Don’t be scared of Math: Usha

February 20, 2008 at 7:31 am · Filed under Edu-News, Career Counseling

The right aptitude and career-goals, coupled with self-knowledge, can give the students a cutting edge in this modern competitive world, according to a noted career expert and the Director of Delhi-based ‘Career Smart’, Ms. Usha Albuquerque. In a rendezvous with tcyonline.com in the Capital, Ms. Albuquerque advised the students to be ‘career-smart’ rather than just career-conscious. Ignorance is not bliss today.

Ms Albuquerque applauded the website’s teacher-student platform and the efforts being made to reach out to students and help them make career decisions. It is worth noting that tcyonline.com will cross the 100,000-enrolment mark within the next couple of months. Stressing on the need for a ‘pragmatic approach’ towards modern career-goals, she said, “Students should be a little more realistic when it comes to choosing a career. They can aim for the stars but should pick up career-goals which are achievable.” Revealing the five success mantras of successful people, Ms. Albuquerque said the modern youth should have clear objectives in front of him on his aptitude, personality, interests, skills and academics. Elaborating further, she said while aptitudes and abilities are innate, the student should explore the career environment and select the one that would suit his kind of personality. Ms. Albuquerque said general courses like BA/BSc do not give the students a clear picture. They should use these graduation years to ‘groom’ themselves for the career option they have in mind, by taking up internships in the fields they wish to explore. The students should also attend workshops and seminars during vacations to fortify their mental faculties for bigger challenges ahead. She said this would not only help them in the career field but otherwise also in life which is full of challenges. Just one wrong choice, even a wrong subject stream after Class X, can push a student down and out. That can prove too dear to him throughout his life. Asked as to how a student should decide on a stream after class X, Ms Albuquerque said, a stream largely depends on the career goals he has set for himself. “The students should have a broad idea of the stream they want to get into. Most of the students and their parents believe taking up science subjects give students a wider choice. But this may not be so, if a student is unable to handle science, and is not interested in the careers that require a science background. The right choice at the right time is more important for the child.” Blowing out some common misconceptions about science subjects she said, “Its not that the one who selects sciences is more successful than others. You do not have to choose Science to prove a point. The X scores cannot be the deciding factor for choosing science in +2. Class X science is at a basic level which most students can handle well, whereas, science in +2 is at a much higher level, and students without strong logical and numerical abilities will not be able to handle. ” She advised the students to keep their options open all the time. “Don’t be scared of Maths as it can prove to be always useful in life,” she said. Asked to suggest some career options for women coming fresh out of colleges and universities, Albuquerque said women today are taking up careers that they would not have thought of twenty years back. “The mindset has changed and women are taking up all available options, including the Defense services. Now, they are as ambitious as men,” she opined. “But, what is important is their career goal. Can they pursue the chosen career after marriage? Though this is a personal aspect, but should be kept in mind while deciding on a long term career goal.” Talking about career counseling as a career option for the modern youth she lamented that since there is not much money in this profession, the career does not find much favour with the students today after coming out of colleges and universities.