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Follow your interests not trends, say experts

UoP vice-chancellor Wasudeo Gade has advised students who are at the crossroads of their careers to introspect and focus on their interests instead of merely following trends or choosing options that are in vogue.

Speaking at the ′Mission Admission′ event, organized by the Times of India, Gade said, "Be it engineering, management, medicine, humanities or pure sciences, none of the courses is inferior as long as the student has a genuine interest in the subject."

Echoing Gade′s views, Symbiosis International University′s vice-chancellor Rajani Gupte advised students to introspect. "Decide for yourself what really interests you. Having an interest, a passion for that is what really matters," Gupte said.

Gupte admitted that it is often not easy to decide, but said students today have a whole range of options to choose from and, fortunately, there is no stigma attached to the options. "Technology too is playing a great enabler in letting youngsters make a career choice," she added.

Gade said, "Students ought to avoid picking a subject merely because there appears to be a great demand for professionals of that field at the moment. A few years ago a large number of students were enrolling in courses like engineering, management or biotechnology, but the scenario has changed. In Maharashtra, 45,000 engineering seats were vacant last year. Similarly, a large number of management seats went a-begging. Similarly, there has been a huge drop in demand for biotechnology courses."

"This does not mean that there is no demand for engineers, management graduates or experts in biotechnology. The difference lies in the quality of education offered by institutes and often there is a gap between the expectations of the industry and what is taught in institutes," said Gade.

Gupte said that for students who have just appeared for standard X exam, there is usually a 7 or 8 years gap between the field they pick and the time they actually enter the profession. "The world is changing rapidly. In seven or eight years, the professions you and I know today would have metamorphosed into something else," she said.

Gupte and Gade asked parents to support their children if they make unconventional choices. "As a caution to parents, I ask you to support your children in what you think are their bizarre ideas. I know the question always emerges how they will commercialize it. Let your children make that choice," said Gupte.

The experts asked the students to leverage technology and collect as much information they can about various career options. "Technology has advanced so much that making a choice has become much easier," said Gade.

Delhi-based career consultant Anupam Srivastava set the tone for the event by making an elaborate presentation on a slew of career opportunities that are available to students in both professional and non-professional streams besides the leading institutes they can aspire for in pursuit of higher studies. Career consultant Shreeram Geet gave an overall layout of options available and provided inputs for helping make individual decisions.