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Which is the right career for you?

figure it out
Last Updated 19 October 2016, 18:38 IST

New careers have always been replacing the old ones. Earlier they took years to evolve and decades to become attractive. Having moved to the fast track, the working world today offers new and exciting careers almost every year.

As a result, now young people on the threshold of selecting their career paths are faced with the problem of plenty. There is so much to choose from that most students get more and more confused. In many cases, parents want their wards to take up traditional ‘safe’ careers. A majority of teachers are ignorant of current opportunities and hence, despite their wanting to, they are unable to help their students in this area.

Some education boards such as ICSE, NIOS and IGCSE offer students the option of dropping subjects by Class 9. Hence, a student can complete his or her Class 10 without studying subjects he or she does not like. Yet, most parents are wary of taking such a step because they wish to ‘keep all options open’. This may be good for some students who are capable of studying all subjects since they get a stronger and wider foundation. But this would be detrimental to those who have to struggle, fail in some subjects and go through the agony of repeatedly giving exams.

Understand the basics

By the time students reach high school, they start showing specific signs of what they are good at and what they would probably excel in. Sometimes, this process is overshadowed by a deep desire in a child to pursue a field which he believes he is passionate about. If the high interest level is not backed up with talent and aptitude, the student may be in for a great disappointment.

Similarly, many other students may claim interest in a field without even knowing the basics of that domain. For example, I get youngsters who claim they are  strongly interested in ‘Automobile Design’. When I question them about their creativity, their design skills or what they have achieved or explored in that area, they have nothing to say. When probed further, they come out with the answer that they just love riding motorbikes! They do not understand that designers do not go about riding bikes but sit for long hours on the computer terminal doing minute calculations, exploration, adjustments and drawings.

An ideal situation would be if every school could have at least one or two high school teachers trained to guide their students. Such teachers would need constant inputs and upgrading, since the career scenario keeps changing rapidly. If that is not possible, then the role of parents is crucial. It will be very nice if parents start giving practical exposure to their child from a young age to different kinds of professions.

When the children are sick, the parents should explain the role of a doctor, when the child travels by a vehicle, the parents should explain how engineers make automobiles and when children use an app, they should be told about programmers and app designers. The parents should  encourage children to dabble in anything they want viz drawing, dancing, sports, caring for a pet, assembling mechanical objects. Such children will be able to have a wider perspective of the range of careers available and they will learn to be curious, explore a variety of vocations and slowly start narrowing down to what suits them the most. If this is not done, we can expect many children to be at crossroads when they reach Class 10 or 12 and then get anxious as to what path to take up next.

Selecting subjects, Boards of study, colleges and courses is often an irreversible process at these crossroads. Many students (or their parents on their behalf) often take decisions without having the proper knowledge. I have counselled innumerable families whose focus is on ‘safe’ options and on vocations that have a good ‘scope’. Unfortunately, they do not realise that the world is changing fast and one has to have a vision to look ahead by 40 to 50 years.

Hence, the selection of subjects, courses and colleges should be based on the following parameters:

Interest of the child (based on comprehensive knowledge of the field).
Personality traits, lifestyle, expectations in life etc.
Financial ability of the family, social norms, willingness to go to new cities and the ability to sustain hard work.

Availability of courses, possibility of admission and reputation of educational institutions.
Aptitude is the most important aspect. This is the potential of the individual to succeed in a specific career. It includes basic IQ, multiple intelligences, left and right-brain characteristics, social and commercial skills, ability to grasp, concentration and memory, motivation levels and capacity for consistent work.

It is possible for an understanding and committed family to analyse the above with a little help from knowledgeable people and come to the right decision.

But in reality, most parents are not even aware that these factors have to be taken into account. These are the people who require professional guidance through holistic aptitude tests, and patient and detailed counselling step by step, to go through a process of elimination and selection. Good career counsellors also offer continued hand-holding if the student has a change of mind, is struggling in academics, or has to take subsequent decisions on higher education. Professional career counselling should be taken up when a student:

Is either unable to identify any career goal, or has a very wide interest in unconnected professions.

Is not able to gather the right information about courses, admission procedures, colleges etc.

 Has a passion for a vocation, but his skills do not seem to be matching his interest.
While selecting the appropriate person or institution for career counselling, one should ensure that the counsellor has sufficient experience, is up-to-date in courses and admission procedures, conducts holistic aptitude tests and is patient in discussing wide ranging doubts of the student and parents, and is willing to be available to clarify and guide over a period of at least three to four years, when the student goes through higher education.

(The author is founder and chairman, Banjara Academy, Bengaluru)

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(Published 19 October 2016, 15:24 IST)

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