Nearly 500 students benefited from The Hindu EducationPlus Career counselling session in Bidar on Saturday.
Apart from listening to experts from various fields, students clarified doubts about the Common Entrance Test (CET) and various other career choices by asking questions to a panel of resource persons. They also carried home ‘thenxt.step: Fusing career and passion”, a well researched career guidance handbook.
Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer, with a Doctorate on Education from Jamia Milia University, inaugurated the session. He called upon students to study various career options before making a choice. “Don’t be influenced by current trends, or market surveys that say this sector will create so many jobs in future. If you are good in what you do, you can have a successful career in your own field. Please realize that,” Dr. Jaffer said.
Annies K. Joy, the young IAS officer who has a basic degree in Nursing Sciences, told the students to develop faith and confidence in self. “If you trust yourself truly, you will develop confidence. And if you are confident, it is very easy to convince your parents about your choices,” she said. She described her journey from a confused nursing student in the final year who decided to take up the IAS examination, to functioning as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
K.M. Mugali, resource person from the Karnataka Examination Authority, spoke about the various stages of CET. He spoke of the common mistakes made by students and parents in filling the application forms online and the errors made during seat selection. He asked students to read the CET brochure several times to understand the instructions. He also asked them to take a print out of the online forms and fill them once before finally entering the details on to the computer.
Tanveer Ahmed, resource person from Cigma India Career Counselling agency said that a job was different from a career as a job was just the means of regular income while a career helped a person fulfil his passion and lead him to self actualization. He gave a detailed presentation on the choices available after SSLC and PUC.
B.K. Badiger, painter and member, Karnataka Lalitakala Academy, spoke about turning hobbies like painting into successful careers. He gave examples of painters and sculptors who make more money than people in other professions. He informed students about the fine art and performing arts courses available in Karnataka after SSLC and PUC.
Praveen Jholgikar from the College of Horticulture sciences introduced students to farm sciences. He said that students could take up research, academics, or technology implementation as career options after completing degree and post graduation in these fields. Dr. Jholgikar said admissions were fully based on merit and no graduate of any farm university was ever unemployed.
Khaja Mohteshamuddin from the Karnataka Veterinary, animal and fisheries sciences university said the university offered several interesting courses like wildlife medicine, food processing and fisheries sciences. Dr. Khaja, who is an accomplished sportsperson, answered some questions on sports as a career.
Durgesh Shastry, assistant professor at the Guru Nanak Dev University spoke about fusing passion and livelihood. Mr Shastry who is an English novelist, gave examples of several people who were pursuing their hobbies despite being in unrelated professions. He also gave information on careers in defence forces.
Satish Mudbi from the Bidar institute of medical sciences spoke of the various sub-fields of medicine. He pointed out that medicine remained the career of choice for the brightest students, despite the various advances in computer technology or other fields.
Students’ response
Rohini Maruti - Shaheen PU College
I understood some basic principles of personality development like balancing a career and passion. Now I realize that choosing a course or a job is not the end of life. I am interested in singing and dancing and I can continue them even after I begin studying medicine or engineering or any other course.
Rahul Basavaraj – Gnyana Sudha Vidyalaya
I am surprised to learn that there were over 15,000 professions in the world. I will definitely sit down and think about them. I had some doubts about the CET examination and seat selection process. The methodical and detailed speech by the CET resource person addressed most of my doubts.
