Parents and students interact with the counsellors and (above) aspirants fill up questionnaires at the kiosk at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, March 23: Those of you who want to become engineers or scale the heights of corporate management, the best place for you to visit is the Bihar Divas celebrations at Gandhi Maidan.

Inspired by chief minister Nitish Kumar’s development work in the state, 10 youths — all alumni of premier management or technical institutes of the country — have put up a stall where they are counselling aspiring techies and managers. They have all given up their lucrative jobs and seven-figure salary to serve Bihar.

“We are conducting three kinds of tests here — personality, stress management and time management,” said Ashish Kumar Singh, an alumnus of Xavier Labour Relations Institute, Jamshedpur.

Ashish, who has given up his job in a private bank, added: “We are giving the aspirants a set of module test papers, each having 20 questions, based on interest, ability and aptitude. According to their performance, we are suggesting what kind of courses will suit them.”

The youths have received an overwhelming response from the visitors to Gandhi Maidan. More than 400 students and parents have visited the stall and taken the test. Most of them are very satisfied with the process of counselling, which is free of cost.

Aparna Rani, a student of Notre Dame Academy, said: “I have been roaming about the maidan for sometime but this is the best stall. In all other stalls people are selling something or the other. But here, you can get advice on your career.”

Explaining how the tests help the aspirants, Rani said: “The personality development test forced me to choose the appropriate course. I will go for it once I finish college. I also took the stress management test. I hope their suggestions help in the future.”

Ashish, elucidating on the personality development test, said: “We got the opportunity to study in renowned institutes. Very few students in the country get such an opportunity. Personality is as important as bookish knowledge. Here, we are trying to give students a chance to prepare for professional courses. Students often get confused while choosing their profession. They do not understand which career suits them the best. For instance, a student of commerce can take up a course in management but he can also be a good lawyer.”

Shalini Kumari, alumnus of Balaji, Pune, said: “Parents also fail to understand the needs of the students. Driven to despair by peer pressure and the burden of expectations on them, many youths commit suicide. In our questionnaire on stress management, students and their parents have to answer a number of questions on their daily activities. After examining the questionnaire, we suggest how to overcome stress.”

IIM-Calcutta alumni Raj Shekhar, BITS Pilani alumni Ajit Pratap and IIT-Kharagpur alumni Anjoney Vatsal were also helping the students choose their careers.