In today's world, with various emerging career opportunities, how many people really know which career to choose, and how many people are happy and successful in the career they have chosen? A significant question, especially for students fresh out of Class X or Class XII, is how to find out which career is right for them. Choices are enormous ranging from medicine to media, engineering to event management, nanotechnology to information technology. And more the choices more the confusion. Most of the decisions are merely based on what parents suggest or what friends are doing.
However, this may not lead to a career you can succeed in and this is where career counselling can be helpful. There are two aspects of career planning: first is self-assessment or soul searching, since we are the best judges of ourselves; and the second is concentrating and being honest with yourself. Self-analysis can bring remarkable results. If this yields no result, then the option is professional career counselling.
Here are some opinions from students and counsellors about how useful these counsellors really are:
Kishori Chawdhry, career counsellor, Sa-Madura Foundation
Counselling takes place when a person is experiencing distress or dissatisfaction with life, or loss of a sense of direction and purpose. Then he/she approaches us for an advice to select the right path.
We give such people general tips or a scientific solution through psychological tests and direct them towards their own interests, skills and abilities. In most cases it works; what happens in some cases is that the person is in a dilemma to choose the best one out of many options.
Hence he/she is afraid of losing the best one and taking risk on others. Here we reinforce their exact feeling or objective through scientific analysis and make them feel assured. Career counselling is not a must as long as you are focussed on your goal along with your personal interest and happiness involved in it. But you can give it a try and get to know your interests and skills.
Surjit Paul, counsellor at Paul
I have been doing career counselling for six years. I have come across people who are in a job they never desired, and it occurred due to lack of proper guidance and understanding of their own destiny. Eventually they realise their dissatisfaction and unhappiness. A lot of BPO/ IT employees are in that field by chance and not by choice. A few happen to make their way and become successful; the rest fall into depression. Therefore it is very important to meet our own needs and desires with proper guidance.
Zehra Suman, final year student, JSS School of Interior Designing
After passing my tenth grade, I took up science only because of my parents' wish. I always wanted to get into a creative field. However I completed my 12th grade with a lot of complications and hatred for science.
I worked in some BPOs due to the urge to earn money, and I realised that working in a BPO was not my cup of tea as the work became too monotonous. I got tired listening to my managers. Disappointed with my work, I ended up taking career counselling, which made me realise that I am a very creative person and interior designing was something I would want to do. I never had a clue about it from the start of my career and now I am very content and happy about interior designing.
I think career counselling is important to both students and parents as it will give space for parents to think about their children's point of view.
Zameer Khan, B.Com student, Indian Academy
I am in my second year degree, I love photography and my parents wish to see me as an IPS officer. I know that IPS is a reputed government job with a handsome salary and that is also something I want. The very thought of career puts me in a dilemma about deciding what I should opt for – a career that will make me efficacious and also make my family happy.
So, with a lot of thought I have decided that I will continue pursuing my graduation to become an IPS officer, and photography will always be my personal interest.
Nitasha Kulkarni, first year B.sc, Mount Carmel College
The reason I took up B.Sc was just to acquire a degree and then become a Human Resource executive after MBA. It was astonishing that the Air Force changed my mind and now I have decided to get into IAF which I find very fascinating and exciting. If I had undergone career counselling, I would have not taken up B.Sc, which I now feel is a waste of time and effort as going through the subjects is not a cakewalk. Rather I'd like to dedicate myself to IAF. So, according to me, after tenth or 12th standard would be the right time to know what you really want to do and what really excites you, and career counselling can be helpful.
Afreen Summiya, corporate trainer
After Standard X, I took up science to get into medicine but as I completed XII my interest had shifted to biotechnology and simultaneously into the BPO sector. Gradually I built myself to become a corporate trainer and now I can't think of any other career making me this happy. If I had realised earlier that I like working with people rather than doing research alone I would have never taken science.
According to me, career counselling is important especially to individuals aged 16 to18 because that is the time to plan one's career. Individuals of that age group tend to depend on others' feelings rather than their own.
