I was the one who always maintained that Career Counseling is NOT required for kids who know what to pursue. However, my belief was shattered to bits in two recent cases that I had dealt with. Many times, our kids / parents are influenced by external reasons to choose a particular career. In most cases they may even like it later. However, the bigger question is, should we leave it to chance, or should we have a scientific assessment to confirm the child’s choice of career?
Nikki (Name Changed) was a brilliant girl and scored high marks in Class X. The supportive parents encouraged her to go for Engineering and since her marks favored that decision the girl planned to crack the IIT JEE. She went to Kota (The hub for coaching centers) and dedicated two years of her life. She scored a mere 60% in Class XII and did not clear IIT JEE. Disgusted she returned to her hometown and took a drop year. After a yearlong study, she managed to clear MHCET and got admission to a good Engineering College in Pune in BTech in IT. Two years later she quit the college as she was not enjoying it anymore. So that was total of three years gone waste. She went to Mumbai and joined Bachelor’s in Mass Media. Her parents were supportive as usual. She enjoyed the course and pursued additional Diploma in Direction and landed up as Asst Director in a prestigious serial. She worked for a year. It was back breaking work with hardly any rest. It was time for a change. She was very pretty and decided to take a plunge in Acting because every one encouraged her to do that. She got a few offers, but everything slipped through due to casting couch issues. She was a girl with high values. She even undertook acting classes to improve her chances of getting a break. By this time, another 4 years went past. Corona devastated the Industry and it came to a standstill. At 28 she was back to Square 1 after 7 years of hit and trial.
That is the time Nikki approached me through her mom’s contact. She underwent the Psychometric Scientific analysis and found that Data Analytics was coming strong for her. A few months back she called me to inform me happily that she has joined for her Master’s in Data Analytics in a good institution in Bangalore and that she was enjoying that course. Her mom wrote to me-“Finally we see the light at the end of the tunnel”
That brings me to another IITian story. The boy in Class X had decided that he wants to be an Aeronautical Engineer. So the supportive father resigned from his job, shifted to Kota and gave his child the best possible atmosphere to clear IIT. The boy was technically brilliant, so he cleared the prestigious IIT JEE and got admission too in Aeronautical Engineering in a famous IIT. The father was on top of the world.
Four years later the boy tells his Dad that he has not enjoyed the four years of Engineering. They approach me and after the counseling sessions, it was revealed that the boy though technically brilliant was not suited for outdoor engineering like Mechanical, Civil or Aeronautical. Instead had he taken IT he would have enjoyed it. We also found that the boy was very good in Management. So he is now preparing for CAT. I am sure he will get through IIM and do a great work as a Project Manager and beyond.
These two incidents have replaced my Belief. Even if the child is sure what to do, it is always better to get a professional Scientific Career Counseling that uses Validated and Reliable tools. Those needing help can mail me sajan(at)renergetics.com to find out the nearest counselor trained by the famous Psychologist and Psychotherapist Dr. Chinu Agrawal, PhD, Founder and Director of Feeling Minds.
As a Parent, we need to fulfill our responsibility of the origin of the word Parent- Pareto- “Bring Forth”. Bring Forth the very best in your child…Happily.
May you provide the best resources for your child to shine their best.
This is a great article and very helpful. It also subtly highlights the concentrated focus on career expectations in young kids. Counselling definitely helps in broadening further than choosing the traditional roles. Internships and job shadowing whilst the kids are in their teens might also help.
Very useful and important article. Though the child feels confident that he knows what to pursue. We need to understand that he is saying through the limited exposure he has about the world around him. Today the world has become very fast .So if we take expert help we can always counter check scientifically whether his choice also matches his potentials and help expand his vision towards variety of options favouring his potentials. This can help to avoid wasting the crucial years in trial and error as the examples given in the article. Thank you Sajan sir.
Thank you sir for bringing it in notice… That we don’t even things for years to do an assessment but finally end up being unsatisfied… And it can be very commonly seen… Beautiful write up… Thank you Sajan sir..
The world is growing more competitive by the day. To land up in the right stream is imperative to ensure that one has career progress and to make it enjoyable.
Since we rely on technology for anything and everything, I feel we should trust such kind of analytics to choose our career path as well.
This article is truly relevant today when many a time children are forced to carry the burden of parents unfulfilled aspirations. Cheers to this team.
That’s really great and heart warming that despite the loss of time, the parents have been very supportive. I tend to agree with your views…