IDENTIFYING A CAREER

Here is what Rajendra S Pawar, NIIT Chairman and Pro-Chancellor of NIIT University had to say on being asked the question:
Over the last few years a plethora of institutions have entered the education sector. How does a student identify which ones are offering quality education? 

Today students spend very little time in investigating the institute and introspecting on their career choices. In my opinion the school system should impart the necessary skills latest by class XI. Students are worried about what parents want them to do, what friends want them to do and what is nice to do. They miss out the most fundamental part, which is what they want to do. The big problem is that we are not triggering the process of making a discerning choice early on. It should start in class X or latest by the  early part of class XI. One of the issues with kids today is that they know exactly what they want to be after 10 years. But if you look at people who have done engineering or pursued any professional education, they have changed their line of work! Students should identify their passion first but the passion shouldn't be on very narrow lines like - I want to do computer security systems. It should be broader. Am I more interested in creative work or am I interested in tinkering with equipment, am I interested in writing or in theatre. Passion has been inhibited for too long because everybody else has been deciding on the students' behalf. In our counselling sessions, many kids quietly ask - "Can you tell this to my dad because this is what I want to do." If students introspect, then they would at least have a sense of and know what they are looking for. So the first step should be introspection followed by seeking information. This they can do by visiting institutions, libraries, websites and maintaining a good peer group contact.

Read the full interview at: www.careers360.in.  It is good site to follow.