Konkan Tribune: Choosing a Career after Class 10th and 12th

Social message to community on importance of Education :

Before starting this beautiful article on choosing right career it is very important first to educate our parents about importance of education.

We have to realize a fact that the world is changing and technology rules our day-to-day life, so it is important for us to prepare our next generation to face this change by giving them best education. Being social media network coverage has increased, parents shall also understand the importance of socializing with their kids; this will reduce a gap and children will be socially free to discuss their wellbeing with their parents. Remember parents and teachers plays most important part in guiding a child to a right path.

Also it is important to return back to the community what we have earned and learned from the society. Those who have migrated to foreign lands in search of better prospects shall contribute any significant achievement to our community in the race of development and progress. By sharing the knowledge/skills with the community, will inspire, motivate and build confident within our youngsters and thus prosper our community social being.

Today educating children is very important because :

A human being will not attain his full heights until he is educated.
Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
An educated people can be easily governed.
Education is all a matter of building bridges.
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
Education is the transmission of civilization.
Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

Choosing the right career :

Choosing the right career is very important for both students and their parents. An individual spends a considerable amount of time working, so loving one’s job becomes important for personal and professional satisfaction. A student who wants to pursue professional courses/degree, are quite clear but for the remaining, a lot of thought goes into choosing the right option.

Check also flow chart of Career Path finder at http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/2011/02/carrer-path-finder.html; the flow charts will also help students and their parents to choose right career.

This article mainly focuses on the building blocks for selecting a career.

Know Thyself :

The first step to select a right career is to know oneself well. As a teenager, it is quite likely that the decisions that one might take are influenced by one’s peers. The decisions thus taken might not be right for a person.

So, what should one do ? As the ancient Greek aphorism reads, “Know thyself”. Knowing oneself is a continuous process and it should not stop. The more an individual knows himself, the clearer he will be about what he wants and does not want.

So, how does one do that? “Make a list of interests, likes and dislikes. Then, on the basis of that list, try finding careers related to one’s likes and aptitude. For example, if someone likes to write, he can find careers that involve writing and enroll for a course related to that, like mass communication, for instance. Apart from this, there are some self-assessment tools available in the market, but the important thing to keep in mind about these tools is to ensure that the test is a bonafide one and the norms are duly validated.”

Dilemma after Secondary School (10^th Standard) :

Once the person chose his interests and likes then he can opt the stream accordingly i.e. Arts, Science or Commerce.

In case a student is not sure about what he or she wants, than choose a stream that will keep the maximum number of options open, example by opting science one can move on to engineering, medical or can at least complete graduation.

Remember, before taking a plunge into a certain career field, it is always good to know what that field has to offer. Talk to parents, teachers, or a senior whose sense of judgment can be trusted. Alternatively, you can read about the career you intend to choose in books and over the internet to find out about the pros and cons of a particular field which will help you immensely to arrive at a decision.

Dilemma after Higher Secondary School (12^th Standard) :

Deciding upon the right career option is quite tricky for both students and their parents. Most of us go through the same dilemma even after passing class 12^th. Once you are through with your 12^th exams and you still have a lot of questions bottled up, the following are some clarification on dilemmas.

Dilemma 1 - I have fared poorly in my boards, what should I do ?

In case you do not do well in your boards, you always have the option of taking entrance exams for admission to various courses. In fact, many students prefer to take entrance exams for admission to professional courses like BCA, BBA, BTech and MBBS. The basic requirement for most entrance exams is 50% in your 12^th.

Further, you can take up alternate careers and pursue your interest e.g. IT related courses in networking, software development, hotel industry, journalism, tourism and travel management … etc; the options are endless, all you need is to know what you want.

A simple option can also be considered to complete graduation; at least it adds your higher qualification level in CVs.

Dilemma 2 - I have decent marks in my boards, but I don’t know what to do ?

Your college tenure will stretch over 3-4 years. In case you are not sure about which specific career to choose, join a good college, keep your eyes and ears open, and explore your options during that time. Indeed, there is always an option to pursue higher studies. For example, many engineers tend to go for an MBA instead of an MTech. Exploring your options, knowing what you want to do and then doing it is the mantra for success.

Dilemma 3 - Subject or College :

In case you are very sure about what you want to do, it should always be subject over college. Like they say, there are many ways to skin a cat. After you get admitted to a college, it is up to you to extract the maximum out of it. Any place will give you as much as you want to get out of it.

Dilemma 4 - To drop or not to drop that is the question :

On the issue of dropping a year, we should realize that a year is a long time. One might start off with enthusiasm, but sustaining that enthusiasm and zeal throughout the year is very tough.

Dropping a year, even if you are sure about what you want to do is not the best solution. Let’s break a simple looking 1 year into smaller and realistic looking numbers. One year has 12 month; each month has 30 or 31 days (excluding February), that is 365 days; each day has 24 hours, that is 8,760 hours! Studying something that you already have studied for this long and keeping yourself motivated for these many hours is a tough ask. Then, there is also a possibility of d?j? vu. Hence, a better option would be to maximize what you have and keep preparing for what you want. In simple terms, join a course and keep preparing, so that, in case something does not go according to plan, you will still have something in hand.

I know what I want, but ?

There are times when you want something but you don’t know if you possess the skills required for that profile. If you are interested in a particular field, your passion can compensate for your lack of qualification to some extent. Of course you do need to possess the basic skills required to work in a certain field, but interest, enthusiasm and willingness to excel in a particular field can help you overcome those obstacles to a great extent.

There might be other factors like non availability of funds, for which an answer is for example, “Not many have deep enough pockets to sponsor education in the field of, say, motor sports. But, if you have keen interest in motor sports, you can look at related fields like sports journalism, test driving cars and bikes, writing about cars, becoming an automotive photographer, designing cars, remodeling cars and doing umpteen other things related to your passion. So, before taking a plunge into a particular field, try to find the viability of that field and compare it with your strengths, availability of funds … etc.”

You want to pursue a course, but no college in the 250 km radius offers that course. There is a very simple solution to this problem. Move out. Travel the 251^st km by foot, if you have to. A person should realize that life is anything but a bed of roses.

In the words of Gautam Buddha, “Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.” So, follow the light and tread the path of enlightenment.

Career Guidance Advisory Panel :

In order to help the young Konkani generation in all possible ways, Konkan Tribune have formed an advisory panel consists of experts from different fields. The experts from our panel will guide our children the best they can. The members details are given at http://konkantribune.blogspot.com/p/cg-advisory-panel-members.html

If any queries, please feel free to write us at : konkantribune@gmail.com

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