Is this really career counselling ? How open is India ?
Is this really Career Counselling?
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| The Four Stages of Career Planning |
Observations, Myths & Realities
By- Kirti
Bakshi
(Career Counselor,Psychotherapist & Corporate Trainer )
(Career Counselor,Psychotherapist & Corporate Trainer )
During, My long innings in the field of counselling the Indian youth for Personality & Career, I have observed some very sadly prevailing and confused practices. I have traced lot of young students who loose a track of life due to lack of proper direction . I urge all involved in the process to treat youth as Individuals and not, a market to drive unfulfilled ambitions, fixations or commercial motives.
Do we really have neutral and holistic career
counselling in India? How open is
India?
A
question that requires serious attention, as many educational institutes
have confused Career Counselling and are using it as a marketing gimmick to
draw more students to their Courses. e.g Engineering classes attract
students by the offering a test to scan the interested students & It very
surprising to see that, the test never produces a negative result . The end
is already decided as almost everyone is found eligible .It’s surprising to see that, when we work with them in our clinical setup, they are
found challenged in many core skills.
This practice has been misguiding the students to have a lopsided view of their potentials and there by embarking them on a journey which, is not truly their area of excellence. Their journeys however get complicated,when the need for grade point average starts to build up a pressure on them.
This practice has been misguiding the students to have a lopsided view of their potentials and there by embarking them on a journey which, is not truly their area of excellence. Their journeys however get complicated,when the need for grade point average starts to build up a pressure on them.
The
institutes further misguide the anxious and cash stripped parents to point out that their child is distracted but has the potential to do much better. The
domestic scene in this family can be anyone's guess work. The picture is same
in the case of law, design and medical entrance institutes.
As
a result, the misguided youth is unable to understand and explain the
difficulties that they are going through and feel terribly crushed under the
competitive pressure. I
have been handling students with acute exam stress, last moment breakdowns,
midterm drop outs, escaping into unhealthy ways of coping and all this in the
name of competition.
The
major question is - Who
creates this competition and deprives students from taking decisions based on
their inherent potentials?
To
demystify this confusion, A neutral and holistic career counselling becomes the
need of the hour .The major challenge is the parent’s ignorance about vertical
& horizontal development i.e. the changing potentials and diversified
interests of the children.
A
good Career Counsellor is tuned in to main aspects of guidance and focuses on
the child's personality, tenacity, endurance and other intricate aspects of
aptitude testing. The aim should be to create a three fold plan which,
will provide a backup plan, gives a view of distance possibilities at national as well as International horizons. The three fold plan consists of Plan A ,Plan B, Plan C with the details of each one and focus on skill development for the same .
The many tools of testing in today’s market promise career planning but, are only
assessment driven .They need to be handled by professionals who, have an open
mind to research and have good knowledge of new and conventional careers as well
as global scenarios of education.
The informal assessment of personality and rapidly changing neurological patterns of development along with formal assessment makes up an all inclusive model of career counselling. Today, we have professionals who are skilled in testing and then, there are others who know careers and yet there are others who are only product counselors.
The informal assessment of personality and rapidly changing neurological patterns of development along with formal assessment makes up an all inclusive model of career counselling. Today, we have professionals who are skilled in testing and then, there are others who know careers and yet there are others who are only product counselors.
One needs to look out for the following aspects, while choosing a Career Counselor:
- The combination of Formal &Informal Assessment
- Experience combined with knowledge of latest careers
- Experience of working with young age groups
- Horizontal &Vertical Development stages
- Openness to research and create new possibilities
- Use of Relevant Tools
For Holistic Career Guidance & Aptitude Testing
The Counseling Company
Kirti
Bakshi – 9757399058
For Inquiries/Appointments Call - 9757399058
Wonderfully put across. Most youth, even today, submit to pursuing dreams that have been imbibed into them through their conditioning. They are either ignorant about their natural strengths or fail to identify a career they would rejoice and would love to be a part of. Helping youth by directing them into a career they can make a difference in is not just career counselling, its nation building. Thank you Kirti ma’am. So proud that you have been my teacher; and more importantly, a nation builder.
ReplyDeleteThanks Surya ! That makes it two of us towards nation building !
ReplyDeleteThanks Surya ! That makes it two of us towards nation building !
ReplyDelete