Samarthya, a student-run body at XLRI organised a career counselling fair for school students in Jamshedpur. Steered by Ronald D’Costa, a founding member of Samarthya and an alumni of XLRI, and chief mentor Fr Francis Peter, SJ, XLRI, the event witnessed participation by many professionals and counsellors. Around 500 students and 50 parents of local schools participated.
Samarthya’s aim’s to provide guidance to school students and their parents about various career options available to them from professionals having first-hand information. The event is designed to help students make an informed decision about their career choice.
D’Costa explained how important it is today to manage uncertainty as conditions and situations change constantly. Therefore, today's youth needs to be put in a situation to cope up with the same and adapt to new ideas and techniques. Fr Francis Peter, XLRI, emphasised the importance of career counselling and making an informed decision. He said, “One right step in right direction can make your future brilliant.”
The event offered information on various off-beat career options such as farming, sports, photography, forestry and standardised options such as engineering, doctors and Indian Defence.
Pursue your passion
Tushar Kabir who has studied from Loyola school chose farming as his career. He said that farming is not just a profession but a way of life and described the immense satisfaction he gets in contributing to feeding the entire nation. He explained to students how infusion of new technology into farming has changed it into a proper profession.
Dr Sanjay Aggarwal,a psychiatrist, told students to think practically and rationally, and emphasised on the importance of contingency plans. He tried to put the parent’s perspective before students to provide them the holistic view. Abhinesh Chaudhary, Indian Forest Service Officer, shared how he followed his passion even after pursuing science in his under-graduation and listed down the perks of being in the Indian Forestry Services.
The students and parents also had one-on-one interaction with the counsellors to get their doubts and concerns cleared from them. Psychometric tests were conducted to help gauge the interests of the students.