An overwhelming majority of graduates are mostly aware of only seven career options, while there are at least over 250 career paths awaiting students. This makes career counselling key to helping students make an informed choice, said Shivakumaraiah, CEO, Siddaganga Institute of Technology (SIT), Tumakuru.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the 21st edition of The Hindu Education plus Career Counselling 2023, which was held at SIT, Tumakuru, on Sunday.
The event saw hundreds of students and their 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 to them.
Dr. Shivakumaraiah appealed to both students and parents to make an informed choice and said that only passion for the subject should drive their choice. “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 joined that stream. 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.
He added that 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.
The event included sessions where experts from particular fields spoke to students and parents about various career paths, including Engineering and Medicine.
Speaking about Engineering courses, Sangappa B.S, 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, experience of the faculty at the college, placement options and which companies visit these colleges for placements should play an important role in selection of the college,” he said. Dr. Sangappa also said earning an Engineering degree wasn’t enough in itself.
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.
H.R. Shivakumar, Administrative Officer, Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), explained the process of the Common Entrance Test for various professional courses like Engineering, BSc Agriculture, BVSc, Pharmacy, and BSc Nursing.
Syed Sadathpasha, educator, career counsellor, and civil service exam coach, spoke about the Union Public Service (UPSC) exam, the Defence services, staff selection commission, banking and other services exams, and how to prepare for them.
He said it was important for students to constantly upgrade themselves and suggested the Internet was a great platform and added that learning foreign languages was helpful for careers.
He also suggested students to regularly read career supplements, magazines, and at the end of the undergraduate studies, take up at least three internships.
Earlier in the day, Dr. Sangappa also said: “Students need to up-skill 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 said.
“We have received good responses from the students and parents. Most of the enquiries are about BE in Computer Science, BCom and MBA. Students got sufficient information about the courses, fee, scholarship and others”P. EzhilarasuFaculty member, CMR University, Bengaluru.
“I am a II PU student and I am very much interested in Aeronautical 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”BhoomikaII PU, Sarvodaya PU College, Tumakuru
“I passed out II PU this year with 75% of marks in Science. I am planning to join BE in Electronics and Electricals. I got various information about college selection and other issues. It was a very helpful session”YoganarasimhaVidyanidhi PU college.
