Make a wise decision

Class XII Board results are out, leaving some students confused about what to pursue. Prateek Bhargava shares tips to help out

The decision about what to do after Class XII is a critical one. With a plethora of courses, entrance exams and career paths to choose from, it is natural for students to get confused about what lies ahead. While there is no denying that the decision to choose a career path after Class XII is a monumental one, it need not be as intimidating as it seems to most students.

Here a few tips for students that could uncomplicate their decision making:

If you opted for the PCB stream because you liked studying biology, but medical and NEET are not something you want to go forward with, then there are multiple promising options for you! Here are a few career options for PCB students after Class XII (beyond medical):

• Genetics: Jobs related to genetics include becoming a geneticist, immunologist, cytogeneticist, forensic DNA analyst, medical technologist, geneticist, pharmacologist, clinical research associate, research scientist and others.
• Bioinformatics: You can work as a bioinformatics analyst or a developer with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare organisations, pharmaceuticals and with research agencies after graduating from this field. You can also work as a clinical research associate, bio analyst, or as a medical coder.
• Marine biology, microbiology, biotechnology, biochemistry, biophysics, physiology, botany, zoology and biomedical science also have various career opportunities like wildlife rehabilitator, wildlife biologist, nuclear medical biophysicist, with the option to work in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, genetics, clinical research  and others.

While the long-standing norms for selecting streams in our country have dictated that toppers and academically-gifted students naturally drift towards science, it is a practice that is fast being overturned. Students, today, are proactively opting for the commerce stream, regardless of their academic standing.

Listed below are the promising career options for commerce students:

• Actuarial Science: Actuaries work in life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, pension funds, enterprise risk, actuary consulting firms, investment, pension and retirement, risk management.
• Management: Management being a highly versatile degree, you can find various national and global opportunities in domains such as consulting, general management, human resources, marketing, sales, strategy, operations management, supply chain management, finance and others in various industries and sectors, such as FMCG, retail, education, telecom.
• Finance, Bank PO, cost and management accounting, stockbroking, entrepreneurship, chartered accountancy (CA), company secretary (CS) and statistics also have various career opportunities open for passionate commerce students.

Majority of students with a PCM combination in Class XII aspire to pursue engineering, and often struggle with the thought, “If not engineering, then what?” Here are somepromising career options for PCM students after Class XII other than engineering:

• Aviation: As a commercial pilot, you can work with major international or regional airlines, fly cargo planes to transport goods/cargo, work as a corporate pilot to fly corporate jets, and also operate medical or air emergency planes.
• Ethical Hacking: As organisations are becoming increasingly concerned about their network security, they are hiring ethical hackers to protect themselves from cyber attacks. As an ethical hacker, you can work in various roles, such as network security engineer, network security administrator, penetration tester, security consultant and others.
• Merchant Navy: You can work across the various departments of a merchant ship, including the engine department, deck department, architecture department, and catering department. The job specifications and educational requirements for each department are different.
• Computer applications & IT, fashion technology, forensic science, defense, industrial design, animation & graphics, architecture and the pure sciences also have various career opportunities if you have the right aptitude and flair for science.

There is indeed a world beyond civil services, law, and research after opting for humanities. More and more newage career options are blooming in this field every year, each one as exciting as the other.

Here are career options for Humanities students:

• Archaeology: After a degree in Archaeology you can work as a Numismatist (studying old currency), Epigraphist (studying inscriptions or manuscripts), Archivist (preserving information through proper documentation of evidence), Museologist (studying museums) or contribute to the preservation of heritage sites and monuments. You can also work towards Art Conservation and Restoration, which involves preserving hundreds of years old artwork, sculptures and manuscripts.
• Political Science & International Relations: You can choose from various options like becoming a Lobbyist, Research Assistant, Political Analyst, or even pursuing a degree in law after your graduation to become a lawyer. A degree in International Relations can open up the opportunity to represent your country as a Diplomat, Intelligence Specialist, or work with different world organisations like the World Bank, United Nations, World Health Organisation (WHO) and others.

The writer is Founder & CEO, Mindler