Who needs Career Counselling?

 

Written by: Supti Karmakar

2 Minute Reads

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life." —Confucius

Choosing a career for a student, has either been a hobby or an assumed duty, for not just parents but, also the near and dear ones here in our country! On a lighter note, we even have rituals during Annaprashan (custom of giving the first solid food to a baby in Bengal and other parts of India) in which certain objects like pen, books, some food, soil, and gold are placed in front of the baby each object representing the baby’s future. The baby is then encouraged to pick an object and whatever he chooses is seen to symbolize his future prospects. All this when the baby is just learning to eat his first solids...! Jokes apart, how I wish choosing a career would have been so easy, just pick and go! In fact, choosing a suitable career path is an acute problem in our country even today as, in many homes parents still force their kids to choose from only few traditional options like engineering, medicine, law or maybe management.

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According to various studies, academic stress, stress related to future prospects are 2 out of top 5 stressors along with stressors like personal, family and financial stress, amongst students (especially college students) today. Many under graduate students are still uncertain concerning the career path they want to pursue. Actually, many students endure stress over deciding on a major or career path. The question is why are so many students battling this stress? I feel one reason is that one generation of this population has seen their parents struggle for resources, so there's this feeling that the career which has been safe for us, or may be someone else, should be taken by the children, as at least they wouldn't have to struggle, leaving aside the fact that every individual is different, what worked for me might not work for you. Or, we leave the child to pursue whatever he/she is interested in, forgetting that interests might change with time and experiences. To top it all, now there are so many career options available, a child can follow a career which will utilize his/her potential fully. So, this struggle, the fear of missing out, or the stress of not able to do what they could have done also does not work in favor. But, the question is who needs Career Counseling?                     

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Today, India is one of the youngest country in the world with more than 62% of the population in the working age group (15-59 years) and more than 54% of the total population below 25 years of age. Now due to a large number of young population and a limited number of Top Ranked/Tier 1 colleges, when we add the problems of decreased awareness, parental and peer influence, and confusion, the whole process becomes pretty intense and stressful  to many. Career counselling/ admission consulting are excellent options for both the students and their parents, as both parents and students need to be aware of the student’s strengths and weaknesses, aptitudes, interests, personality, and the careers available which will definitely be a very good contributor to their career success. But...who..ahem..needs a...ok let's move to the next point..

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It is also very important to consider the resources involved i.e. time & money, how much time a student requires to prepare for a certain Career, or Course, and how much money is needed, as studies, whether in India or abroad is expensive. Considering, the resources, it is always advisable to start planning, and start planning earlier. Career counsellors certainly have incredible assets in place to provide students with career guidance. They can guide students’ research majors, course, college, design their route map. They can help a student understand their strengths and weaknesses, personality, attributes, motivators etc. As choosing career is not a pastime or a window shopping activity, taking time to match one's skills, personality, aspirations to a potential career is extremely important, as proper utilization of resources is essential, we cannot keep wasting time & money. 

In conclusion I would like to re-emphasize on the fact that career coaching, can be helpful at every point of someone’s journey, whether to carve someone's career path, or help someone who wants to change his course of career.  Would you still ask, "Who needs Career Counselling?"    

 

About Myself:

Supti Karmakar

I am a Certified Career Coach and an Educator based in Bangalore. Apart from holding a Masters in Human Resource Management, I also am a certified Special educator, IB certified teacher, a Curriculum Developer, and a mother of two. I have around two decades of total experience of Human Resource Management, Teaching, Counseling and Parenting! I have created this Blog to share my thoughts especially about the changing world of Education and Career in general.  

We provide personalized guidance, and help students to uncover themselves and ideal career. Link to find out our services https://mycareersculptor.com/services.html 

Other blogs:

Choosing Curriculum?  https://suptimcs.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-curriculum.html

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