Introduction
In this disruptive world, gig economy and gig working is going to be the future norm. Currently, out of approximately 10 Lac students appearing for JEE, approximately 11300 seats are only available in the IITs. Similarly, approx 16 Lac students appear for NEET for around 63,000 seats. The success rate is very skewed. The future scenario of employment is undergoing a drastic change. 40% of the jobs existing today will be irrelevant in next 10 years. The need of the future is workforce transition and development of new skill sets. Actuarial Science, Cryptocurrency & Blockchain, Liberal Arts, Hospitality, Blogging, Media & Mass Communications are the different emerging fields of the future. The stereotype mindset needs to be broken.
A good Career Counselor can help you reach your Dream Career by helping you to select the right stream and course. Career Counseling is not a one-time appointment wherein the Counselor tells the child to become an Engineer/ Doctor/ Youtuber/ Cryptographer or likewise and leaving the child to find the path. A good Career Counselor will mentor and guide the child to his/ her Dream Career and would be available to the child and the parents at all important stages of the child’s life. For example, stream–selection after class 10th, and after 12th, guidance on the admission processes in various universities / entrance examinations etc. He/ she should also help in selecting the most suited professional course as per the Aptitude, Personality and the interest of the Child.
“The career development of any individual is a lifelong process, and it is not uncommon to see children changing their career goals while they are in their teenage years. Unfortunately, only 1 out of 50,000 students in India gets proper Career Guidance.” Says Lt Col (Dr.) Delin Mathew (Retd.) Founder and Chief Mentor, Dream Big Training and Consultancy.
Who needs Career Counselling?
Students benefit the maximum out of a career counselling session. The right time to go for a Career Counseling session and the Psychometric test is when the student is in IX or X class, as, it is after class X, the students need to decide which stream to select. However, students in class XI and XII can also take a Career Counselling session in case they have not taken it before, to get more clarity about their strengths and challenges and decide the future course of action. Career counselling can also immensely benefit the working professionals as some may feel that they are stuck in the wrong profession. Also, if there is a need to identify the field where individual strength and passion lies in order to switch career accordingly.
Benefits of Career Counseling: –
1. To know your strength and challenges.
2. To get the full information of the world of career opportunities available to choose from.
3. To select the most suitable career path.
4. To strike a balance between the aspirations of the parents, child and the Psychometric test report recommendations keeping their strength, challenges, socioeconomic background and gender in mind.
5. Motivating and handholding the child to achieve his/her dream.
Benefits of Psychometric Assessment
The Psychometric assessment is certainly an important tool in Career Counseling to scientifically advice the child and the parents. This online assessment, tests the child on their personality, aptitude and interests. This tool brings out a report exactly as expected for some, while for some the report may be a total surprise. The main purpose of the Psychometric assessment itself is to bring out the strength and challenges both known and hidden. However, as an experienced Career Counselor, the Career choices suggested to each child is after a detailed analysis on the combination of the inputs received from the Child, Parents and the Psychometric assessment report.
A good Career Counselor not only tells the student about Careers, it is much more. It is also about exploring and bringing out the hidden talents, mentoring, being a friend, being someone readily available to the child to talk, listen without being judgemental and most importantly show them the mirror.
Most Promising Future Careers:-
Post pandemic most of the things in the world are adapting to new normal. Here is a list of some of the emerging future career options. You can align your academic knowledge and other skillsets to suit the requirements in these sectors. Use of data analytics, machine learnings, A.I. based algorithms are new basis to get insights. Digital marketing and social media are taking over traditional marketing. So identify if there is a need to learn some of the new skills!
1) ED TECH – All schools & colleges are in virtual mode. The pandemic has accelerated the growth of Education-technolgy companies. Coursera, Byjus, Udemy, Udacity etc. are some of the companies that have grown in both size and reach.
2) HEALTH CARE. Huge surge in business due to this global pandemic.
3) FINTECH/ FINANCIAL SERVICES. Phonepe, Paytm, Google Pay are gaining stability. Digital lending is taking wings. Online investment products that come under Fintech are gaining momentum.
4) OTT & ONLINE GAMING. Covid-19 has brought a drastic shift to the entertainment sector where Over the top (OTT) platforms have been the gainers. Hot star, Netflix, Prime, Reliance entertainment etc. are part of the OTT platforms.
5) E RETAIL AND E COMMERCE. The lockdown has increased the surge of online shoppers. One can see a shift in consumer habits. It is expected that e-commerce industry is likely to reach over $ 200 billion in the coming 8 years. Amazon, Walmart Jiomart are some examples of the large players taking leverage of the growth opportunity.
Skill Sets Required for Post Covid Era:–
Whenever disruptions happen there is also a surge in innovation and creativity. Survivors learn to adapt Here is a list of new skill sets one must develop, to be ahead of the curve,
• Leadership skills
• Business skills
• High level of reasoning & analytics
• Technology skills
• Adapt to changes
• Never give up attitude
• Soft skills development
• Reskilling and the ability to learn any new skills quickly
How to become a Career Counselor:-
In case you think you have the skills and right attitude and you wish to guide others as a career counselor, here are the guidelines. The most important quality for being a Career Counselor is passion to help. Also, in this particular field, compassion and empathy has huge role to play. Being from a Psychological background really helps understand your students much better. In my case, a large number of students had to be given mental well being guidance along with career counseling. Psychologists can analyse the students better and can address various other issues which a teenager is likely to face in this fast changing and competitive world. There are many companies like Idream Careers, Mindler, Univeriety and Dheya which gives Certifications for counselors. However, one needs to be updated always in the latest happenings in the world of careers and education.
Dr. Delin Mathew is a passionate Career Counselor and Parenting Coach. An expert in Child Psychology, he holds a Ph. D in Education and triple Masters in Psychology, Education and History. After serving for more than 23 years in the Indian Army, he is on a mission to help students identify their dream career and make the journey enjoyable and stress-free towards that destination. He also holds a B. Ed degree and PG Diploma in Guidance and Counseling. He is accredited from Harvard and Yale Universities on Positive Parenting. He is an accredited Life Coach by Dale Carnegie International, a Master NLP Practitioner and has a Certificate on Psychological First Aid from John Hopkins University. His experience in working with different schools testify his passion and love to mentor young minds while transforming complex situations into simple solutions. He is a leading Career Counselor with both Indian and International Certifications. He has successfully guided several students to identify their strengths and challenges and thus choose the right stream and career path. He conducts regular workshops on ‘Positive Parenting’ and on ‘Career Counseling’ for teachers, parents and students. He has authored a book on Positive Parenting titled ‘Do You Love Your Child’ which is Amazon Best Seller.
Article written by :
Lt Col (Dr) Delin Mathew (Retd)
Mob No 9449053600
Email: delinlifecoach@gmail.com
Website: www.dbtc.co.in
Cover photo created by mindandi – www.freepik.com
