J&K’s economy is full of paradoxes. In an expanding unemployment scenario, it’s the problem of employability which is a major concern in the state. There is a huge gap between the skill profile of our unemployed youth and the market needs. For example, today, even a youth with a business management degree is a misfit in the domestic economic scenario. Reason is simple – he is competent to handle a company but not possessing management techniques to handle local segments of our economy like artisan sector etc. Notably, craft segment is one of our major economic strengths.

The state government has taken several unemployment eradication initiatives like Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Program for the Youth (SKEWPY) which also aims at the change in the skill profile of our youth. Precisely, the need of the hour is to promote major skill upgradation of our current breed of unemployed youth and simultaneously guide or counsel our student community in their career building.

In an increasingly competitive atmosphere coupled with innumerable career choices, today we have career choices scenario ranging from engineering to business management, medicine to mass communication, marine biology to information technology, etc. Which career to pick among the varied range of career choices available, has confused our student community? Most of the students have no clue about their future and waste money on pursuing courses that don't match their abilities, interests, and even personality. A good percentage of our students choose a career based merely on the fact that their friends are doing the same or because their parents told them to do so. But, this is not the best way to go about career development.

Even parents are in a dilemma while choosing a field of study that really suits to the interests or skills of their wards. Unfortunately, parents have been encouraging career decision practice of their wards as a last minute event until their wards enter into last year of education. Otherwise, a career decision should have been a process and not a one-time affair. Parents have to take the fact into account that they can make suggestions about career fields, but at the end of the day, they have to allow their wards to be the ultimate judge of what's best for them.

Even as career development process can be stressful, but as a responsible parent or a guardian one has to be patient, sympathetic and understanding, even if he does not agree with his ward’s decision. One of the most valuable things parents can do to help a child with career planning is to listen and be open to ideas, try to help his ward to find information and be nonjudgmental. Ultimately, it is the child who has to make the choice.

We lack the concept of career development activities in elementary, intermediate, and secondary levels as a crystal ball to the future.  And it's here career counseling assumes significance. Unfortunately, our student community here is deprived of this facility. We find good teaching shops, but no career-counseling units. Career counseling simply tracks down students’ true potential and interest in various subjects and helps them to choose the right career path as an early bird.

In a society like ours, career choices tend to be influenced by factors such as respectability attached to certain professions, peer pressure, fads and also the lack of value attached to some careers. It is, therefore, important for the student and parents to understand that the right profession is the one that the person is more likely to excel in. It is unfair to believe that every child will be able to study medicine or engineering.

Through organized career counseling initiative, we can motivate our youth to do away with the practice of chasing any job and at the same time it will help us to capitalize on the strengths, skills, talents, competencies, and aspirations of our youth for overall development of our state.

Now, the most important thing for our youngsters – don’t kill your interest while you try to decide the career you want to pursue, based on which you will need to decide your further course of study. Never go for a subject in which you are not interested, otherwise it will be an uphill task to register a successful career in that field.

The key to survival and winning in the career game is one’s ability to make smart career choices, spot and learn new jobs, and be the best at what one does. Even in tough times, if one has a reputation for being a quick learner and being the best in his field, he will do better than most.

One has to also remember that in most if not all careers, no matter how secure one feels, one will come across with ups and downs due to certain unavoidable factors like recession in economy, unexpected changes in technology or global events. But with determination, focus, and learning new skills associated with in-demand career fields, one can still make smart career choices and stay employed.

To be precise, a lot remains to be done to help the youngsters in career development. Why can’t we have some selected days in schools and colleges to observe career days? On these days, let the students be introduced to various career options. We must have personal coaches in the field of career development so that they offer a very essential service to people who are late planners of their careers. When the best career options are enumerated for students, it helps them to develop a better understanding of the careers they would prefer, resulting in more efficient planning and more enrollments in colleges leading to a more productive future society. This will go a long way in fighting the menace of unemployment.

 It’s skill deficit which has led to paradoxes in our economy. Since corrective measures have been put underway by way of skill upgradation programmes of our unemployed youth to meet the market needs, we can curb this menace if career counseling gets due attentions of all – parents, government and above all civil society. However, it’s reiterated that one should always opt for a profession that is more in sync with one’s personal values. An overemphasis on money can only lead to short-term gains but long-term unhappiness. Therefore think wisely before opting for a career. A career should be by choice, not by chance, with awareness of one's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 18 Dec 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 18 Dec 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Dec 2010 00:00:00 IST