Youth go beyond mainstream, opt for off-beat careers instead

A 24-year-old IT engineer Mridul Agarwal always had a passion for food. But due to her hectic schedule, her passion had taken a backstage. However, recently she decided to turn her passion into an alternate career and started food blogging.
Like Mridul, many other youngsters are being drawn away from the traditional career options and have started turning their hobbies into a career.‘‘A career in the food and tourism industry has picked up steam in recent times. Our institue has witnessed a rise in the number of applicants. Earlier, students used to choose between engineering, medicine and teaching. But nowadays with the media and internet focusing on various other job skills, youngsters are preferring to opt for unique careers,’’ said Anchal Chang, an official from the National Institute of Hospitality and Aviation Management, Thane.
Many entrepreneurs have started organising workshops for budding entrepreneurs. ‘‘There are many youngsters who do not want to work for someone but instead want to start something on their own. Many times there are no courses that can guide them. So, some come to me for guidance as to how to start their own business,’’ said city-based entrepreneur Arjun Amanchi.
Psychologists and career analysts believe that this trend could because of broader outlook among the youth and also parent support. “From sound music consultants to adventure sports trainers, astro-geologists and copywriting law, the choices of careers are limitless,’’ said Sanjaye Savant, a psychologist.
“Earlier the only careers that seemed safe were those that went with the mainstream Mumbai university courses. However, today, the types of new age careers are rising, and with it the number of private and autonomous institutes that provide training in them. As these courses are authenticated by the government, which has now shown an interest in developing students’ skill sets, the parents get on board with the seemingly risky career the child opts for”, added
Ambereen Pradhan, director of Energia Wellnes, however, said that every new age career option today has an expiry date and will die down as the technology advances.