Dear Priya,
I've been through this thread, and it took me quite a few threads until I got to know what you actually are, and so this response.
I'm sure you would know this; else, take it as a learning, for who knows there might be someone else in this vast community who might benefit from this.
Operations Research is actually a unique and diverse domain, as it refers to the science of decision-making. Be it Public or Private, all companies deal with operations. Careful planning and analysis help to manage any service efficiently, and this is where an OR expert has to play the lead role.
It is a very promising career, and the employment rate is expected to grow much faster. OR analysts help organizations and companies effectively manage materials, money, equipment, time, and people. They are hugely in demand in all sectors. Operations and research analysts are top-level employees as they are the masterminds who lead the advancements in many fields and contribute hugely to the growth of the company.
Operation Research (OR) passouts hold jobs in Decision Support/Business Analytics/Marketing Analysis/Logistics planning. Some with a considerable amount of experience may go on to become independent consultants, while others move on to become chief operating officers in corporate management.
It makes the best use of qualities of professionals dealing in OR, i.e., process modeling, analysis of options, and business analytics acumen. OR involves applying advanced technical skills and mathematical modeling methods to improve decision-making. Students with a mathematical or scientific background, who wish to pursue a career in business, are best suited and preferred for this career. It is also known as Management Science or Industrial Engineering.
People who deal in Operations Research have a key role to play in developing new ideas of Simulations, Understanding of Business, Networking, Optimization, Forecasting, Problem-structuring, Scheduling, Marketing, Defense, Dynamic, linear, or Non-linear Programming, Probability, and Statistics. It is expected of the people involved in Operations research to come up with extensive plans, procedures, and standards which may be of practical importance and which may help the possible future developments in the business.
Skill Sets most people seek are strong interpersonal skills, good written and oral communication skills, and the ability to think logically are some of the basic skills needed to do well in Operation Research.
Programming skills are an added advantage. Knowledge of software tools, experience in technological advances, or any involvement in analytical study gives an extra edge to go for it. The candidate must also be detail-oriented.
Having said this I would impress upon you to go about your next job search rather strategically, by that I mean look for companies that can use your education and induct you. For that you need to look at those companies' business and propose as to the areas you feel you can add value. Even as a newcomer, there are areas in which you can make your contributions.
Let me share with you all one from my own experience of this.
It dates back to the year 2003, I got a letter from the HOD of the CS Dept of the University of Shillong, recommending one young boy for a 6-month compulsory project one has to do to earn an MCA degree. He introduced the young man in his letter and added that he is one of the brightest sparks he has met in his teaching career of 25 years. Seeing the letter I kept thinking for a couple of days, whether this was "salesmanship" or a "genuine" praise. Anyway after a discussion with my senior colleague, we decided to take the boy for the project. I conveyed this and on a fixed day the boy arrived in Secunderabad. He called me as soon as he got down off the train and told me the place from where he is calling. He asked me for the directions, and was in our workplace with bag in 40 minutes after that. I received him and asked him if he as come to this place Hyderabad before. The young man told me he has come down the hills for the first time in his life. He, in fact, told me eh also got into the train for the first time. Amazing it sounded but it was true. We helped him settle down and arranged that he gets accommodated with one of our younger colleagues who also welcomed this arrangement.
Diligent as he was this young man started off on his project and his curiosity enabled him to pick up things needed to enable his project to move smoothly. It so happened that the company had taken a technical decision to move some parts of our project to the Linux environment. The kit was sent to us from our principals with all instructions. Our network administrator tried his best but couldn't, so two seniors were asked to help. They did the best they could too, but didn't succeed.
This young man saw the crowd around the machines and a discussion in the local language (he could speak English and Assamese, understand Hindi to an extent), which most people do. He asked me what it was about. I went around and found out what the challenge exactly was. It was the inability to install the Linux operating system. I told this young man about it.
He replied back, "I can do it, Sir!" Surprised as I was, I asked him if he will, to which he replied in the positive. I appraised my senior colleague about this, who gave a sarcastic smile and said, "Do you really think he can?"
I said, "I think he can, and I feel he should be given a chance, after all, it'll be just a little time we lose nothing more." The young man was assigned the job, which he went about with the precision of an experienced surgeon and within an hour the Linux was installed, ready for use. It was an amazing moment; everyone applauded the young man.
His status from then on had changed drastically, from just a student for a project to a mini technical expert. He was immediately considered for a job with a higher than normal start, even though he was in the mid-way of his project. The young man was more than happy; he completed his project, went back to the hills of Assam to submit his project and return back to take our offer. Thus began his career with us. He worked for four years after which the situation changed drastically, and the young man had to go back to Assam. The last I heard was he also went on to complete a Ph.D., and later moved back to work somewhere in Bangalore. Since my contact details changed several times in this period, I've not got a chance to reconnect with him again, but who knows I might someday if it is destined.
The narrative, therefore, was to tell you that you can add value if you are sure of your skills and competence. That's what you might have to work on selling to change over and to make a career.
Best wishes.