Points to Consider while Planning Career for Students

Earlier some 20 years back, parents were the ones to decide the career of their children. Which stream to select, what course to choose, which field to get into, all was done by the parents. But movies like 3 Idiots and exposure to social media platforms have made parents more mindful and changed their perception. Children are more aware and so are the parents; they now believe in supporting the child’s decision.

Career planning is a very crucial decision for children. So, a little parent intervention is needed in this area. This is the time when children have to make the right choices as a majority of them are not sure of what they want from life. Therefore, it is important to plan out things and choose a suitable career.

As a career counsellor, you should talk to parents and their children about career planning. What their children have thought about their future and what are their parents’ expectations for the same. While conversing with children and parents, take these points into consideration:

1. Initially, start with talking to children. Use some icebreaker questions to make them feel comfortable.

2. Talk to them about their interests, hobbies, and relate with them by showing your interest.

3. Make sure, you don’t judge them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t open up in front of you.

4. Once they are comfortable, start talking about their likes and dislikes. What they want to become in the future.

5. You can even wait to talk to parents and gather all information about the child.

6. Conduct psychometric tests, career assessments to guide them on making career decisions.

7. After gathering information, get back to the child. Tell him/her the results and accordingly, suggest some career options.

8. Ask them to share career options too.

9. Then it’s time to talk to the parents.

10. Tell them about your suggestions. Consider their points. Spend some time with them and tell them their child’s interests, aptitude, capabilities, interests, and the suitable career option.

11. Take the child and parents on the same ground.

12. At last, end up suggesting the best career path for the child.

Points to Consider While Planning a Career:

· Learn the Difference Between Career path, Career Milestone and Career Destination

· Differentiate Genuine Interest, Infatuation and Ability

· Don’t Be a Part of the Herd on the Basis of Trends

· Academic Performance Defines a Career: A Myth

· Self-awareness is the Key

Learn the Difference Between Career path, Career Milestone and Career Destination

95% of students choose the career path first based on their grades and gradually choose their destination, leading to a lot of dropouts. But if we decide the destination first, their path is automatically clear.

Career D = Deciding to become a finance manager

Career P = Choosing commerce stream to reach D

Career M = Completing graduation, PG and various entrance tests

Differentiate Genuine Interest, Infatuation and Ability

Infatuation = Attracted due to power, money, success, fame etc

Genuine interest = Transforming the desires into actions to reach the final destination

Ability = Inborn traits or skill set to perform the work with ease

Ask Students:

1. What career are they planning to take?

2. Since how long have they been thinking about it?

3. Any specific career had they thought of before this & why they dropped the idea?

4. What all things are you doing currently to reach your goal?

5. What can you sacrifice from your routine to reach your goal?

Don’t Be a Part of the Herd on the Basis of Trends

Trends are misleading. Sometimes, students follow a trend that does not match their traits. Their peers take science so they also take the same stream that leads them to perform poorly in class. This decision involves struggle.

Trends are risky. If there are many engineers in the market, it leads to less demand as the supply is more and so the salary reduces. So following a trend is not safe.

As students to truly understand their skills, capabilities and then decide upon any career path.

Academic Performance Defines a Career: A Myth

The assessment model of our country is not completely reliable (hopefully, NEP will bring a change in the education system) and that is the reason most of the universities have their own entrance tests. It is automatically assumed that a child scoring 95% will take Science, an 85% scorer will choose Commerce and a 75% scorer will go in for Arts. Grades have become a foundational reason for selecting a stream. Researches show a lot of students change their careers after graduation.

Therefore, considering only academic profiles may mislead a student. A complete assessment is necessary and this is one of the major rules in the points to consider while planning a career for students.

Self-awareness is the Key

Each individual is unique and has his / her own interests, values, aptitude and personality that set us apart from others which make us suited for a particular occupation. By taking psychometric and aptitude tests, the psychology, IQ abilities of an individual can be checked, making one aware of his/her strengths and weaknesses. One’s passion and profession should go parallel and simultaneously.

These are 5 points to consider while planning a career for your students. The approach of counselling varies from student to student. However, these are some standard aspects that should be considered in every case.