[Amby955]

Originally Posted by woodstock3001

To start with my introduction, I’m 40 years old resides in Delhi & is working with American Express for past 15 years. I come from a middle-class family & got 2 kids. (Boy – 13 year & Girl 8 years).

I am not a parent nor a career counselor, but I was in your child's shoes about a decade back. I was raised by well educated parents that happened to be working in the middle east and I did my schooling there. I remember from a very young age I wanted to be a pilot, maybe it was the regular visits to India that instilled the desire to be a pilot, whatever it maybe, I would go to flying school stalls during those education fairs and bring home the brochures.

My parents never told NO to the idea of me being a pilot, but kind of brought in the idea that a degree is important, so I did B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering and then life happened. Got a job soon after graduation, worked for 2 years, covid happened, went on to do Masters in the UK, came back and started another job in India. But today, to some extend, I do regret the idea of not being a pilot. So, when I took up my new job recently in Chennai, I took up a place right next to Chennai airport and I spend my weekends plane watching for hours.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy my present job, life and everything associated . But I really do regret that I did not follow my calling/passion. Now things are different, I cant really go in to be a pilot, I am 28 now and still a budding professional, I am not able to sponsor myself at the present moment. But today I try to enjoy life in my terms, I am ready to face consequences, not regrets!

If your child needs to a pilot and really is interested in it and you are financially sound to pay for them, or can avail a loan for this, let them go for it. I wouldn't worry about making them future proof, as life goes by they themselves will adapt to the 'then needs'. Let them live a life of no regrets.

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by woodstock3001

• If not pilot, what skills do you think are essential for kids to develop to be future-ready?
• What can be the back-up options?
• What does market trends suggests ?
• For pilot, he will be studying Physics & Maths in 11th & 12th. I’m thinking for preparing him for JEE as well. What is the ideal age to start preparing for JEE ?

Calling out parents / career counsellors for opinions and experiences to help me better understand the challenges, to shape next generation's future! Feel free to drop in your questions & I’ll be happy to answer them.
.

I am 42 and have an 11 yr daughter. I am upfront apologizing for my below questions But, What is your definition of future-ready? Is there really a list of skills that can make one future ready? Why would you want them to be future ready? are you planning to create a red carpet for him, if yes, is that a good idea for a sustainable success?

I feel today's kids are very quick learner and assertive in most manners. Its good that your son has already chosen what he wants to be. As a parent, our job is to guide them in their path to becoming what they want. You can be his mentor, identifying does he have what it takes to be a Pilot or its just infatuation of his dreams. You get the signs as a parent, right?

In my view, in today's fast and digital world, we need to teach our kids the skill to live the life, The skill of developing self-discipline, learning to get-up after fall, learning to loose, accept defeat etc etc.

I know this is not helping at all, but I am just penning my thoughts down.

[nova.19_exe]

Hello there! First off, a lil background on myself : I'm 17, just finished my PCMC and love UI/UX Design. I always wanted to be a software engineer even till my 9th. But 10th took me to another world - design, and I instantly fell in love with it!

I was initially into Graphic Design but there are so many of them that it took me a while to figure out which one. My parents were really behind me to figure out what part of Graphic Design. It only dawned on me when I was asked to make a HTML project for 30 marks. When I did start making it, it felt like I'm not new to this territory and I enjoyed doing what I was doing. When I looked at design colleges in my city, it wasn't cheap. Some were even asking 10L per annum. That made me realize a few things

• Design Schools in India aren't cheap.
• India isn't ready for Design Schools as much as the West
• People prefer to do Engineering - CS, Civil and then do Masters in the field they wanna specialize in.
• Related to your question - JEE isn't required for Aviation, but having JEE as an extra won't hurt.

Market trends I'd say would be - Design, AIML, Data Science, Cybersecurity - to name a few.

Skills wise I would suggest - Programming, Design, Photo/Video Editing. Majorly Programming cause every job in the IT world requires you to have at least 2 programming language you should be familiar with!

Honestly, I would say give him time. He's still got time till he finishes his 12th, he may or may not change his mind. You can take a call when he is close to finishing his boards. For now, let him focus on finishing up his 12th!

Feel free to PM me if you require any help with Design. I'm more than happy to guide him, even though I'm still an amateur but I'll try my best!

Cheers!

[sharmanova]

Originally Posted by nova.19_exe

[*]Design Schools in India aren't cheap.

Not only Design, all the courses aren't cheap anymore. The other day I'd read an headline which said some 'top' college in BLR charges ₹64L for CS. Yup ₹64L

Even the college which I'll be going, charges ₹4.5L per year for CS. So my dad advised me to take Civil and then in Master's take CS/AI/Data-Science.

Just waiting for CET counselling to begin

[nova.19_exe]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Not only Design, all the courses aren't cheap anymore. The other day I'd read an headline which said some 'top' college in BLR charges ₹64L for CS. Yup ₹64L

Even the college which I'll be going, charges ₹4.5L per year for CS. So my dad advised me to take Civil and then in Master's take CS/AI/Data-Science.

Just waiting for CET counselling to begin

OFFTOPIC!

BLR is really expensive, if you go through management. KCET sure, but those who aren't eligible for KCET (me) have to go through major problems! Another thing, if you take NIOS (open schooling syllabus) that makes matters worse, because of VTU having some issues with NIOS...

The college I'm going to also has somewhat similar price, around 4L just for the first year. So, I've taken ISC/ISE, which is comparatively less, but the same thing as CS, only difference is 2 subjects apparently...

Also, hasn't CET counselling begun? COMEDK counselling started long ago, even though I wrote it but couldn't enter for counselling, because they wanted marks sheet, and I hadn't got mine at the time of signing up. They did extend the counselling registration date, but still to no avail!

[Briarean]

As a parent of a 9-year-old kid, this same uncertainty is at the back of my head. Below are my thoughts on assisting kids to survive this world:

1. Make sure to strengthen the Basics. Especially Science, Maths, and English.This must be beyond the text-book syllabus.

• https://india.khanacademy.org/ - Free
• https://brilliant.org/ - one-time big payment but world-class contents

2. Financial literacy. Kids must know the value of money, investing, and wealth.

• https://zerodha.com/varsity/junior/
• https://rupeetales.com/
• https://zerodha.com/varsity/

3. Life Skills: Swimming, Self-defence, and any one sport/art/hobby. This will build confidence and cooperation. Moreover, the kid will be able to face real-life challenges.

• https://www.thegreatcourses.com/ - costly but can get theoretical knowledge on a vast array of subjects.

4. Entrepreneurship skills – let them learn to be their own boss, let them fail at the early stages of life, learn from it and start again. (Start from the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”)

5. Concepts of programming, scripting, and algorithms. Not a specific program or scripting but the hardcore concepts. This will help them learn any programming language/ scripting easily at a later stage if needed.

6. Below jobs are comparatively safer from AI and newer technologies in the near future. Check if kids are interested in these job domains and guide them accordingly.

• Healthcare
• Legal
• Police/Military/ Security
• Government Administration services
• Real estate/construction/other infrastructure
• Artists and sportspersons
• Trading/ investment and commerce

7. Have them understand the changing dynamics of the job market and how to acquire the bare minimum qualification needed to sustain there. Once they are confident in that field, they will be able to learn the specific skills needed there and navigate in that domain. For example, as your son wishes to be a pilot, check for Flight training schools, the minimum qualification, and skills needed to enroll as well as to pass the exam. Discuss with people who are in this field. Have him understand the tough choices he has to make once he is in this domain etc. If he still has that enthusiasm, then it’s his choice and he has made up his mind.

8. No one can predict the future, so kids should be better equipped to traverse through a career change as smoothly as possible. It is even better if those domains complement each other. For example – getting trained in Drone Pilot and flight simulator gaming or even in space ventures.

Best of luck to you and your kids!!! You are a good dad, hence be a better friend to them, guide them, and be there when they need you the most.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Even the college which I'll be going, charges ₹4.5L per year for CS. So my dad advised me to take Civil and then in Master's take CS/AI/Data-Science.

Just waiting for CET counselling to begin

I would suggest not to do a drastic change from civil to computers between bachelors and masters. Rather, if cost is a concern and the end goal is to get into some computer science field then enter into some related branch like electronics, telecom, instrumentation or one of the zillion related fields in engineering. The reason is 2 fold:

1. Historically, I have seen very few people actually change from something like civil to computers in real life although they originally intended to.
2. Bachelor's degree is still 4 years of study. Better to put that time to something that you are going to use in the future.

[sharmanova]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

I would suggest not to do a drastic change from civil to computers between bachelors and masters.

Hello sir!
Cost is not a concern. Since my dad is a civil engineer and I'm also interested in it, so I'm taking up Civil. Regarding master's, right now my plan is to graduate B.E and takeover/work in my dad's office. Master's is just a backup plan and I'm also not interested in studying master's either.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by sharmanova

Hello sir!
Cost is not a concern. Since my dad is a civil engineer and I'm also interested in it, so I'm taking up Civil. Regarding master's, right now my plan is to graduate B.E and takeover/work in my dad's office. Master's is just a backup plan and I'm also not intrested in studying master's either.

Great. I would certainly encourage you to get into civil. There are very good opportunities in this too as you may already know. I was just a little confused about the masters in AI etc.

Best of luck and we need more people going into the traditional sectors like civil and mechanical which are evergreen.

[jeetumg27]

I read the replies with a lot of interest as a parent of a 7-year young. I sometimes feel we worry quite a lot about our kids future & can totally understand why - with so many career options, several streams of study, it can be overwhelming. I may be lesser in experience as a parent than most parents here, but sharing my 2 cents:

1. Focus on values: Building and imbibing these values can build a stronger, more resilient human than studies. This would be the driving force which shall help them overcome challenges and think of options when life does not go their way

2. Give them only the tools: Think of your role in their life as an ecosystem - it might not be the right example, but think of it like how Apple or Google create the tools and the ecosystem for developers and allow them to build. Developers have a framework and can build whatever they desire. Be that for your child.

3. If possible, build an alternate income stream: Try to build a stream of passive income for them, however small an amount it may be. This would be their cushion during tough times or during those times when they are still "figuring out".

To be more specific, I agree with what a few replies suggest, that 8th standard is too early to decide on a future goal - let him explore more and if he is still determined, then chart out the path for him. Pilots are always going to be "in-demand" as aviation is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide.