Take decisions based on your aptitude

What after school? This is the question rankling in the minds of students on the threshold of higher education and their parents at this time of the year.

Speakers at the The Hindu -EDGE Vetrikodi Career Counselling and Fair 2018 here on Wednesday factored in this undercurrent of thinking in the minds of students and parents while assisting them to narrow down on the ideal career path.

Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University P. Manisankar, who inaugurated the career fair, and other main speakers were unanimous in their view that parents ought to confine their role to that of a facilitator and enable the students take informed decisions that suits their aptitude.

Such programmes that provide insights into the scenario of intense competition even while throwing light on the existence of abundant openings in various fields of studies serve as opportunities for students to step on the path of progress, the Vice-Chancellor said. “Whatever be the choice of study, students ought to set sight on excelling by putting in hard work with perseverance,” he emphasised.

Ramesh Prabbha, Chairman and Managing Director, Galaxy Group of Companies, urged students to think of higher education with a national outlook, while exposing them to the vast array of opportunities in the areas of commerce, law, hotel management and catering, general science, languages, sports studies, and polytechnic education, besides medicine and engineering with specific reference to admissions based on NEET and JEE.

Parents need to shed the attitude of being protective and let their wards to go through the experience of residential education in order to transform them into successful personalities, he said.

V. Badrinath, Director, Training and Placement, SASTRA Deemed University, observed that the progress of students began with positive peer influence. There was no course that would assure career success.

Students needed to first evaluate their interests before making their final choice of course and institutions and ensure that their focus was not scattered by pursuing unrelated programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels to make themselves employable.

It was important for parents and students to evaluate the credibility of institutions by visiting their websites so as to determine the qualification of faculty, research output, the quantum of publications, and innovative practices, Prof. Badrinath said.

S. Iyyampillai, former professor, Department of Economics, Bharathidasan University, oriented the students and parents on the competitive examinations for entry into various government services. Not many parents know that it was possible for students to prepare for the exams simultaneously during the course of their undergraduation and occupy high official positions even in their early twenties, he said.

Later in the day, students wrote free mock tests and underwent psychometric evaluation to have an understanding of their career path.

The event was presented by SASTRA Deemed University and powered by Kalasalingam Deemed University. Presidency University, Bangalore, was the Gold Sponsor, and IFIM, Bangalore, was the Silver Sponsor.

Amity Global Business School, Bharath University, CARE Group of Institutions, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Group of Institutions, K. Ramakrishnan College of Engineering, and IIFTP were Associate Sponsors.

Source