking for a fair salary, is often harder than people realise.
What he's learned is to take life as it comes and keep improving. His focus has shifted to constant upskilling, treating every setback as a reason to get better rather than give up.
Mahatma Gandhi remains his biggest influence, alongside Gautam Buddha, both guiding the quiet, grounded way he approaches his work and his life.
His advice to anyone entering the job market: keep learning, and try to earn one or two practical skill certifications every month.
His advice to anyone considering the social sector is even more direct, that it demands real corporate-level professionalism while still delivering genuine social impact, financially and emotionally. If you don't have the intent to handle both, he says honestly, this isn't the sector for you.
His honest message, grounded and real: this work isn't easy, and it isn't always stable, but if the smile on a young person's face is enough to keep you going, it's worth every challenge.
This story was told by Aaditya Kumar and published with their permission by the What's Your Story editorial team.
