How to plan your career in school

Mehar Sindhu Batra, a celebrated career coach and guide shares her insights on various career-related topics only on Edugraph. 

When I was in school, I was so lost. Unlike some of my friends who were so sure they wanted to be an engineer, a doctor, or a lawyer, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life. So I let others around me influence my career decisions. 

I took up commerce because my friends were taking commerce and I told everyone I wanted to do an MBA, but truthfully that was only because my cousins were MBAs from top Indian B-schools.

If I could go back to school and restart my career journey, I would navigate school a little differently. If you’re confused about your career just as I was, I’d recommend you take the following 5 steps:

1. Explore your interests:High school is a great time to start exploring your interests and figuring out what you enjoy doing. Take a variety of extra classes and participate in extracurricular activities to find out what you're passionate about. Had I done this, I would’ve known I like theatre and business.  
2. Research careers:Take the time to research different careers and learn about the education and experience required for each. Talk to as many people as you can in your parents’ networks and ask them what they do for work. This can give you insight into what it's really like to work in that field. Try to also imagine yourself doing that job. You can even use online resources such as career exploration websites to learn in detail.  
3. Build skills: While you're in school, focus on building skills that will be valuable in your future workplace, such as communication, teamwork, and time management. These skills are known as soft skills but play an important role in career success. You can also look for opportunities to gain experiences, such as internships or volunteer work.  
4. Meet with a career counsellor:Your school may have a career counsellor who can help you explore your interests and career options, as well as provide guidance on college or vocational school. If not, you can talk to someone externally who can help you go deeper into analysing your capabilities.  
5. Develop a plan: Once you have a better idea of your career goals, create a plan for achieving them. This may include taking specific courses, gaining experience through internships, or pursuing additional education.

Final tip: It’s always better to start planning what you want to do in the future, but do remember it’s completely normal for your plan to change over time as you gain more information and experience. Don’t beat yourself up if things sometimes don’t work out as per the original plan - because something better is eventually going to come your way.

You have your whole career ahead of you. The most important thing is to be open to new opportunities and continue learning and growing. Trust in your own abilities and judgment. Remember that you know yourself best and can make decisions that are in your best interest.  

(About the author: Mehar Sindhu Batra, is the founder and CEO of MSB Vision – an organisation with the vision to “empower young professionals to recognise & reach their true potential and accelerate their careers.” She created a community through her Instagram page - MSBVision where one can find regular informative, well-researched, inspirational and empowering content which can help young minds become better students, learners, professionals, entrepreneurs and above all, strong individuals. 

Born and raised in New Delhi, she is a Chartered Accountant and an MBA from Imperial College, who now lives in London. She has 8+ years of work experience at top tier companies such as KPMG & E&Y as well as startups in India and the UK.

She has mentored 10,000+ people through 1:1 coaching sessions and university workshops on various topics such as building a career strategy, excelling at work, creating a professional brand and communicating effectively. ) 

We will be running this as a series, to be published fortnightly on Wednesdays. Do watch this space for more. You can check out Mehar’s other content on her Instagram handle - msbvision.