Dear Aspirant,

I have always said that parents play a very important role in their child's career. Right from making them disciplined children to taking part in the career decision making after 10th std level.

Unfortunately, almost all under-graduate courses do not focus or take efforts in building these employability skills for their students. Post-graduate institutes to some extent put efforts for building these skills, but not on consistent basis or with focus.

Parents should actually start looking into this aspect when their child gets admitted to an under-graduate course and not wait for him / her to complete the graduation, since it is late then.

Making course and career choice has become much more difficult these days for students as well as parents, due to the vast number of option available in every stream in the form of diversifications, specialisations, niche domains, etc. Still today, course or career choices are unfortunately made by students based on the advices, suggestions, experiences, stories, recommendations, news reports, etc.

This is where the mistake happens. It’s very important for students to understand that not one size fits all and parents to understand that their child is different than the rest.

It’s high time that students and parents considered a scientific and proven way to judge what career option or course stream will be fit.

1. Parents mindset towards their children should change. Referring olden days to the children will not help anymore. What they as parents have faced, is not what their children will face. Parents should accept that dynamics have changed and will keep changing.
2. Parents and students should not regard vocational courses as low level and low status courses. These courses will be the most sought ones in the years to come and will be the closest to getting your children a job.
3. Parents should come out of the notion that ‘entrepreneurship’ is not for their children. Entrepreneurship will become more important than getting a job. Making a career by doing a job will be a thing of the past.

Best wishes