Quality education is the basic need of every child and proper career selection is the first step a child takes to fulfill his or her ambitions. A well thought decision to choose a particular career after getting proper guidance opens countless doors for personal and professional success. A right career also gives financial stability which comes from job satisfaction which further leads to better health and perfect work-life balance. But a small mistake during career selection creates lot of trouble wastage of money and ruining of a child’s future. Especially in a country like India where more and more people compete for fewer seats in professional colleges and in good jobs it becomes critically important that students take due care in career selection by taking required guidance from teachers, parents even from professional counselors.

Unfortunately, most students in their tender age when they make career choices they don’t have much awareness and visibility about a particular career and their thoughts are also not practical. They also sometime take career choices based on fancy ideas which are away from reality like copying fantasy characters from movies and television. They get easily influenced by their surroundings and end up taking wrong decisions like selecting same glamorous career what their friends has chosen and later on regret to know that their personality don’t match with the education they are pursuing and finally perform poorly in their academic records.

During this time they also develop guilt feelings as they have already wasted lot of money of their parents and also their own valuable time of youth. Fortunately, career selection is a systematic decision making process that can be learned after taking into consideration some important things like analyzing your own inclination, your own strengths and weaknesses, financial ability of parents and prospects of a particular field in the future. Following are very simple but effective tips that parents and students should consider before taking any career choice:

First and most important is to explore within yourself what is your real interest. Don’t get influenced from external factors like friends or relatives but analyze where your heart constantly takes you. It makes big difference if you choose your career path that is also close to your heart.

Second, try to eliminate any emotional reasons when selecting career. Be logical and practical in your approach.

Third, always remember if you’ve chosen something that you really love than the chances are really less that you’ll give it up when things get worst in the future as you are doing something that you like to do.

Fourth, have high degree of self-awareness about your own strengths and weakness and judge yourself if you could do well in a particular education field. If required talk to some seniors students and get their opinion along with teachers and parents. High self-awareness and acceptance of your own weakness frees one from unnecessary rat race and failing at it in the later stage of life.

Fifth, it is the responsibility of every parent to stay close to their child and assist them as their friends while they are going through this exploration exercise. Most students find it overwhelming. Don’t try to influence their thinking but be there with them whenever they need your advice.

Finally, it is important for parents to realize that their child is just normal and don’t overburden and overload them with all your desires and hopes. Let he live his life according to his own way. This support and confidence from parents into their children makes big difference in children’s life.