Live a designed Life not a default life

A letter wrote to the edge appeared in the Hindu dated 4 April 2018 once again shaken my mind. The letter is as follows “I am 21.I am feeling depressed about my life and career. I have completed B. Tech in electrical engineering and after that I worked in the textile sector for two years. At present, I am preparing for my banking exam. Sometimes I feel that I am worthless as I didn’t make any proper plan for my future. Can you suggest how to keep such negative thoughts away?”

This letter throws out a plethora of questions to our education system and is one such case among a multitude I come across the pages of print media and electronic media. At a prime age of 21, a young talent of India feels depressed and disappointed about his life and hit the road block in his career and seeking help. Even if someone offers help at this age, it will only act as the last straw or even if he/she wants to begin all over again much of the water has flown down the drain in the process.

This letter is just a reflection of the crisis that young India is facing   today and everyone is groping in dark without any proper solution. This young man’s life is like a ship without a rudder. In the first place at a time when he had to take the vital decision about his future studies, he took the wrong course of study. After that, he worked in a sector which had hardly any connection with what he studied .Now much later, realization has dawned upon him and he wants to work in the Banking sector for which he is neither qualified nor trained. If at all, if he is qualified for the much competitive banking examination who knows whether he will be able to cope up with the pressures of the field and come out successful. It’s apparent that he made a mess of his life and seeking help now.

This tragedy would not have happened to this young man, if there was someone to guide him properly towards a career path as per his personality style, his interests, aptitude and skills. He would have made an informed choice if someone analysed his career goals and abilities.

This young man is just a representation of our youth today. Many studies have shown that  rising unemployment  rate in India is mostly attributed to wrong career choices and lack of preparation for one’s own preferred careers. Where in United States, a school student begins his/her career preparation at class 8 or 9, in India students don’t even fix their career destination no later than completing their undergraduate studies. It’s just as fixing the destination ones a journey has begun

Therefore, to tackle the rising tide of unemployment and depression among the youngsters, It’s absolutely necessary to plan our career destinations at a very early stage with the help of a mentor who is specialised in careers and job skills. This is where a career counsellor can help. Many of the parents feel that it’s once again an added expense but they have no problem in spending huge amount of money on fancy items to satisfy the kids.

JOHN MATHEW

Principal, Educational Consultant and Career Counsellor

alchemyedusol@gmail.com