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| Career Guide |
| Dear friends ,'career' is
the buzzword today even in the mouths of 8-10 years
childgroups,needless to say about the teenagers
and others....Here we try
to give some clear pictures about different career
choices..
We welcome experts in any
field to send in their views and columns to this page . Any queries
regarding career ,are encouraged ,we will try to give you the best
guidance
contact email :
How employable are you?
Start thinking about your career when college life begins, not when it ends
Anita was an above-average student. As vice-president of
the Women’s Cell while in college, she was very enthusiastic
in arranging cultural activities, and sometimes even participated
in them.
Her principal subject in college was Computer Maintenance.
She used to religiously jot down notes in class, and regurgitate
it all at the appropriate time.The library had plenty of books on
any topic you might care to name, but "that was for intelligent
people.Ha, ha!" The labs were a cinch. The assistant would keep
the computer readily booted, and the compiler loaded. All Anita
had to do was to copy the solutions from the notice board, and
feed it into the computer, one finger at a time. There is no guilt
or shame attached to any of these: "everybody does it."
Three years passed, and so did Anita (First Division!). She has
been frantically trying for a job for the past one year. It hasn’t
been easy. "What should I put in my resumé?" She did a month’s
course in C++ and Java hoping for better opportunities. She came
out utterly confused. Last month, she finally landed her first job.
She handles a few batches at an unknown private institute. She
reads up on Windows, DOS and MS Office from Dummies books,
and teaches it to her students.. The bottom line: two hours to
travel, upto nine hours at the institute, six days a week
(sometimes seven), Rs. 1250 p.m. She plans to move on when
she has acquired enough ‘experience’.
Life, thus, comes a full circle. Let's think for a moment.
Why did Anita find it hard to write her resumé?
Simple. She didn’t have anything to say. She had one of the
best libraries in town at her disposal, but she didn’t use it. She
could have at least familiarized herself with the computers in
the lab, but she didn’t. In life, there are no notice boards with
ready solutions. She had three years to learn programming,
if that’s what she wanted. Instead, she took a crash course
which didn’t add up to much.
Who is to blame, the college or Anita herself?
At any given time, most students in India are not in the IITs and
RECs (which are the only institutions that really respect quality
education). Incidentally, the college in question was rated as the
9th best college in India for science by India Today! Many of
Anita’s former classmates who spent their days acquiring skills
simultaneously have landed decent careers. It was poor show
on Anita’s part.
What’s the problem?
The problem can be traced to as far back as the day she
stepped into college. She did not give herself to the subject
wholeheartedly. With no knowledge, no skills, no experience,
and no foresight at the end of
three years, one is forced to surrender to economic exploitation.
The Final Word
The sooner you face the truth, the better: You have to learn
to survive in spite of the system, and not because of it. The time
to start thinking about your career is when college begins, not
when it ends.
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