CV1-I2-8-Career Planning

Prof. RSS Mani

Prof. RSS Mani is currently Vice President -Institutional Development for ITM Group of Institutions & has been a founding faculty member of ITM too. He leads several initiatives for institutional development including industry academia interface, faculty development, collaborations, new initiatives & CSR projects.  He is highly regarded in HR circles as a guru, mentor & an out of the box thinker. Besides, he is a career counsellor par excellence and has helped thousands groom their careers

The younger generation of today are at crossroads about their pursuit of educational careers. They are seeing the traditional career options losing their sheen and at the same time, a plethora of new career options have come into being. Further, due to the global exposure that is available through the internet & world wide web, there is an information overdose. A direct consequence of this is conflicting views and opinions about career choices both in the minds of the students & parents.

In the light of the above, here are some guidelines to make informed career choices:

• Parents MUST discuss with their children about the career aspirations and NOT force their career desires onto the student as this can lead to a complete chaos in the education path of the child.
• An aptitude test administered by a qualified career counsellor can show the right path; further the counsellor can also explain about various career choices to the aspiring student.
• All parents must ensure that they are not victims of peer pressure or try to impose their career path onto the children. Many parents get into a competitive mode, where career choices are determined by market trends or the HERD mentality and the aptitude of the child is ignored.
• Further students too must not fall prey to peer pressure amongst classmates. A normal tendency is to choose career options that childhood friends choose or the most in demand in the neighbourhood. Such a short-sighted approach would only lead to incorrect career choices and plenty of anxiety and confusion later on.
• In earlier years, the teacher used to be a great influencer of the career choice of the student. However, this trend in on the decline BUT the coaching class & its teachers have taken over this task. It is here where we see the peer pressure to a great extent.
• The right approach would be to do an aptitude test, ascertain one’s career choice based on potential and then work towards the same. A thorough research using the power of google can enlighten the family about the pros and cons of various institutions. This would also connect them with online groups such as alumni, researchers and provide a channel to get more information to make an informed choice. Besides, it would be great if the student and parent visit few institutions that their child wishes to join and understand about various courses they offer and review the infrastructure & facilities. Such a visit could also provide an opportunity to meet some of the faculty and get a realistic view from them. Career counseling is an extremely critical and useful activity in the life of a student .in a world that is full of choices and intensely competitive; it is important for one and all to plan their careers irrespective of social status. It is here that a career counselor could be most helpful as he/she could give expert guidance and also a dispassionate view of various career options.
• Another factor to tackle diplomatically is the peer pressure from the extended family & relatives who tend to make career choices of children a TEA TIME topic for discussion. Further, each person tends to believe that they know best and are the ultimate career experts. This leads to lots of judgmental decisions which is not in the interest of the child’s career.
• The younger generation of today is often called the fast food generation and always seem to be in a hurry. They wish to have faster tracks to complete their studies quickly, want jobs fast, then demand faster career successes and then also exit FAST. Thus, in this scenario an informed career choice made with a scientific approach could be a solid career foundation.
• It is very critical for all parents and teachers to help students to transit from school to college in a seamless & smooth manner. Further the transition for a junior college to a professional institution should be handled with utmost care and caution.
• A critical & important focus area for the younger generation is develop one’s overall personality. In today's competitive world the person who succeeds is the one who has multiple skills under his belt. Specialisation in an area is important but one should not be an over-specialist. It is useful to inculcate communication skills, inter-personal skills, teamwork skills to all children. These go a long way in boosting their confidence and build better impressions on one and all around them. It is required that the parents encourage the child to actively participate in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities at the school & college level. It is here that they learn valuable lessons of competitiveness and sportsmanship.

To summarise, all parents must initiate this process via schools to initiate an in-house career seminar for students at the beginning of std X. This would help students increase their awareness about various careers options and the requirements for the same. It is ideal that parents also attend these seminars as they can clarify their doubts and queries. I strongly advise that this is followed up with an aptitude test whose results need to be discussed on an individual basis with each student & their parent. Students are also advised that to build a solid career foundation, they must at least pursue a DEGREE course in their chosen area of interest. Short term courses etc may help you find a job in the short run BUT the career progression will be stunted over a period in the absence of a proper qualification. It would be then ideal to also complete a Master’s degree in the chosen area of interest.

Finally, here are 3 steps to make your admission process more comfortable and anxiety free;

Step I: Draw a list of colleges you wish to apply to.

It is every child’s dream to go the best college; however, the admission process is dependant not only on your performance but the relative performance of peers. Hence It is ideal to draw up a list of 10 colleges that one can apply to. This should be determined by the reputation, subjects offered, proximity from home and such. Besides all students should familiarize themselves with the admissions procedure and requirements for online application form submission. Further do keep attested copies of all important documents such as mark lists, domicile certificates, & such ready for use as needed during the process. It would be also useful to visit the college you are applying to and get some ideas about the courses and such and interact with some of the students & faculty onsite.

Step II: Confirm one admission.

Based on the admission process, take admission into the first college allotted to you. This will give you an admission in hand and minimize your anxiety to a great extent. Every system allows you to continue to try for a seat in the college of your choice although you have confirmed one seat for yourself. Do ensure that you are aware of the deadlines & last dates for these procedures and these are sacrosanct and cannot be extended. As most of these are available online, tracking becomes much easier and simpler.

Step III: Understanding the migration process.

It is important for us to realize that the process of migration from junior college to degree college has to be planned for also in a systematic manner. In some cases, we also have to plan for the migration from school to junior college or from std XII in a school to a degree college. Please ensure that all the procedures and norms for this migration are understood & followed. You may also need migration certificate if the transition is across states or across different boards. Since the rules vary from board to board and even state to state, sufficient preparation will make the task much easier.

Let us remember that careers are made by conscious planning. One should never choose careers because they are popular or easy to complete but choose the appropriate/right career for the right person. Let us remember that if careers are not planned they may go haywire. Besides, the latent potential that people possess may remain subdued and suppressed. Time that all executives, many of them who are parents also focus on career planning for their children with as much enthusiasm & interest as their own career planning.