Start early and chase down your dream career

Thiruvananthapuram: Experts, who spoke at Mission Admission webinar series organized by Times of India in association with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, advised students to start a disciplined pursuit from the first year in college so that they will be able to avoid unnecessary stress in the final year and thus choose the right career.
‘Campus recruitment and stress on final year students’ was the topic and the series which started on August 19 concluded on Saturday.
Jenty Joy, key coordinator of the placement officers’ group in Kerala, said an engineering student won’t be burdened by stress in the final year if he/she started dreaming of a job in the second year and start working accordingly.
“Companies that come for recruitment do not ask a student about anything other than what he/she learned. If students get their basics right, they can easily get a job on course completion,” he said.
Dr Sebind Kumar, secretary, Indian psychiatric society (Kerala), said a little bit of stress helped students to get focus, meet targets and fare well in exams. However, one needs to know the breaking point where the stress starts affecting performance. “Stress levels vary from person to person. If one feels depressed for more than two weeks, it’s time to seek medical help,” he said.
Mithun Vijay, former student coordinator of Sacred Heart College placement cell, said students need to exercise more caution while choosing courses and institutions for their degree and PG courses. “Teachers may not be able to help you much during job hunt. It’s the responsibility of students to prepare for a job and improve skills required for campus selection. Placement cell and the ecosystem on campus play a major role in this endeavour,” he said.
Aswin Ashok, another panellist and 2020 batch BTech graduate from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham who got placed in an MNC recently, said students should identify courses and subjects they like. “There is no problem if you lose out a year or take a break. If your basics are fine and you are passionate about it. Opportunities will come to you,” he said.