Ms. Usha Albuquerque Career Counsellor & Consultant

Many of you, readers, might remember her from her Doordarshan days, where she used to read the news at Prime Time. The husky, silvery voice with clear diction that left the listeners impressed. Thereafter she went onto to churn out some reality based serials for the electronic media. Of late, the general public has been observing her in a new Avtaar, that of a career counsellor for the young career aspirants across the country. And she has already carved a niche for herself in her chosen sphere because there are only about a handful of genuine, competent career counsellors to advice the teeming millions of youth in India, who frantically search for lucrative careers.

We are talking about Ms. Usha Albuquerque, Director of Careersmart, a Delhi based career-counseling organisation. She is also a career columnist with several leading dailies including the Hindustan Times.

Since National Network of Education is also intricately associated with career counseling for young career aspirants and students, we thought it would be worthwhile to meet and talk the lady to garner valuable information about effective and successful career counselling.

Ms Albuquerque comes across as a higly professional woman--- devoid of frills and fuss, very prim & proper, in fact the no-nonsense type. Polite to the core, she tackles the business of answering our queries with a calm confidence.

The interview ran somewhat like this :

Please tell us about your background, initial years, education, training etc?

I was basically trained to be a teacher. Thereafter I had a stint as a newsreader with Doordarshan. Since I was intimately associated with the media, I went ahead to do a course in journalism. I was actively involved in making informative progammes /serials and documentaries for television channels, the longest and well-known one being Hum Honge Kamyaab (for Zee).

Why did you shift from news reading to career counselling?

In course of making such programmes, I gathered a good deal of information related to careers, so when Penguin (renowned publishers) approached me for writing some books on career guidance, I accepted the proposal immediately. Besides I have been conducting workshops related to education and careers opportunities. I set up Careersmart about three years ago. We cater to the students of classes VIII th to XIIth besides college-goers.

We also conduct training programmes for school counsellors. What is more, we provide career counselling to employed people as well as retired personnel.

What according to you are the major problems which the students face?

For one, there are not enough seats in the colleges to accommodate such large numbers of students. Secondly there is the overpowering feeling that everyone has to go to college (whether the boy orthe girl likes it or not). Thirdly there is not enough information on the variety of subject options available. The students are often ignorant their aptitudes, calibre etc. They lack awareness about the method of selecting careers, how to identify a particular career and work systematically towards it.

What difference do you find in the attitudes of the students of yesteryears and the present?

These days students are a much more demanding lot. They do not take anything for granted. The students of earlier times had stereotyped ideas about careers; they assumed that medicine, engineering and law were the best choices and everything else of no consequence. Those days the students had very little or no access to career related information. In contrast the present day students have greater access to such information through print and electronic media, besides the Internet of course.

Do you agree that education has now become commercialised instead of remaining a means to gain knowledge?

True. The modern day education system has been geared to finding jobs. The be-all and end–all of education is to get hold of a good job or career. Which is why the professional courses have assumed greater importance than ever before.

Have the students nowadays become overburdened with other activities?

No. Rather they have become overburdened with studies (academics). The co –curricular and extra-curricular activities are important because they help in grooming the students. The students appear to be overburdened with studies because of the intense competition and the mad race for job hunting.

These days students look for quickies, prefer short-term course that will fetch them jobs fast. Why so?

It is a fast culture that is prevalent today. Rather than penetrating the depths of subjects, the students remain content with even shallow, incomplete knowledge so long as they able to find suitable jobs. The basic reason is the lack of awareness about their own capabilities etc.

Are students these days lacking in general awareness and knowledge?

No, they are well aware, but certainly more focused on their specific subjects. As a matter of fact, specialization has their visions narrow. The are more concerned about collecting information related to their profession / careers etc.

These days we witness mushrooming of private universities everywhere. What do you day to this?

We do require a lot more universities. That is because the number of state run universities cannot adequately cater to the increasing number of student population.Take the case of Delhi University.It is highly subsidized. Hence it lacks in upgradation and revamping of infrastructure. The government ought to make a close scrutiny of the private universities and give recognition to those among them who actually have solid, stable, infrastructure, efficient faculty etc.

Can examinations adequately measure a student’s calibre?

No indeed. That is because at any point of time a student might undergo diverse kinds of pressures, which directly or indirectly affect his performance in an exam. Just because a student flunks in a particular paper, does not mean he is worthless.

How do you define a counsellor? What are the qualities he/she must possess?

The role of a counsellor is to show the individual student the right path, by treading on which he/she can reach the much cherished goal. A counsellor must provide adequate and accurate information, be able to judge the students’ latent qualities and capabilities ad help him/her select the appropriate career option accordingly.

What are the hurdles you encounter during counselling?

Parental pressure, a stereotyped mindset, lack of awareness on the part of the students and such like.

What are the tools you use in counselling?

A sympathetic approach, empathy, interest inventory (in order to test a pupil’s interests), conducting appropriate tests as and when required, one to one interaction, obtaining details about individual family backgrounds and so forth.

How do you see the prospects of counselling as a career option?

It is indeed very good arena. The scope is increasing tremendously because more and more students are venturing into new and unexplored territories, which would naturally require professional guidance. With the help of the unlimited information available, a counsellor can do a good job in helping the student to identify his /her problems and how to overstep them.

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(As told to Ruchira Ghosh & Piyu Aich)