Dear readers,
Many times you may have questions related to career guidance that you are not certain whom to ask. We now have a space here for your benefit. If you have a question relating to a course, an entrance exam or the prospects and requirements of any field, do write in to our counsellor at fpjcounsellor@gmail.com
Further on engineering
My son is in first year of electronics and telecommunications engineering. What are the future prospects? After his engineering degree, should he opt for master’s degree or MBA or something else? — Vijay Prakash
Dear Vijay,
Electronics and telecommunication engineering offers excellent prospects of placements after the degree. Postgraduation would be useful not just for better long-term growth prospects but also to open up teaching, consulting and research opportunities. He should appear for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in the final year to enable him to apply for admission to postgraduate programmes at nationally reputed institutions. To move on to careers in management rather than technology/ engineering, he should plan to appear for the management entrance tests. He could also apply for admission to institutions like NITIE, Mumbai and the IIT Schools of Management, which admit engineering graduates for their management programmes. After his degree he can apply for jobs in engineering not just with private organisations, but also with the government through competitive examinations like the Engineering Services Examination or appear for entry into services like the IAS, IPS, etc through the Civil Services Examination or join the defence services through the Combined Defence Services Examination or join the Indian Coast Guard, the Central Police Organisations like Border Security Force, ITBP, etc. The final decision would depend upon an objective assessment of his capabilities, goals and interests.
IT affairs
I am in SYBCom. I want to know how I can apply to become an Income Tax officer. I also want to know about CPA. — Dhiraj Divekar
Dear Dhiraj,
You have to complete at least your graduation and attain 21 years of age in order to become eligible for the Civil Services Examination (CSE) which is the route to joining the Income Tax, IAS/ IPS etc. You can prepare for the exam (details given on www.upsc.gov.in) while you are pursuing your graduation and then join a preparatory programme after your graduation with State Institute for Administrative Careers, Mumbai (www.siac.ac.in). University of Mumbai also offers a preparatory programme for the CSE.
A CPA, or Certified Public Accountant (www.aicpa.org), is a trusted financial advisor who helps individuals, businesses, and other organisations plan and reach their financial goals. A BCom degree with an accountancy qualification or a postgraduate accounting degree would be a good base for pursuing CPA (a US qualification).
Alternative choices
I am doing my FYBSc. However, I am fascinated by psychology, and would like to pursue a career in this subject. Is it possible to do a master’s degree in psychology after graduating from the science stream? — Rajni Shekhar
Dear Rajni,
To become a psychologist, you should complete your master’s degree in Psychology. Hence, you should take up psychology as a subject for graduation with the plan of majoring in psychology. This would enable you to seek admission in MA Psychology (better than average marks would be needed to ensure a seat).
Psychology postgraduates find varied career options and may also seek placement in human resources management, market research(qualitative), take up Civil Services examination or the state government civil/ administrative services exam with Psychology as a subject. Psychology graduates may opt for advertising, public relations, law, social work, management and other professional courses as per their goals and abilities. Options given are indicative of the possibilities.
