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mydarshankumar

CAREER PLANNING TIPS FOR ASPIRING ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS & DOCTORS

On this page, I share some insights on planning a career and a few guidelines to materialize your dreams of studying at an IIT or AIIMS or other good engineering/medical institutes in India.

SCHOOL YEARS TILL CLASS 10

The right time to start exploring your career options is class 9. Read as much as you can . scientific magazines, internet, school library, etc. and try to identify topics which interest you. However, the world, and especially India is very competitive and definitely not a researcher?s paradise! This means that one should not be under an illusion that the study of science and a subsequent career is going to be as fascinating and interesting as Newton's or Edison's. The truth is that life ahead is going to be a bit cold and difficult for most of you ? no matter how romantically fired up you are about a career in engineering or medicine. But the possibility of finding happiness does exist ? even though you will need to plan and move very carefully in your late teens.
By the time you have appeared in your class 10 exams, you should be clear about the subjects which interest you. It is very useful to actually do some projects in classes 9 and 10, or even in earlier classes. You may not find a direct relationship between building a telescope in class 9 and getting a good rank in entrance examinations of top institutes, but trust me there is a subtle connection between the two. Do it yourself projects mark a deep impression in us and these impressions act like seeds for future growth of your career. But dont limit yourself to projects which just require you to collect information from the internet and books. In my opinion, this is the worst kind of a project! Try to do something with your own hands ? build something, perhaps a working model of some device or mechanism which interests you. Making projects which just require collection and presentation of information is not enough.
The results of class 10 exams should not be the sole determining factor for your future career path. However, an aggregate percentage in Math and science which is less than 65 % is sufficient cause to start thinking seriously of not choosing a career in science, medicine and technology. I have seen students with Math and science aggregate of 100 % fail in the Joint Entrance Examination conducted by the IIT?s and students with 70 % aggregate get ranks in top 10! But there is one very important aspect which should not be overlooked ? try to learn Mathematics of classes 9 and 10 properly. Without focusing too much on the marks, try to understand the mathematical operations and increase your own speed through practice. And practice here means that you must fill pages ? do many problems, as many as you can during your classes 9 and 10. Remember, learning Math stimulates certain brain cells which are eventually going to be responsible for your career in engineering, medicine and technology. So, to sum up, have fun till class 10 ? leading a balanced life which incorporates sports, extra curricular activities, reading, friends, and everything else, but be very focused on understanding Mathematical operations. Follow this advice even if you are planning to go for a career in medicine.

CLASS 11 & 12 YEARS ? THE MOST CRITICAL?

You should get very serious about studies right after your class X board exams finish. Internet, those beautiful chat sessions with friends on the phone or internet, movie times, etc. all HAVE TO GO NOW for the next two years. I know it sounds bad but if you are in India, you have no other option. And it doesn?t help to romanticize your coming 2 years of study for entrance examinations, or be over enthusiastic about things. Just be practical ? without emotions and the ?Force? will be with you! You should not spend more than 10 % of your time and resources on planning your study. The majority of your time should be spent studying and not planning on how to study. This is one area where most people falter.
Right at the beginning of class 11, just after your class X exams, do an extensive survey of career options available in the fields of engineering, science, medicine and technology (assuming these are your areas of interest). Then, take a decision. If you are not sure between medical/non-medical, you can take both Math and Bio, provided you are very good in studies. If you are not exceptionally good, don?t opt for both ? choose one and be firm about your choice. Try to find out the lifestyle?s associated with medical and non-medical careers and see what fits with you. Dive deep in your own psyche and try to find which line of career is more befitting to you. Remember, there is no perfect choice. We all have tendencies of varying extents present in us for many different careers. For instance, I personally had (and still have) the following tendencies :- 70 % in science/engineering/technology, 10 % in medicine/biotech/biophysics, 10 % in psychology/philosophy/sociology, 5 % in music, 2 % in painting, 2 % in poetry, and 1 % in various other fields. Similarly, you too will have various tendencies and inclinations towards several fields. The other factor is your own way of living life ? apart from the fact that you have certain tendencies or interests in some fields or subjects, you also have a certain mental make-up or your own preferences of how you imbibe these fields in your career. For instance, even if I had chosen music as a career, I would have liked to teach rather than perform ? that is because I have an in-built aptitude for pedagogy. Counseling and teaching come naturally to me. Thinking on these lines, you should try to see deep within yourself to find what you want or what kind of an aptitude do you have or which mode of work suits you.
Once you have decided on the subjects which you will be taking, you should next find out about the books you should study, whether to take coaching or not, and if yes, then which teachers/institutes to join, and whether to join any correspondence courses or not. Once again, all these are tricky areas and there is no perfect choice. Or, each choice has its own pros and cons ? and that is exactly why these two years are going to be very difficult for some of you, and even your parents. However, one way to decrease the negative effect of all these factors is to put the majority of your trust in YOURSELF and not your teachers. Let me repeat - if you want to decrease the negative effect of an incorrect choice of teachers, books, coaching institutes, etc. then you have to learn to trust yourself and do the hard work required to maintain that trust. Currently, the pattern of exams has become very simple and easy. Now, the focus has shifted from the teacher to the student. In other words, a student with above average intelligence can score a very good rank through sheer diligence whereas a highly intelligent student may not do so well if he/she neglects the self study / hard work part.
It is always advisable to first study good books which lay more emphasis on the basic concepts. Thereafter, you can study books which cover more of the application and practice part.
Don?t rely too much on your teachers. Learn from them as much as you can but always follow your own self-study plan in the background. It is generally wiser to move with the class than cover topics too much in advance entirely through self study. However, this may not apply to Mathematics. There is no harm in doing some topics of Math in advance, on your own, provided you have the ability to do so comfortably. As I mentioned before, the more you do math, the more active your brain becomes ? the portion of the brain that is required for science. Students who have opted for medical subjects and have not taken Math can use fundamental topics of Physics and Physical Chemistry for this ?brain stimulation?.
Always make it a habit to quickly reach the end of a logical chain while contemplating a problem. Do not rest until you have understood a phenomenon down to the sub-atomic level. For instance, when understanding why do two bodies get charged when they are rubbed, or why does a blue colored object appear blue, try to understand the reason down to the level of electrons and their behavior in these circumstances. Do not leave a logical chain of argument or understanding until you have reached the level of the electron/proton/neutron. In classes 11 & 12, this is sufficient. At this stage, you cannot understand why electrons behave the way they do (because that requires quantum mechanics which is a bit weird for a normal class 11/12 student, and the accompanying mathematics is way beyond one can imagine!). So, you should take it for granted that what your textbooks say about the behavior of electrons in certain circumstances is ?somehow? true and apply that knowledge to understand a particular phenomenon. And Bohr?s atomic theory is sufficient for most applications.
Do not be under the illusion that Physics and Chemistry are perfectly logical. They are not. They are built logically on the basis of certain laws of nature ? under certain circumstances, bodies behave in certain ways ? you have to believe that and trust that. There is no ?why? to it. Why does an electron behave like this is unanswerable, or rather, this question is actually not a ?good? question. So, don?t waste your time and energy in trying to know why are the laws the way they are, instead, focus on understanding how and in what ways do the laws function. At the Ph.D. level, you should question everything. But right now, lay emphasis only on understanding the ?how? of everything and not the ?why?.
Regular timing is very important. Do not waste the class 11 year, hoping to make up for the lost time during the class 12 year. Be regular in studies and try to finish the entire syllabus by September/October of your class 12 year. Thereafter, you will have about 6 months for revision.
It is a very good idea to make your own handwritten summary of each and every topic, containing all important formulae, laws and problem solving tips.
Plan your revision properly. Relying totally on teachers or on yourself for revision is your personal choice and will depend on individual circumstances. But never forget that it is entirely your responsibility to make sure that your timing and the mode of study is correct. And remember that the process of revision is a very subjective act and will vary from person to person. But most people tend to divide their time equally between all the subjects in the last 5-6 months and use mainly their own notes for revision rather than study textbooks all over again. But you can always refer to your textbook for more details on some topic if you get stuck somewhere during revision.
Plan in advance which exams you will be taking. Make this choice based on your true abilities and self assessment. Then, do as many past papers as you can of those exams.
A list of websites of various institutes & boards conducting the entrance examinations is given below. You can also check out the various courses offered by these institutes and see where your interest lies.

IIT Kanpur http://www.iitk.ac.in/ Press release - IIT Kanpur adjudged India's No. 1 Engineering Institute

IIT Delhi http://www.iitd.ac.in/

IIT Mumbai http://www.iitb.ac.in/

IIT Chennai http://www.iitm.ac.in/

IIT Kharagpur http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/

IIT Guwahati http://www.iitg.ac.in/

IIT Roorkee http://www.iitr.ac.in/

AIEEE http://www.aieee.nic.in/

CBSE http://www.cbse.nic.in/

http://www.cbseresults.nic.in/

AIIMS http://www.aiims.edu/

PEC, Chandigarh http://www.pec.ac.in/

Remain calm in the last few days before the exams. You should keep a very pragmatic and unemotional attitude in these last few days. You should not entertain any thoughts regarding your own speculation about your performance in the near future. This means that all your energy should be directed towards revision or last minute study of synopsis of the subjects, and what will be your strategy in each test. Note that each person uses a different strategy in the tests, or there is no correct or standard way to do these tests. But in spite of all this, each student should have some idea about how he/she will be tackling the questions during the exam.
In case you are not able to secure a seat in a good college or in a field/branch of your choice, there is no harm in exploring the options of studying abroad. In fact, in most cases, getting frustrated due to poor performance in competitive entrance exams can be very traumatic. One should remain open to all career options. A whole new world opens up for you if you opt for overseas education. You can start by contacting professional consultancy firms or by searching on the net. Of course, you should go for it only if you are sufficiently adventurous and very determined to build a good and interesting career.

HOPE THIS HELPS.....

ALL THE BEST

CHEERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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