Pervin Malhotra and Zubin Malhotra at iLead

Career is like a parachute. The parachute might open as soon as you step out of the plane, it might open midway or just before you are about to land. But to make that happen you have to do what you love and love what you do,” said career counsellor Pervin Malhotra at a workshop organised by iLead on April 22, in association with The Telegraph-YOU. Here are some tips she and her son Zubin Malhotra shared with the students:

Choosing a career is like a jigsaw puzzle. It does not matter where you have studied at the undergraduate level. You have a unique shape made out of your interest, your abilities, knowledge that you acquired, communication skills, creativity, personality and ambition. You have to actually go out and try different things, meet people to understand what is involved in that work and then try to find a reasonably good fit.

The same qualification can lead to different careers. Like after studying the five-year law course one might be very confident and good at public speaking, while another might be very sharp and pick holes in an argument, spot fallacies in arguments but not so great at standing in front of a roomful of people and forcefully make his or her point. So, with the same qualification one would make a very good trial lawyer, while the other would make a very good consultant or legal counsellor.

Do not go into a career or a course without any knowledge of it. Read books and the course curriculum. You might not understand everything but at least you will get an idea. Read newspapers and magazines. Ask people who are working in that field — pros and cons, prospects, how they got into this field, what is their day like. Never ask if this is a good field or not. It is a subjective answer and there is no good or bad field.

Passions change. You are going to choose a course today because right now it’s hot but by the time you enter it might not be that hot.

Do not choose a course because your best friend is choosing it. Or because your parent or relative chose it. This happens quite often, especially in school. Explore it yourself first.

Parents should give children the luxury to explore, try and fail. You did not succeed in the first thing you did, you started out with peanuts for a salary, then why do you expect your children will make a huge income from the first day?

Finally, love and enjoy what you are doing.

Pictures: B. Halder