There was an entire generation of Indian students who first did their Engineering and then figured out what their true calling in life was. Those who were not on this only already overcrowded boat spent precious years going through the grind of cracking the medical entrance tests and moved on only if success remained elusive. Studying science and making a career in Engineering or Medical was the norm – that is what bright, promising students were expected to do – and breaking away from it was frowned upon. Thankfully, the stereotypes are changing. Students and parents are opening up to the idea of career choices outside the realm of these two streams. If you too are exploring the alternatives, here are five lucrative courses to consider after Class 12:
Management:
A career in management comes with a promise of job security and scope for growth because skilled managers are still much in demand. Why take the longer route of following a professional Bachelors’ degree with a MBA when you can cut to the chase with under-graduate management courses such as BBA or BMS. Both these courses set you up to kickstart your career right after graduation. If you feel the need to further your expertise, getting an MBA is always an option and your management background will give you a vantage point over your peers from other fields.
Foreign Languages:
Learning a foreign language as part of your undergraduate studies, or better still, pursuing a Bachelors’ degree in a foreign language can open up a vast avenues of employment opportunities for you, and well-paying ones at that. As globalizations catches paces and businesses and organization transcend geographical boundaries to expand their ventures, foreign language experts are being absorbed more readily than ever before. With a degree in say French, German, or Chinese, among a host of other options, you stand a good chance of being employed in MNCs, multi-lateral organizations, international NGOs, embassies and more.
Fashion:
Fashion designing was once looked at as an umbrella term where people learned to design clothes and style others. Today, this course offers several specific specialization options such as footwear designing, jewelry designing, accessory designing. With so many global and homegrown brands accepting newly trained professionals into their workshops, design studios and manufacturing units, a degree in Fashion Designing, preferably with a specialization in a specific branch of designing, can land you lucrative jobs straight out of college.
Agriculture and Rural Studies:
If you are seeking the traditional sense of security offered by a government or public sector job and want to make a career that helps you re-connect with your roots, agriculture and rural sciences are two courses worth considering. You can either pursue of BSc in Agriculture Sciences or explore the newer Bachelors in Rural Studies. Both these courses have a somewhat overlapping curriculum, covering forestry, animal husbandry, agriculture, environment management and so on. After completing your degree, you can land a job in center and state run government departments as well as private and public organizations working in these areas.
Journalism and Mass Communication:
This is another highly rewarding and exciting profession that you can delve into right after finishing school. There are a number of Bachelors’ degree and diploma courses in journalism and mass communication offered by some of the most prestigious institutions in the country. Apart from this, several leading media conglomerates such as the BCCL and India Today Group have their own journalism schools, where students are trained in the thick of action and more often than not absorbed within these organizations. Apart from print and broadcast journalism, a bachelors’ degree in mass communication also opens up employment avenues in advertising, public relations, and more recently, digital media.
After you finish you Class 12th board exams, you have over two months to really evaluate what you want to do in life. It is better to take a wise call now, even if means taking a detour from your ‘plan’, than doing it three or four years down the line.