Hmm, I have been in doubt whether to chip in to this thread or not, since I’m an expat from EU and “normal” rules don’t seem to apply. However, with this comment I hope to inspire for you to gain the confidence to aspire to higher heights than those who tell you, that it is impossible for Mauritians to get ahead.
My entry level job in EU paid 230k per month.
With 5 years work experience, I worked as a developer and consultant for a Mauritian IT company doing ERP getting 320k per month. Within 5 years that rose to 420k per month. Now I work from Mauritius as a freelance directly with foreign customers and do 900k per month, while only working 4 days per week.
My key take aways from my work experience so far are:
For your first job, find a boss that believes in you. When you do job interviews, remember that the interview goes both ways. An amazing chemistry with your boss will help you get interesting/challenging tasks and responsibilities, which will assist in your growth into even bigger roles.
Estimate the potential of the field you are going into. How big is the national/global market and how much of that will the company be able to get? There is no point in fighting a loosing battle and in reverse, it is easier to have a party if there is money to spare.
Follow your talent. We all have affinities to different things while we are not predetermined to do any one thing, so might as well choose to work with something that falls “easy” to you. Passion is also likely to grow from the opportunities and challenges that you will meet. Especially when working with knowledge bases fields, it is important to keep a growth mindset and learn throughout your life, so no reason starting out “behind”.
Be mindful of how much time and life you want to spend for your work place. You will not get lost family time and experiences back and nobody will thank you for not being there. Making 150k as an accountant working 60 hours per week is the correct choice for some, but not for all. Life is short…
Good luck in your future endeavors!