Education advice - Counselling for Career-22

Q.
I am 20, a graduate from the University of Delhi and studying chartered accountancy. Although I like accounts etc, I know this is not my calling. I dont see myself spending my life carrying out audits and filing tax returns. I want to be an author. My parents support me completely. I am doing CA just as a back-up plan. I love to write but the problem is I dont know how to write a book. My vocabulary is great, my grammar less so. I have thousands of ideas (two whole diaries) but I just dont know where to start and how to start to turn them into books. Please guide. — Gautam

A.
You can become another Chetan Bhagat, Amitav Ghosh or Salman Rushdie. If you are seriously considering a career in creative writing, there are several things you can do. The first is, write as much as you can. Many writers work as freelancers offering their work for different purposes. There are hundreds of job sites on the Internet devoted to writers or journalists where you could pick up assignments according to your type and style of writing. Another upcoming option for creative writers is be a web content provider. Websites today require material to be interesting, fun and informative/ educational, and are often looking for creative inputs. You can start by setting up your website, which is an excellent marketing tool, or build your reputation by offering fresh content for websites of your friends, family or business contacts. And if you have a story - or several stories - inside you and are wondering how and where to start, you could join a publishing house and work at the place where books begin their launch. You can work as an editorial assistant/ copy editor who checks facts, references, spelling and may even be required to rewrite portions of the manuscript as well as proof read. And while creative writing covers all areas of non-journalistic and non-technical writing, it can be the stepping stone to many communication careers. You can become a journalist, a short story writer, a novelist, a playwright, a copywriter, a scriptwriter. You could unearth opportunities to write advertising or catalogue copy for a business or a corporation – the possibilities are endless. Of course, you can also pursue a regular career like accountancy or banking – which you like doing, while writing in your spare time. There are several authors who have written best sellers while in full-fledged careers. Creativity is an in-born talent but it needs to be chiselled and channelled so that you can express yourself with lucidity. A course in creative writing can help you hone these skills as they teach you the basics of ideating, or enabling creative ideas, and various techniques of expression, usage of language and styles of writing. Some institutions teaching creative writing include: . Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, www.ignou.ac.in . Xavier Institute of Communication, St Xaviers College, Mumbai, www.xaviercomm.org . University of Delhi, www.du.ac.in . Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New Delhi, www.bvbdelhi.org . British Council, New Delhi, www.britishcouncil.org Good luck and heres looking forward to your first book!
Q.
I want to become a judicial magistrate. I am studying law at a not-so-good college in Delhi. Does the college matter? What should I do to pursue an LLM degree abroad? Which university offers scholarships for law? — Rakesh

A.
Any person practising as an advocate in India and not more than 32 years of age on January 1 following the date of commencement of the examination is eligible to sit for the judicial services exam, conducted by the high court of each state. It does not, therefore, matter which law college you are from, as long as it is a recognised institution. Practically, every university abroad offering the law degree also offers the LLM programme. You need to decide on the subject specialisation you wish to take up in LLM and explore these options in the light of your future career path both in India and the country where you choose to study. As you probably know, the legal systems vary from country to country. Keep this in mind based on where you intend to work. Moreover, it would be difficult to get a scholarship for a law programme. However, you can get more details from the United States-India Educational Foundation (usief.org.in) for more details on studying in the US, the British Council (www.britishcouncil.org/india) for UK education, and other countries’ relevant websites.
Q.
I am a final-year BCom student. After graduating from college, I want to do a company secretary (CS) programme. But my father is insisting that I prepare for banking exams, which I don’t think I am cut out for. Is the company secretary course suitable for me? Is this better than chartered accountancy? — Sahin

A.
A degree in commerce equips you with the skills to get into careers related to banking, chartered accountancy as well as company secretaryship. You cannot rank a career in terms of which one is better, except when you consider your suitability for the kind of work required in each. If you have good quantitative and analytical skills and can handle accounts, you could take up any of these careers. As all three offer good career prospects, the choice will depend on your interest in the job you will have to do, and the kind of person you are. The banking work is either clerical, where the main tasks are to maintain account books and documents and attend to customers at the counter, or managerial which involve organising, controlling and supervising banking activities, such as loan approvals, customer interactions, branch management, and marketing of services and products. A CS is trained to take up a wide range of responsible positions in the secretarial, legal, finance, accounts, personnel and administrative departments of companies or organisations in the private as well as the public sector. His work involves incorporation of the company, management of a public issue, processing of applications for management appointments, remuneration, inter-corporate investments and loans, conducting meetings of the board of directors, and maintenance of records, registers and minutes of meetings.

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