Introduction
It is no easy task deciding your life at the tender age of 18. In India, the educational guidelines are stringent. For case in point, you cannot choose mechanical engineering with geography as your choice of subjects. You have to either choose Science, Commerce or Arts as your stream. As a result, for students as confused as I were during my times, marks in SSC decided the career. Looking back now, I feel I was lucky enough to get into the stream of my interest (though I wasn’t sure then). However, most of my friends weren’t as lucky as myself and 10 years down the line, they have realised they are stuck up in a career which they just abhor.
How to decide then? Well let us begin with a small exercise. Assuming that you have already chosen the main stream out of Science, Commerce and Arts post SSC, choose the aspirations out of the below mentioned:
Science
In case you have opted for vocational, you have already made up your mind for professional courses. Candidates whose area of interest lie in fields of engineering, usually opt for PCM. Similarly, candidates whose area of interest lie in medicine or health related occupations, usually opt for PCB.
In case of students anticipating to get into the field of engineering, they have various fields to choose from. Few of them are, namely:
- Electronics
- Electrical
- Mechanical
- Civil
- Textile
- IT
- Agricultural
- Computers
- Aeronautical
- Telecommunications
- Chemical
- Biomedical, etc..
While students having interest in the field of medicine can opt for:
- M. B. B. S
- BDS
- B. A. M. S
- B. H. M. S
- B. U. M. S
- Physiotherapy
- Medical Lab Technician
- Unani, etc..
Apart from the said, the candidates can pursue their career in professional courses like Pharmacy, nursing etc.. Moreover, BSc also has a large pool of courses to offer. From IT to Maths, from BCA to Dairy Technology and Yogic Science, a candidate can opt for a subject specialization of his choice and preference.
An average engineer earns anywhere from 1.25 lakh to 3.6 lakh per annum to begin with. While medical students are paid from 3 lakh to 7 lakh per annum. The said salary is just an approximate figure concluded over a period of time. On the other hand, the amount may vary depending on the individual talent, merit and enduring market trend then.
Commerce
Students who have opted for Commerce have opened a gateway for themselves in the field of finance and accounts. They can either opt for professional courses like:
- Chartered Accountant ( CA )
- Company Secretary ( CS )
- Cost Accountant ( ICWA )
A candidate can opt for other courses like BMM and BCOM as well.
Depending upon the field chosen, a Commerce alumnus can earn anywhere from 1.2 lakh per annum to 5.5 lakh as a starting salary. While a professional CA can begin with a package as high as 10 lakh per annum, depending upon the market at that moment, individual merit and not to mention, individual talent as well.
Arts
The field of Arts provides a wide range of unique and exciting courses. From animation to cooking, a student opting for Arts has a variety of selections to choose from.
Some of the opportunities that the field of Arts provide is:
- Home Science
- Law courses
- Fashion designing
- Mass communication
- Literary arts
- Cultural arts
- Hotel management
- Dance and related performances
- Travel and tourism, etc.
Management
Management comprises of conventional regulations and maintenance of overall operational and administration of an organization. It is one of the most job oriented and understandably, popular field among students.
Few of the many courses available in this stream are:
- BBA
- Event Management
- Operation management
- Marketing management
- Human resource management
- Finance Management, etc.
Off- beat Courses –
Apart from the said courses, there is a rising trend of students opting for off- beat courses. Few of the courses are:
- Photography
- Mountaineer/ Skier/ Diver
- Writer
- Hotel Management
- Fire Safety
- Modelling
- Web designer
- Ethical hacker
- Politics
- Criminology
- Painter, etc.
Conclusion
One has many options as explained above. All one needs to do is to choose the career path as per own interest. To begin with, one should see all options, go thru them thoroughly, and then shortlist the few best. Post that, compare the shortlisted options as per the present job market and job profile and click the one out of them.
