Understanding how to develop a career with basic minimum qualifications
This article is meant to guide anyone to effective careers. Those who have passed the tenth standard from their State Board or the CBSE are often forced to take up some odd jobs, due to their family circumstances. However, even these people can develop to the greatest levels, through hard work and proper planning. This article is an attempt to discuss the possible avenues for such career planning.
Introduction
There are many courses now floating around and it is possible to go ahead in life through some proper planning. For example, even if a person has studied up to the tenth standard, one can always apply to pass the plus two exams through the particular State Board as a private student. There are some basic requirements, but this is eminently possible. Once this is done, the journey becomes easier. Getting through the plus 2 stages is the first step in the career planning process.
The next steps involve the steps related to a) Acquiring a graduate degree through part-time or distance education b) Acquring vital practical experience c) Planning to acquire higher qualifications d) Making progress in further continuous education and e) Making systematic improvements in core domain knowledge.Acquiring a degree through part-time or distance education
There are many courses that can be obtained as a degree. For example, it is possible to even obtain a BA (Political Science) degree through distance education from any UGC-recognized university. There are many Universities in India that offer degree courses through Distance education and have the Distance Education Council of India recognition as well.
Distance education courses from reputed Universities also have offline classes and the student just needs to look around for such facilities. Once this is clear, it is wise to enrol for such a course. It should be noted that getting a degree through part-time evening colleges or even weekend courses in big cities like Bangalore or Chennai or Hyderabad or even the other big metros is eminently possible. There are similar facilities available in other cities as well. Acquiring vital practical experience
There is any number of good opportunities but one needs vital experience. This is the true story of one such Finance manager, now based out of Hyderabad. She lost her father when she was studying for the tenth standard examination. Since he was working in a private organization as a worker, the retirement benefits and long-term savings were inadequate for her mother to educate her father. She went on to do a tailoring course and then took up a job after she passed the plus two examinations on a private basis, at Hyderabad. She would do all the jobs and had experience in the basics of accounting. She would help any executive with the routine work, for several hours, even on holidays.
Her hard work impressed the boss to no end. She enrolled for the B.Com course through distance education from Annamalai University, Chidambaram. She would work any number of hours, but somehow found the time to study the course. She went on to the Cost Accountancy course and then got married to an executive who worked in a leading multinational company in Mumbai. The Hyderabad employer did not want to release this hard-working executive. He acquired another company in Mumbai, that was in some sort of trouble. This young executive was promoted as the Branch Manager and with the help of her MBA husband's help, she became the ideal Branch Manager, with a finance specialization. However, the practical experience helped her learn the additional aspects of Management and then the new employer even sponsored her to do the weekend Post-Graduate Diploma in Management.
Thus, an ordinary plus two student passed person went on to become a Branch Manager with proper guidance and hard work. Of course, her dedication and commitment made her easily face all the challenges. Planning to acquire higher qualifications
When acquiring higher qualifications, one always needs to be careful. The qualifications that do not fit into the core specialization should never be acquired. For example, those who join a lorry service company and work through all the basics and do all the hard work should acquire a Postgraduate Diploma in Supply Chain Management from a good University. This is very essential, as only this will enable him or her to go ahead in life and a Post-Graduate Diploma in say, Human Resources Management should not be acquired. While that would add to the overall knowledge, the knowledge cannot be immediately applied. Making progress in further continuous education
Today, irrespective of any graduate degree, a good grounding in Information Technology courses like SAP, Cloud Computing, and so on is very relevant, as one does not know how the organization will adapt itself to new challenges. There is every possibility that such IT courses will greatly help in the career development of anyone, given the fabulous scope for application of such courses in today's context. Making systematic improvements in core domain knowledge
While skill can be obtained through practical experience, the continuous development of knowledge takes various forms and it should always be so. Today, many organizations in the core domain are conducting so many webinars. These online courses are highly useful as the practicing experts always share their experience and hence their knowledge comes with a rich blend of both theory and experience. When this happens, the participant always learns much more. Conclusion
Some simple ideas for the career development of those with the bare minimum of qualifications have been discussed above One real case study, without any mention of the person's background or further details, has also been discussed to inspire anyone. One needs to compulsorily develop his or her skills in today's conditions and those who do not do so will always be left behind. This is one message that should be clear to all.
