CV TIPS

Boost your CV

    Gone are the days when pursuing a degree from a good college was one’s ticket to a successful career. But, times have changed. Students today are opting for a range of shortterm courses, diplomas and certificate programmes, while simultaneously pursuing a college degree. This trend can be attributed to changing preferences of head-hunters and companies, who are more on the lookout for multitaskers rather than specialists with good academic scores.

    Anup Sinha, who teaches economics at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta, points out that students are now willing to work harder and acquire new skills so that they can grab job opportunities in a fluid global world of relentless change and transition.

    While Sinha feels that the trend is here to stay, Swati Salunkhe, Mumbai-based career counsellor says, “The number of students opting for parallel programmes is increasing every year and likely to grow in the coming years.”

She further adds that it is important for students to

choose complimentary courses and not just erratically opt for courses. For example, someone studying hotel management can take up a foreign languages or one studying architecture can take up a course on Vaastu Shastra. Similarly, a student studying botany can opt for a course in bonsai or a nutritionist can go for a fitness trainer’s course, etc.

    Chirag M Narsimhiah, after completing his ISC from a school in Bangalore, went to the Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar. He’s doing his BCom LLb Honours (integrated five year course), while pursuing the Company Secretary (CS) course. Ask him why, and he says, “There is an overlap between law and the CS course. Besides, the combination adds value to my CV, especially if I later opt for corporate law.”

    Sreejita Dey, pursuing her graduation from Jadavpur University (JU), was inclined towards political science at the +2 level, so she decided to take it up for graduation. It was because of the curriculum that she developed a newfound interest in human rights, thus, taking up a certificate course in human rights from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou).