Workshop on Digital India, Changes in Delhi University and add-on Courses

Competition and challenges are a part of todays world, therefore, to achieve goals, one should plan his/her career well in advance. Many students are clueless about their pursuits after completing class 12 as they are not aware of the career opportunities they can avail. Keeping in mind the importance of taking an informed decision, students of class 12, Arjun Singh Jolly, Pranati Haldia, Varun Singh, Sukriti Thakur, Hardik Arora, Enakshi Dasgupta, Srishti Chauhan, Rohan Gupta, Tanupriya Nagpal and Varun Sharma accompanied by a faculty member attended an informative programme on career options through DIGITAL INDIA, CHANGES IN DELHI UNIVERSITY AND ADD-ON COURSES at the Birla Vidya Niketan School, Saket. Students from other schools also participated in the workshop. The programme was organised by Jitin Chawlas Centre for career development in association with Birla Vidya Niketan School. The main speaker at the workshop was Mr. Jitin Chawla, an eminent career counsellor, educationist and director, Centre for Career Development. He has done a number of shows on NDTV, CNN-IBN, Delhi Aaj Tak, Headlines Today, Lok Sabha TV, Doordarshan, ZEE Business and writes for various newspapers and magazines like India Today Aspire, Dainik Bhaskar, Outlook, HT and Times of India. In the initial session of the workshop, students were told about the importance of career planning and how career planning should be done. A student should be aware of his/her aptitude, abilities, values, interests and personality before he/she selects a stream. He also talked about the misconceptions that parents have, which in turn influence the career decisions of students. He then touched upon the best colleges for science in India and the various career options available to the students of the science stream such as biotechnology, bioinformatics, sugar technology, aviation technology, veterinary science, robotics, nano technology, pharmacy, architecture, engineering, dairy technology, horticulture, medicine, and genetic science. He listed some of the best colleges for commerce in India such as Shri Ram College-Delhi, Presidency College Chennai, Lady Shri Ram College for Women Delhi, St. Xaviers College Kolkata, Hindu College Delhi, Department of Commerce, Osmania University Hyderabad, KJ Somaiya College Mumbai and Madras Christian College Chennai. The employment avenues in the commerce stream such as airlines, travel, advertising, banking, insurance, journalism, media and entrepreneurship were also enumerated. He also mentioned the careers available in the humanities stream such as teaching, photography, jewellery designing, interior designing, acting, psychology, social work, etc. He discussed the various courses available at Delhi University at the under-graduate level in detail and the pros and cons of the South Campus as well as North Campus. Moving on, he covered the add-on courses that one can opt for, like Foreign Language, Film Appreciation, Women Studies, Human Rights, Gender & Environment, Creative Writing, Beautician, Handicrafts, Mass Communication, etc. and the institutes/colleges where one can enrol for them like the School of Learning (DU) and Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan. He also enlightened the students about the various internship opportunities that they can go for such as AIESEC, Internshala, the YP Foundation, Youth ki Awaaz, Becoming I Foundation, etc. Last but not the least, the various off-beat careers which are available were also talked about such as becoming a wedding choreographer, pet photographer, juice-bar owner, t-shirt designer, reality TV creator, massage therapist, seminar- organiser, green consultant, cartoonist, style -consultant, bodyguards for celebrities and so on. The seminar was very informative and opened the minds of the students to explore a complete new world of opportunities that are coming up for the youth.