Career and Life Planning

Career planning, guidance and counseling are areas that bother all of us at some or the other point in our life. As students we are in much greater need for better planning and guidance as we are new to the field and are continuously in pursuit of most opportune course for building our future prospects.

Those having a job and not satisfied we are in search of better opportunities.

As parents it is a different situation. Our children in high school are growing and soon will head  for college. Concerned about our children’s  future we are willing to sacrifice and give them the best opportunity. The parents’ own past experiences are their mirror to their success or failure. Overzealous parents are worried for the future of their children and at times even depressed. It is not a big issue. Because the parents’ parents too had their worries then!

So, at all times in the past, the present and the future similar concerns echo in different times.

How to progress in getting the right education, right guidance and the right counseling.  There are some golden points in this area to follow. Social interaction with peers as to what are their plans and what they are pursuing. Secondly, speak to your teachers and faculty and career guidance centres at the institution you are attending. Sit on net and explore the net resources available.

Information is the most important asset. Note down your interests and draw a list of prospective fields and your order of preferences. Short list them over a period of time. Go by your interests as the most important aspects if you have possessed with some special skills such as artistic, technical or communication. Having any thing and every thing backed by a professional  qualification is the best bet.

When it comes to career and the future of children it is a very exciting area at every level.  Some youth wants to place policies and programs for them. However success depends upon seriousness and the programs put on ground.

Tabitha Grier-Reed points an interesting point in career planning. She lays emphasis in understanding the identity of the student and then personal development as the starting point. What is important in current context is that the planning should be for skill sets with multiple pathways. Because in the 21^st century industry and areas open up and close. So multiple skill sets are important to be successful in career.

Career guidance at institutional level has a different problem. Students come from different backgrounds, upper class, middle class and underprivileged class. While the upper class are better placed in career planning, the middle classes are also future oriented. The underprivileged are the most high risk group needing guidance.

Tabitha Grier-Reed has worked for the US Federal TRIO program, an outreach program designed to “identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds”. TRIO assists low-income individuals, first generation college students and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academics from high school to post-baccalaureate programs.  

The most important way of career planning is the collaborative effort of all the three stakeholders: The student, the parents and the teachers to work together.