The Hindu EDGE career counselling session attracted a huge crowd of students and their parents at the Lingaraj College in Belagavi on Saturday.
Resource persons from various fields of higher education spoke to students about their career and higher education choices. The Next Step, a book aimed at young people that provides information on various career choices in different streams, was released.
Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer R. Ramachandran inaugurated the session and urged young people to follow their heart while choosing a course or career. “Get information on all possible courses before you take a decision. Consult experts and people who have studied similar courses. You can also meet people who are in the same profession. But, choose a course which you like and have an aptitude for. Choose a field of work where you will not be tired of working hard. It should be a field where you enjoy your work,” he said.
The young IAS officer, who hails from Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, described his life as a son of a farming couple who never went to school. “Till I went to Chennai for my bachelor degree in science, I could not understand a sentence of English.” He credited The Hindu for helping him brush up his language skills, develop a world view and mould his personality.
He said that his changed world view made him study law and his charity work in tsunami affected areas in Tamil Nadu made him choose civil services.
He trained in New Delhi for a few months to prepare for the civil services, where he met a variety of students with different personality traits from across the country. “It added to my resolve to become a civil servant.” He said that he could not clear the examination four times, but did so in the fifth attempt. He advised students not to fear failure.
He asked students not to choose a course based on its job creating potential. “You will be well placed if you are among the best in your course. Never compare yourself to any other person. We are all unique. Focus on how you can contribute to the society,” he added.
Role of technology
G.C. Niranjan from the Karnataka Examination Authority spoke about the CET seat selection process in detail. He asked students to keep pace with the changing rules and regulations about which the cell kept alerting the public on its website and through newspapers.
Mr. Niranjan told them how technology had made it easy for the students to choose seats in the four rounds. He told them about various categories, and provisions like supernumerary quota and the difference between mock allotment and final allotment. He also spoke about the selection process for agriculture, veterinary and allied sciences.
D.G. Kulkarni , director of the management wing of KLE’s MSS College of Engineering, invited the students to his college for an hands-on demonstration of filling the form for the seat selection process. You can visit various departments too, he said. He urged students and parents to choose courses in the wake of developments in the international market that had reduced demands for some courses and increased for others. “Computer science is no longer as sought after a subject as it was a few years ago. So, please opt for it only if you like it thoroughly,” he said.
He asked girls not to shy away from mechanical and civil engineering courses as they provided large career options in the government and private sector. He also asked students to learn additional skills like soft skills, and a foreign language to improve their personality and increases chances of being hired.
For a satisfying career
Fatah Khan of the Cigma Foundation gave a detailed presentation about various career choices after SSLC and PUC. “Don’t think that only science stream offers great career choices. A lot of humanities and commerce courses lead to satisfying careers,’’ he said. “You need to question yourself about what you consider as happiness. Is it money, comforts, recognition, or internal satisfaction or family life? Go ahead and choose a career based on the answer to these questions,” he said.
M.B. Badbade, retired special deputy commissioner who heads the CMA IAS academy, spoke about civil services. Nayeem Ahmed, counsellor from CMA academy, spoke about the preparation for the civil services examination.
Daksha Dikshit, dean, academics, KAHER, spoke about medicine as a career. She gave a presentation about the facilities available in KLE’s medical, dental and Ayurvedic colleges. She also spoke about how young men and women were finding non-traditional professional avenues after a medical or a para-medical degree.
College principal R.M. Patil; Appanna Metri, senior executive-circulation, The Hindu ; and Nagraj Phatak, executive-advertisement (north Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka), The Hindu , were present.
