Career Planning Tips for Postgraduate Students

A postgraduate degree is still highly popular in India, basically for two down-to-earth reasons. Firstly, a PG certification keeps your options open to further enhance your academic qualifications that eventually serve you well when it comes to bolstering your fledgling career. Secondly, and more importantly, a master degree opens the floodgates of employment opportunities, enabling you to apply to specific jobs in almost every commercial or industrial segment that are inaccessible to undergraduates.

However, considering the fact nowadays there are more postgraduate candidates chasing limited number of jobs than there was even two decades back, just having a PG certificate may not suffice for landing a job. You’d have to starting planning well in advance, much before you earn your degree, to lay the foundations for a bright and successful career. There are specific aspects you need to keep in mind while you assess your career prospects once the master’s certification is in your hand.

For a start, you’ll have to analyze the acumen you’ve gained from your academic pursuits as well as the professional skills you may have acquired along the way. On the other hand, assess the general and specialized career choices open to you. Lastly, see if you need to enroll for apprenticeship or job training programs and/or continue with higher education.

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Some practical career planning guidelines for PG students

Find out and establish what you excel in: First and foremost, you need to understand and realize your virtues as well as your limitations. Taking stock of what you excel in and what your drawbacks are will stand you in good stead when you get down to planning your career. Find out if you are good at numbers or you have a penchant for the written word.
Do you like exploring the past or have an affinity for flora and fauna? Each and every individual is adept in at least one subject he or she has studied all throughout his or her academic years. For instance, if you’ve earned your master degree in the arts stream with specialization in English, then understandably you’re good in that subject. This realization or understanding will go a long way in letting you streamline your career choices.

Rounding up, make a note of the subjects you prefer to explore and also list your competencies, skills, and capabilities.

See where you fit in perfectly: Now that you are more aware of you what you’re particularly interested in as well as your personal competencies and skills, your next task would be to survey career fields that sync with your inclinations. If your area of expertise is English literature and the language as a whole, then you can apply for openings in the academic segment and media (both print and electronic) both in the public and private sectors. You can even explore multiple job positions in the IT, ITES, ITIS, BPO, KPO, and LPO sectors armed with a MA (English) degree.
The idea is to look up positions in almost all industrial or commercial segments instead of limiting your search to a few specific fields. Simply put, you should be flexible while exploring the various employment options, keeping your eyes and ears open all the time.

Prepare an inventory: The way you to prefer to work, would to a great extent, enable you to determine the organization type that’d be perfect for you. And how will you know which kind of industry or commercial establishment would be apposite for you? Ask yourself the following questions:-
- Do you prefer to work by staying sedentary or like to move around while working?
- Do you like socializing with people or keep to yourself most of the time?
- Are you more interested to work for a prescribed number of hours every day or work at your own pace or convenience?
- Do you wish to see yourself working in a large organization employing hundreds of workers or would prefer to work for a company with a handful of employees?
Satisfactorily answering the aforementioned questions (you can frame more questions) will help you to narrow your focus and ultimately make it easier for you to select five or six best career options.

Apply for internships and on-the-job training programs: Garnering hands-on professional experience is surely the best way to determine whether you and a particular position are made for each other. These days, numerous organizations, big and small, offer internship programs and part-time jobs. If you apply for a part-time job offer or register for a job training program, you’ll have a fair idea of the sort of positions that will be appropriate for you.
Additionally, the experience that you gather as a trainee or apprenticeship will work in your favor, as far as your career progression is concerned.

Take advantage of your institution’s placement opportunities: In the present times, majority of the colleges, universities, academic institutes, and institutions offering professional, job-oriented courses have placement cells. Every year, executives from different firms and companies visit colleges and universities throughout the country to interview and recruit capable candidates. Make the most of the opportunities offered by your institute’s placement cell for finding a job in your preferred segment.

Network with industry experts: Networking and socializing with experts and specialists in your choice domains will enable you to have a good perspective on career prospects. You can easily get in touch with these individuals on social media.

Be socially active: Being socially active will also come to your aid with respect to exploring prospective career tracks. You could volunteer for SUPW (socially useful productive work) programs organized by companies in your chosen fields as well as become a member of a professional body.