For this edition of the Mind’s Eye, we have an interesting interview with Prof. K. Prakash, who is the Faculty Member at SRM School Of Management of SRM Institute Of Science And Technology. In this interview, Prof. Prakash shared his thoughts and experience of implementing and running a successful career assessment and counselling program at SRM.

1. How relevant or important is career guidance at the college level as compared to career guidance in schools?

– A college is a place where students have more liberty when compared to schools. In personal life too, those college goers will decide their time management by themselves and parent intervention will be very less. Being young blooded, those young adults require attention/guidance from a suitable mentor/counsellor on the aspects of their career. At this time, the role of counsellor/ mentor becomes more crucial.

2. What are the best practices that an institution needs to keep in mind when implementing a career assessment and counselling solution?

3. Do you think parents also need to be counselled? How do you convey the results of a career assessment to the parents of a student who might have planned a different career path for their children as opposed to what might be in the assessment report?

– Yes, but based on needs. First, the basic interest of the student needs to be explained. Advan tages of choosing careers at that age are to be communicated. The effect of choosing the right career paths and its outcomes will help both parent and student understand the career choice.

4. Are digital career assessment and counselling solutions better than the traditional paper and pen face to face format?

– Yes, today’s Generation is agile. They are eager to know their career fits and also want to discover new areas that best suits their personality. They expect the best reports in attractive formats for easy understanding. Digital career assessment tools satisfy all these requirements.

5. How was your experience using My Choice My Future (MCMF) at SRM?

– MCMF is an excellent tool that maps student personality with their best possible career choice. It motivates the candi- dates to act and keep up their spirit. The detailed explanation of careers arrived on various parameters which are explained clearly through a graphical presentation. Finally, it gives an understanding of the few best options that a candidate should not miss through. At School of Management, we regularly ask our MBA candidates to undergo MCMF in the first semester itself. This helps them not only under-stand their career choice, but also help them in choosing their specialization and internship areas in MBA. It’s nice to see those candidates using MCMF get them-selves groomed well in the sug-gested area, get placed earlier in their dream companies and happi-ly keep in touch with us.