After your class 10 board exams, you stand at the first
'crossroads'. What will you do next? Will you take the road leading to less
stress, less study, easy study or travel an extra mile like many?
For the first time in your life, you'll have to face a question
that might haunt you all your life, "What are you going to do after
this"? These questions will pop-up from time to time, whenever you reach
an important milestone in your life. Many students find this question very
frustrating and intimidating if they are not clear about their career ambitions
or how to reach it.
With
the end of school life, begins a life where you have to start taking some
important decisions. It is important to have a clear career plan for a smooth
passage from your school life to a happy professional life. If you don't have
an in-depth knowledge of the choices that you have ahead of you, you might
end-up in a career that is not made for you. It is common among students going
through this transition phase to get influenced by misinformation and end up with
making wrong decisions.
DECISION MAKING IS A MAJOR
SOUGHT AFTER SKILL
An individual's decision making is the most sought after skill in
each and every career; no matter which job you do, your success will be based
on the reasoning applied behind the decisions you take. This skill is spurred
in a student from time to time and it starts right after you finish your 10th
grade. Before 10th, the only choice you made was selecting your second
language. After 10th, the story changes-- for the first time, you have the
steering wheel of your career.
For most of the students, this phase appears like a complex maze
with lots of doors leading to different directions, and it becomes difficult to
find the door that leads towards the student's dream career. Let us try to look
at this maze from above, so that we can connect the doors that will lead you
towards your dream.
WHY IS THE CHOICE IMPORTANT?
Many parents ask this question and feel that this is not a very
important choice of life and can be taken again after grade 12th. On the
contrary, this maybe the first major decision for a student and also one which
gives your career a direction. It's always better to start early.
Every student has a unique set of skills, strengths and weaknesses
and hence it's very important to take unique decision for every student.
LET US LOOK AT SOME COMMON
ISSUES FACED BY STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS AT THIS JUNCTION:
1. CONFUSION FROM TOO MANY OPTIONS:
This is one of the biggest problem faced by the parents. If we go
back a decade or two, when your parents were in your place, all they had to
choose was between mathematics and biology. This is not the case anymore, there
are many options available and as it is said, more options mean more chances of
making the wrong choice.
2. WHAT TO CONSIDER FOR THE
DECISION:
While making any decision in life, you need to keep in mind the
consequences of the choice you make. Similarly, after your 10th, you should not
only look at the future and make decisions according to the career you want,
but you should also consider your past and make the decision based on your
strengths and weaknesses.
3. WHICH BOARD TO SELECT:
After 10th, you have the option of sticking to the same education
board or going for a different board. This decision should be taken after
understanding the difficulty level of every board. For example, if you have
studied in the state board till your 10th, you should be ready to face the
difficulty if you want to shift to boards like CBSE or IGCSE.
Let us now look at the three major streams you have to select from
after 10th standard. At this point, you have to select among one out the
following three streams; arts, science & Commerce all these streams lead
towards different career scopes.
LET US INDIVIDUALLY LOOK INTO
THE STREAMS STUDENTS CAN CHOOSE:
1. SCIENCE:
This is the most chosen stream for 10+2 education and offers many
lucrative career options including medicine and engineering. It is also popular
for the fact that it keeps you options open, i.e. a student is allowed to
select commerce or arts after pursuing science in 10+2, while commerce and arts
students cannot pursue science.
In science stream, you have to take at least six subjects including
one compulsory language. There are many options for subjects like mathematics,
biology, physics, chemistry, computer science, IT, electronics etc. The student
should select the subjects that can lead them towards their prospective career.
2. ARTS:
Although, this stream is not so common among students, it holds
many exciting career opportunities like journalism, literature, social works,
teaching, etc.
In arts stream, you have to select six subjects including one
compulsory language and one optional language. Arts offers you a huge list of
options to select the remaining four subjects which include, sociology,
history, literature, psychology, political science, philosophy, economics etc.
3. COMMERCE:
This is the second most popular choice among students in India.
Commerce stream leads towards some of the highest paying and respected jobs
like investment banking, chartered accountant, company secretaries, accounts
and financial adviser etc.
The three major subjects taught in commerce stream are economics,
accountancy and business law or business study. The subjects offered by most
commerce colleges include business economics, business law, accountancy,
auditing, income tax, marketing, etc.
Just like the above two streams, even in the commerce stream the
student has to select six subjects including one compulsory language. If
you are still confused, you can discover how to simplify this maze by putting
the right doors at the right place. Like every other choice, all you need to do
is look at the wider picture and take the decision keeping in mind your future
aim and your past performance.
