When the aim and purpose in life is clear, achieving success is possible, said Ashok K.V., Superintendent of Police, Tumakuru, at the inaugural session of the The Hindu Education Plus Career Counselling 2024, which was held at SIT, Tumakuru, on Sunday. He added that students should decide what they want to be in the future at the college level and step firmly towards their goal.
The event saw hundreds of students and parents participate throughout the day. At least 15 private colleges and educational institutions had put up stalls providing guidance and informing students of the opportunities available.
The event included sessions where experts from particular fields spoke to students and parents about various career paths, including Engineering, Medicine, and other professional courses.
Mr. Ashok said till Class 8, he was an ordinary student like everyone else and did not learn much other than the basics. As a result, he scored only seven out of 100 in Mathematics.
“The mental agony I experienced then transformed me and that day, I made my intention clear and decided to get good marks in the next exam and started study diligently. Later, I scored 25 out of 25 in the Class 9 test,” he said.
Explaining the confusion regarding the selection of subjects at the PU level, he said: “I got 96 marks out of 100 each in Science and Maths in Class 10. Mathematics and Biology were to be chosen in PU. I wanted to take up Mathematics for the sake of my future. However, as I did not do well in basic maths at the school level, I inevitably had to take Biology. But no student should take subjects out of necessity.”
“After graduation, I worked in a private firm for a few days without knowing what to do next. Then one day, I decided to take the civil services exam.”
Mr. Ashok said he started reading The Hindu seriously on the day he decided to write the civil services exam and the accurate information in it helped him clear exam in 2016.
Ashwija B.V., Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tumakuru Smart City Limited, and Commissioner, Tumakuru City Corporation, shared her experience about cracking the civil services exam and said every year, around 10 lakh candidates apply for the exam and around five to six lakh attend it.
Among these, 10,000 to 15,000 candidates will clear the preliminary exam, and around 3,000 to 4,000 candidates will clear the mains. “Then the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will call 1,000 to 1,500 candidates for interview and the final list will be 700 to 800 candidates only. So, the success rate of the civil services exam is as low as 0.0001%. Continuous study should became a habit and part of our life.”
Shivakumaraiah, Joint Secretary of Sree Siddaganga Education Society, said an overwhelming majority of graduates are mostly aware of only seven career options, while there are at least over 250 career paths. This makes career counselling key to helping students make an informed choice, he said.
“Students should be aware of new age subjects that are developing, such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Blockchain Technology, Machine Learning, Data Analysis, Big Data, Robotics, Cyber Security, among others. As new opportunities are emerging, even old careers are transforming. Generally, most students follow their friends and select a stream just because some of their friends have joined it. This is a big mistake and students should select a subject only based on their interest in the subject. Parents should also not force them to pick a stream,” he said.
Speaking about Engineering courses, Sangappa S.B., national executive council member of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), New Delhi, said that choosing the best course and best Engineering college was key to success.
“Apart from the college infrastructure, the experience of the faculty, the placement options, and which companies visit these colleges for placements should play an important role in college selection,” he said.
“Students need to upskill themselves to the expectations of the industry. Students need to improve their communication skills, team building and leadership skills to excel in the field. But more importantly, entrepreneurial skills are also increasingly important for engineers,” he added.
Balakrishna Shetty, Pro-Chancellor, Malla Reddy University, Hyderabad, said infrastructure like the hospital, its capacity, and the kind of patients who come to that hospital should play a key role in the selection of medical colleges.
“Students should select colleges which have the highest bed capacity and have a large influx of patients, as this will help them during clinical practice,” he said.
Jayasheel P.J., Ex-Assistant Nodal Officer, CET Nodal Centre, Tumakuru, explained the process of the Common Entrance Test (CET) for various professional courses like Engineering, BSc Agriculture, BVSc, Pharmacy, and BSc Nursing.
Asgar Pasha, recruitment trainer and career counsellor, CIGMA, spoke about various career options, including UPSC exam, the Defence services, staff selection commission, and others and how to prepare for them.
He said it was important for students to constantly upgrade themselves and suggested that learning foreign languages was helpful for careers, as are internships and additional certificate courses.
“I scored 92% marks in II PU examination and I am interested in Computer Science Engineering and I am planning to join a good college in the State. So, this career counselling was really helpful and I got a lot of information.”Geetha,Student
“I got 80% marks in II PU and am planning to join Allied Health Science courses. Before this career counselling, I didn’t have much information about the courses. This programme helped me a lot, thanks to The Hindu.”Sankalph,Student
“It is a student-oriented programme. As a parent, we also had some confusion about professional courses, career opportunities, and good institutions. The Hindu Education plus Career Counselling has provided enough information.”Shashikala,Parent
“Apart from professional courses, we didn’t know about the ocean of career opportunities in the general degree courses.”Ramya,Parent
