LUDHIANA: Deciding upon the right career option is quite tricky for both students and their parents. Most of us go through the same dilemma
after passing class XII exams or during graduation.
Though a lot depends on the interest of students, but lucrativeness of the career and job prospects play a crucial role in making the right decision.
The tried and tested profession of being an engineer, doctor or pilot, do not find many takers among the current crop of youngsters.
However, with the change in lifestyle, teenagers have started looking for other career options which give them good exposure, besides a hefty salary package.
Besides top paying career options like MBA, software, chartered accountancy, journalism, medicine, advertising, PR and architecture, there are numerous other career options in flying & aviation, physical education & sports, law, fashion designing, research & development and administrative services.
However, the irony is that the city still lags behind in the education sector and young aspirants are compelled to knock the doors of neighbouring cities.
While discussing the issue, Rajnish Kumar, career counsellor and director, IPAT, a career counselling company, said, “There is a major boom in the leather sector. The manufacturing base has shifted from Europe and the US to India and China. The industry is expected to grow at the rate of 20-25% in the next five years which means, great opportunity for the Indian industry, professional managers as well as for fashion footwear designers.”
Kumar further said that similarly like the footwear industry, more and more students were opting for a career in detective agencies and forensic sciences. However, the city does not offer much in the subject and aspiring students have to pursue courses from neighboring cities, he added.
Talking on similar lines, Preeti Taneja, a career counsellor at Chandigarh, said, “The problem is people do not want to take risk and keep opting for the conventional courses. But, their attitude is changing and they are waking up to the changing scenario. As such, some institutes have started innovative and different courses.”
However, despite new trends, the city offers only a handful of off-beat courses. Recently Sportking Institute of Fashion Technology and Pinnacle Institute of Fashion Technology have started courses in retail management.
Elaborating on the study, the spokesperson of Pinnacle institute, said, “The retail industry in India is growing at an average of 40% annually with an expectation of billion dollar business in another five to 10 years.”
Talking about the different job prospects available after the course, he said, “Students can work under established brands in retail at various designations from floor manager, merchandiser, business operation manager, business development manager and likewise.”
Dr Surabhi Mahajan, institute registrar, said, “The retail sector is booming up. It is a one-year course and candidates can pursue it after graduation. Students can get jobs as fashion retail managers, planning managers and can gradually move towards becoming branch heads, outlet managers, etc.”
Meanwhile, these courses have also changed students perspectives to a large extent.
Navneet, who recently completed her graduation, said, “Every other person wants to become a doctor or engineer and jobs in these streams are limited as compared to the number of students passing out from medical and engineering institutes. People are also exploring other opportunities. With this diploma in retail management, I have a bright future ahead of me.”
The other new course which has become a rage is animation and cinematic. Discussing the issue, Simmi Singh from the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematic (MAAC), said, “We are offering various courses in computer graphics, animation and special effects. This is the time of collaborating information technology, communication and entertainment. This has given rise to the use of computer graphics which is termed as the animation industry.”
She further said, “After this course, one can earn around 15,000-20,000 during internship and later the market also offers a package of Rs 1 lakh per month.”
Likewise, Goinka Sharma, who just completed her senior secondary, said, “Nowadays, parents send their children to far-off places for studies, but its difficult to manage things for children as facilities are not available in the city.”
While there are many institutes across the country that offer off-beat courses with very lucrative career prospects, the city has miles to traverse before it starts offering meaningful education avenues and career options. Its time we start analyzing and wake up to the need of the hour.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ludhiana/Explore-your-career-options/...
