How to decide on a Career

The minute a student enters the Xth Std.,he or she is pressurised by family members and friends as to what career path to take. This sometimes creates so much mental tension,that the student cannot concentrate on studying for the all important Board exams.

I would advice all students in this scenario not to get flustered about what career to take up after your 10th. First and foremost, it is important to keep calm and not come under undue pressure from anybody,whether family or friends. Even more important, it is essential not to take up a career just because one's best friends are taking that path. It is typical to join a college and take up the arts/science/commerce stream merely because one's best friends are following that path. Decide for YOURSELF and don't follow the 'herd mentality'. You have your own unique identitiy independent of that of your friends. Just because a particular stream is ideal for your friends does not necessarily imply that it is good for you too. It is ultimately up to you,after all, to decide on which field you wish to pursue. Furthermore, your marks in your 10th will decide which college /institute's portals will open to you.

It is a good idea to look up the 'Colleges' section as well as the section on 'Courses' at this ISC site. It will prove to be very helpful as you will gain tons of information on various institutes and courses.It will give you a glimpse of careers that are off-the-beaten path and not just restrict your visions to the arts,science and commerce fields. If you have a special kind of interest,say jewellery designing or fashion designing, you can opt for that field. There are lots of options out there; do keep in mind that many of these course fees are extremely high so consider your family's finances too before selecting a course.

Another good idea is to become proficient in computers. You may have learnt the basics at school, but it does help to take up a 2-3 months course and learn the entire MS-Office package. Computers now are part & parcel of every field and it would help you immensely to have complete and not half-baked knowledge. So take up a course offering MS Word/Excel/Powerpoint; if you are planning to enter the commerce field,learn the latest Tally software too. You could scope out computer classes in your area during your Christmas vacation and find out if you can register after your Board exams. That way you can do the computercourse from April to June/July,by which time your results will be out.However,make sure that you do the course from an established institute/class--take the advice of your parents or school teachers on well-known ones in your area. Don't pay fees for some unknown class!

Tip: find out when the latest batch of the course is ending, wait outside one day when students will be coming out, and find out how good the teachers are and how much was covered. This way you will know if the class brochure/pamphlet was just a beautiful printed layout or whether the teachers actually taught all that they claimed they would.