KOLKATA: It’s not the first job or right college. The most important career choice that women will make is in selecting the right partner, Facebook India managing director Kirthiga Reddy asserted on October 10.

The most important decision you will make is not your first job or college you go to, it’s the partner that you will choose. So make sure that you choose right,” Reddy said at a panel discussion here during an event.

Reddy, the first Indian employee of Facebook, stressed the importance of women communicating to their potential partners, their roles and career choices they plan to opt after marriage.

“Support systems, be it family, husband or friends, give women the advantage. And technology makes one have flexible working hours. Whether you work from home or your office, it’s the output that matters,” she said. In 2011, Reddy became one of Fortune India’s top 50 most powerful women in India.

Reiterating that “husbands are the most important career decision you will make”, Debjani Ghosh, Intel India’s South Asia vice president for sales and marketing, said not enough young Indian women were communicating their aspirations to their potential partners.

“It really surprises me even the best of the institutes where you have the brightest of minds, have few women who say they have a career discussion with the person they think they will be married to,” Ghosh said. Both the industry leaders emphasised on the need for creating an enabling environment for women at workplaces.

“If a woman employee is getting married or expecting a child, then don’t just assume she will stop working or her output will be low. Give her the choice,” Ghosh added.