Students take the career identification test prior to the sessions with the counsellors at CIS. Picture by Aranya Sen

Piali Dasgupta, a final-year BA student from Bangalore, is vacationing in the city. But she is mixing business with leisure at The Telegraph Careergraph Live career counselling sessions.

?I want to do my Masters in tourism management, mass communication or literature. I don?t know which will suit me best. I want to be definite before I take a decision, and so I have come here,? she says.

If the likes of Piali are closing in on a career-choice crossroad, many among the 400-odd students who have signed up for the sessions, since they opened on May 3 at Calcutta International School (CIS), are still in school.

Counsellors attribute this trend of more and more school students opting for professional guidance to the plethora of career options opening up from an early stage.

?Most of those who came in were in high school. Earlier, students used to give a serious thought to their careers only while pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate courses. Since there is a profusion of courses these days, students need help to sift through them right from their school days,? explained Mala Mukherjee, senior career counsellor of the Institute for Career Studies, Lucknow.

The other reason for the rush at the counselling sessions at CIS ? being conducted by Mala Mukherjee and colleague Anuja Kumar ? are ?the scientific methods being used to assess the inclination of youngsters towards various subjects and professions?.

As Nooreen Qureshi from Delhi put it: ?I have been to counselling sessions before, but the method here seems better. I have just filled up an elaborate form which required me to reveal my likes, dislikes and mindset towards various subjects and jobs.?

A Class XII humanities student, Nooreen wants to graduate in sociology and top it with an MBA.

The career-profiling procedure at the counselling session requires youngsters to undergo exercises on career identification before sitting with the counsellors.

And what are the most wanted career choices for GeneratioNext? ?Mass communication and even art and culture seem to be popular among youngsters in the eastern region,? said Mala Mukherjee.

The counselling sessions will wrap up on May 18, a day before the start of the three-day The Telegraph Careergraph Live Career Fair at Punjab Bhavan.

vshubha@abpmail.com