Students at The Telegraph Careergraph Live Career Fair. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Soft skills or academic degrees, quality or quantity, communication or qualification, focus and fine-tuning? Confusion is king when it comes to career choices among today?s students.

Case in point: at the three seminars held as part of The Telegraph Careergraph Live Career Fair, more than a thousand students and parents turned up with bagfuls of queries, even swamping the speakers for nearly an hour after each session.

A ?desperation for guidance? is how Pervin Malhotra described it. The director of Caring (Career Guidance India), New Delhi, spoke on Sunday morning at The Park on career options in the 21st Century.

?I?m not surprised. It?s the same everywhere I go. The more the options, the greater the confusion,? Malhotra said. ?There are hundreds of careers to choose from, but lack of guidance. Also, there are good, bad and indifferent institutions. It?s the indifferent ones who advertise the most, misleading youngsters. Differing advice from friends and family complicate matters.?

Amrita Dass, director, Institute of Career Studies, Lucknow, spoke on Saturday evening on building a winning career by taking the best educational decisions. On Sunday afternoon, the topic of discussion was preparing for an effective strategy to develop a competitive edge. At the end, she received a standing ovation, which left her ?moved?.

?The audience was involved, responsive, attentive and really listened. There?s an urgent need for more career counselling, because there are around 2,000 broad career choices today. Students are searching,? explained Dass.

With the shift in careers to the services sector, soft skills are as important as academic qualifications for a job. The right course is more important than a famous institution, since the course determines the job. Always check that the institution is recognised by the authorities. Design your career portfolio to bring to the fore your core competence. These were some tips offered by the two counsellors.

Biotechnology, travel and tourism, management, media, journalism, public relations, IT, designing, bioinformatics, microbiology, archaeology, nutrition? The list of career-related questions asked by the audience was long and varied.

?There are no ideal careers, just ideal choices. The idea is to empower students to make the right choices,? felt Dass. ?Companies these days check for emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. So, a smart mind and smart personality are equally important,? she added.

?Calcutta has really improved in terms of career options, but a student in Delhi or Mumbai is spoilt for choice. There?s a need for trained career counsellors,? Malhotra summed up.