How do you make the Right Career choice after Class 10 ?

Engineering or medicine? Maybe chartered accountancy or law? Well, there is more to life than just these mainstream branches. Stop sticking to the safe, conventional path and limiting your potential.

Most students in grades 9-12, especially grades 10 and 12, have had this confusion at some point. After all, it feels like a monumental, life-changing decision to choose how they want to move forward.

Why does this decision feel so big?

For as long as we can remember, students and parents have viewed courses through the lens of stability and high growth. This gave rise to two categories: the traditional or more lucrative path consisting of fields like engineering, medicine or law and emerging domains such as AI, data science, cybersecurity, robotics, space technology and renewable energy.

It is at this juncture that this question becomes extremely relevant - how do you choose the right career, especially in a world with infinite options?

Let us examine the solution below, step-by-step:

Understand Yourself

Before you choose a particular stream, you need to understand yourself inside out. This is very important in order to make the correct decision, rooted in authenticity. Spend some time on yourself and identify what you enjoy, your strengths and how you react during a high-pressure situation (which helps you recognise your personality type). Ensure that your career choice aligns well with the above metrics.

This is significant since you will be able to work long hours if you are passionate about the subject. If you are naturally strong at the subject, you will have a shorter learning curve. Having the right personality fit will help in avoiding burnout and a career mismatch.

Career Guidance Tools

A great way to understand yourself better is to take a career guidance psychometric test. The MCMF test (My Choice, My Future) is one such psychometric assessment that aids in evaluating the best career options for students based on multiple parameters.

The test gives an introspective view into personality traits and various career clusters. It helps in spotting patterns and giving structured insights. For example, if your top 3 traits are risk-taking, creativity and compassion, the creative field may be the right fit for you. But, do keep in mind that it is a test and not a verdict. Scores mostly reflect your responses on that particular day.

Steps for CAP Mapping

To build the clarity needed for your CAP mapping, here are some simple steps you can start executing:

• Explore and list out 5 domains that you are interested in - like chemistry, biology, design, coding, storytelling or sports.
• Determine your strengths in both technical subjects and general skills such as public speaking, art, soft skills, etc.
• Take up a psychometric test and learn to interpret the results with curiosity.
• Create a CAP mapping that will provide you with greater clarity.
• Work on one experiment per week, like taking up a course or joining and contributing to a school club.

Applying CAP Mapping

CAP stands for career interest, academic strength and personality. Here are two simple examples to show how CAP works:

Discuss the MCMF scoring with your parents, look for dominant traits and compare highlighted clusters with your CAP mapping. Check if everything is as expected or if there are surprises. If a metric looks low but you don’t necessarily agree with the result, you can view it as an area of development.

Stream choices

While choosing the right stream is crucial, it does not limit your potential or career options. It is important to keep the following points in mind before arriving at a decision:

• For students who want maximum flexibility: The Physics-Chemistry-Math-Biology stream gives you maximum flexibility. Out of various stream choices, this combination opens you up to the maximum number of windows. You can go into engineering, medicine, AI, biotechnology, psychology or even design. Students who are unsure will benefit from taking this stream.
• For students who chose pure science: Even if students choose the pure science stream, their career prospects remain strong. They can still pursue fields like economics, marketing, product management or similar areas.
• For all students regardless of stream: Irrespective of the field you take, you will still be able to find a suitable option. Keep your fundamentals strong - math hones logical skills, science sharpens the reasoning ability and languages help in developing communication.
  

Competitive Exams

Entrance exams are held for both UG and PG levels.

• UG: After class 12 (JEE, NEET, CUET, NIFT, NID, CLAT, etc.)
• PG: After UG degree (CAT, GATE, UPSC, ISRO recruitment, etc.)

Examples across streams:

• Engineering: JEE, BITSAT
• Science/Research: IISER IAT, ICAR, CUET Science courses
• Design: NID, NIFT, Pearl
• Paramedical/Allied Health: OT/PT, B.Sc Nursing, Radiology exams
• Government: ISRO recruitment, DRDO, UPSC

Students should shortlist exams based on their chosen domain from the CAP mapping.

Scholarships

The Government of India provides scholarships through the National Scholarship Portal. Apart from this, there are many other scholarships offered by major foundations and organisations, such as the Foundation for Excellence scholarships (FFE) or even the PM Vidyalaxmi portal.

Long-term planning

Once you have clarity on courses, exams and scholarships, the next step is long-term career planning. 

• For interdisciplinary learning
  When you choose a career option, always look at the big picture. A career is not just a degree, but the next few decades after that. Learn to get comfortable with interdisciplinary courses, as they are becoming even more valuable than single-domain expertise. Some examples are AI and healthcare, design and psychology or marketing and data.

• For soft skills
  There are two other crucial elements to focus on - soft skills and an entrepreneurial mindset. Hone your soft skills and volunteering, as these will give you a taste of leadership and give you confidence. 

• For an entrepreneurial mindset
  With respect to the latter, build small projects, focus on problem-solving and learn to be obsessed with the users’ needs and incorporate other fields if necessary.

• For AI and technology adaptation
  In the current day and age, it is vital to keep upskilling and reskilling to stay updated at all times. Make students learn the basics of AI, coding, data, soft skills and problem-solving irrespective of the stream they choose. AI integration has been strong across multiple sectors, like AI risk models in finance or drones in agriculture and the entire landscape is changing more rapidly than before.

• For long-term relevance
  Remember that AI will not completely replace people, but those who fail to adopt it may become obsolete in the time to come.

Takeaways for parents and students

Parents should not impose their interests on children, but support them at every step. They must provide resources, structure and support to students and learn to be empathetic. 

Teach students to reflect at every stage, and that career building can’t be done in a day. If they feel frustrated, be kind and help them change their perspective and approach.

For students, these are some basic points to follow during the journey:

• List career interests
• Identify 2-3 entrance exams
• Strengthen fundamentals in Math/Science/Languages
• Explore extracurriculars
• Start small projects or online courses
• Maintain a simple study routine

To sum it up, students must focus on the field fit and not place emphasis on prestige. Pick what you are good at and what you truly enjoy instead of taking up a field just because everyone is doing the same. Parental pressure and analysis paralysis will tend to overwhelm the students, so be aware of the same.

Are you ready to build a future that excites you every single day?