Indspire Me

By Barkha Narang

In today’s world realistically, choosing a career can prove to be daunting. I personally believe there exists no term such as a “perfect career”. A right career path for a child would be something that makes them satisfied from within, challenges them to grow & they feel happy about it.

There are various challenges that are faced by young people in choosing a career path. To start with, most of the population still does not have the facility to proper education due their financial conditions which unable’s them to invest in higher studies. This still stands as a harsh reality &  is one of the biggest challenges that we as a country are trying to overcome.

Secondly, I feel students may have a fear of failure & avoid taking the risk to explore new age career options. Hence, they go with careers that are conventional & highly paid. The reasons for this include a lack of research and awareness among students & parental/societal pressure. The geographical location of a student plays as an important factor in deciding his/her career, as resources are not equally available at every location across the country.

The ratio of career counsellors which at present is extremely low per student needs to rise, to empower the children with effective power of decision making in choosing their careers. It is important that every child receives unbiased career guidance at these crucial stages of their lives.

Career Counsellors not only guide student to realize their true potential, they also motivate and encourage students at the time when students have lost all their hopes and seem to be extremely under confident about deciding their respective careers. Career counselling can be a step in the right direction as far as pinpointing what career to focus on. Having a professional advisor to assist with deciding what strengths and talents can be developed into a solid career is the role that a career counsellor plays.

Career counselling has many benefits for anyone who is starting out with a new career or is in the midst of a job change. Following are some of the many benefits of consulting a counsellor:

1. Testing to determine aptitude, interest, personality
2. Identifying choices in careers
3. Helping them with study skills & time management
4. Helping to locate resources and sources of career information.
5. Helping to determine next steps and develop a plan to achieve your goals.
6. Job search support.

I feel it is now the need of the hour that every school have a career counsellor to help resolve growing confusion among school students, with respect to their careers.

In conclusion, choosing a career is definitely a confusing stage as you want a career that gives you a perfect work-life balance. So, take a look at your skills, values, passion and talent and see where they fit in. If you’re a student, you should also take up an internship to get real world experience so that you can make an informed choice. Lastly always reflect, explore and plan before you finally decide a career for yourself.

Editor’s Note: If you’re facing difficulties in choosing your career path, we are happy to help you out. Do write to us at editorial@indspireme.in 🙂

About the Author 

IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT….

Barkha Narang is a career planning expert & an experienced counselling psychologist. She is an alumnus of Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and is a Master’s degree holder in CounselLing psychology from Amity University. A certified Global Career Counsellor by UCLA, she is working as a career coach for about an year now & has been successful in guiding numerous students to discover their true potential. She truly believes in the ideology of fair minded & unbiased career guidance for young minds.