Career Planning 101

As my daughter gets into grade 12, the biggest challenge for students in her age group is career planning, choosing the right course, and the right college.

Blessed are the parents whose kids are totally sorted, clear, and are just waiting for the 'Accepted' stamp on their college application. But that would constitute a very small percentage of students in that age group.

While most of the students will reach out to many of the professional career counselors for guidance, I thought I will share some salient points to consider in this crucial decision-making time.

• Happiness trumps EVERYTHING - Cliched as it may be, it is the most important criteria. Choose something that makes you happy. Job opportunities, scope to travel, money-making capability, etc. are secondary. One should be able to relate to career choice. Can you see yourself going on the field 7 days a week collecting information for stories, talking to people, etc? If not, then journalism is not meant for you. Are you willing to study for 5-7 years or even longer? If not, then give medicine a miss. While these might sound very obvious points, the fence-sitters and the ones influenced by parents' choice, do make these mistakes.

• One for the Long Run - What you choose now for a graduate course unless a Masters course helps you to change direction, is going be your identity for a long long time. So be sure that the field has scope for improvement, innovation, and variety. People do tend to get bored with a career very fast and not every industry is as fast-changing as the tech industry, where a new version of the product gets released every 15-18 months.

• Parents are like that Only - Well, its something which is pretty true across generations. Parents often have a different view on what a child should/should not do. And it's OK. Children should hear it, put forth their argument, and be ready for a healthy debate. There is nothing that is completely right or completely wrong. Through discussion, one needs to decide where the balance lies.

• Master It Up - It's important to judge whether a Bachelors's degree is good enough, or will one have to do Masters also. In the case of the latter, the selection of the college becomes easier as you are not heavily dependent on the job opportunities immediately. It's my understanding (and I am open to being countered) that when applying for Masters, what one did in your bachelor's, how connected one was with the industry (internships, live projects, etc) is more important than the institute (relatively speaking). During my time, in the late nineties, many people were fine to take up Civil Engineering in an institute of their choice, instead of a branch of their choice, like Electronics of Computer Science, in a lower-ranked college. As we graduated during the IT Services industry boom, it was all fine, as those Civil Engineers also ended up coding and had as glorified a career as their Computer Science batchmates. But one might not be so lucky today.

• Course over Institute: This is debatable, but my view is that the course stays with you for much longer than the institute. It's especially true when you are already planning to do a Master's. The bachelor's course identity sticks with you for a longer time and it remains your best option for a job. Even when you look at becoming an entrepreneur, it's useful if you have something from your graduation, either the domain or functional knowledge, which comes of use in your venture.

• Faculty is Key: Just like in sports, the team is known by its key players, an institute is known by its faculty. Any amount of investment in infrastructure; fancy amphitheater, huge playgrounds, etc; cannot make up for a sub-par or inexperienced faculty. Yes, faculty may not stay there forever, but if they have been around for a while, then we can assume that they will be around for a longer time.
• Talk to school Alums: This one is an obvious one, but worth a mention. The current generation, Gen Z, has its own way of seeing things. Hence it's best to be talking to alums of one's school studying in that particular college, for an 'inside view'. And if one finally lands up in the institute, those alums will be the first point of contact on campus.

• It's not the money, Honey!: It's true that we live in a materialistic world and everyone is bothered about money. However, my advice is not to choose your career based on its money-making potential. When it comes to earning 'lots of money' one needs to trust his/her destiny. If one is destined to make a lot of money, it will happen sooner or later, regardless of what one graduate in. If you decide to become an Engineer with the plan to go abroad and earn a lot of money, it's possible that the coding life does not charm you and you might get 'stuck'.
• Corona ko consider Na Karo: These are clearly unprecedented times. We are amidst probably the ONLY pandemic of our lives. The good part is, it cannot get any worse than this. Life is surely going to be bright at the end of the pandemic. It's not going to last forever. Even the most pessimistic of predictions is for the virus to wane out and/or the vaccine to be available by mid-2021, roughly a year from now. One year in anyone's life is insignificant. So please do not make your career decision from Corona's perspective. Whether its Work from Home, the use of sanitizers, the state of the hotel, or the aviation industry, none of this will last for long. We will be back to normal, or the new normal as they call it, soon at the end of the pandemic. So it's possible that you might be joining your college online but highly unlikely that you would be graduating online!
• Own it Up: Before one makes a decision, it's important that one explores any and every possible source for information and support. Over-communicate about either your intention or your deliberation (between different choices that one is confused about), whatever the case might be. Amongst your friends, relatives, teachers, dean, etc. It's useful because one never knows who might have additional information on the choice that one is debating on. It's important to keep the channel of communication open.

Finally, I would say that, please 'Take your time'. There are many instances of students taking a 'drop year' for a better opportunity/college/course. In the long run, in one's lifetime, a year here and there hardly makes a difference. So think hard and think smart. All the Best!