This document provides advice to high school students on how to be successful in school and career. It discusses the importance of exploring interests, challenging oneself academically but avoiding being overwhelmed, gaining experience through work or volunteering, pursuing education opportunities, talking to adults about careers and colleges, and remembering everyone has their own path. The key ideas are for students to think about their future and make initial plans, take advantage of educational opportunities, and develop a network to assist with career and education decisions.

1. How to be Successful
@ School as well as in Life
Narasimha Bharathi

2. What are the key factors required
to be successful at School

3. Do You Know ?
• 75% of Engineering
Graduates in our Country
are unfit for employment
• 90% of General
Graduates are
unemployable (National
Employability Report
2013)
“ 3 million students
graduate every year in
India”
“ they just don't have
industry-ready talent.
In other words, they
lack the skills required
for the jobs that are
available to them”
By 2020 India will be the Youngest Country in the world with a median age of 29 Years
Incase this Youth Bulge is not provided with employment Opp, could turn into a
Demographic Liability would result in a Political and economic instability
(3Ds success mantra for ‘Make in India’)- ‘demographic dividend, democracy and demand’)
“Employability refers to a person's capability for gaining and maintaining employment”

4. What is expected of you?
• ask your questions
• Be relevant
• Lead with a point of view
• Know what you want
• Be resourceful, knowledgeable,
informative (widely read) and
communicative!
• Think Solutions, Not Problems
• Be Consensus Oriented and
Collaborative
• Ask for help and accept
feedback
How many of you consistently go through the TOI-NiE paper?

5. The reasonably prudent person understands
“What you do
today,
determines
who you will be
Tomorrow”

6. Career Exploration
• Process of choosing an educational path or training
or job which fits your interests, skills and abilities.
• Develop an effective strategy to realize your Goals.

7. Lets look at the hard hitting questions
• How many colleges
(Engineering / Arts) we
have in Tamil Nadu State
• How many students come
out of these colleges
every year
• How well they are placed
– employment as well as
higher education
• How soon we should plan
your career? Or at what
grade the students should
have some plan in place??

8. # 97% of engineering graduates in
the country cannot speak English
required for jobs in corporate
sales or business consulting
# 6.8% engineers show the ability
to speak or respond
spontaneously in English
# More than 51% engineering
graduates are not employable
based on their spoken English
scores
# Around 61% engineers possess
grammar skills no better than a
Class 7 student
# 7.1% engineers can speak
English fluently
# Women score over men in
writing in English while men show
better abilities of speaking English
# The survey was conducted
across 500 engineering colleges
and 30,000 students
“Since the basis of the admission in engineering
colleges is limited to maths and science, English
skills which are missing right from school are not
tested nor honed,” said GT Thampi, principal,
Thadomal Sahani Engineering College (TSEC),
Bandra.

9. Issues & Possible Solutions
• Lack self confidence
• Lack of Communication Skills
• Reluctant to take up jobs
elsewhere
• Lack of Quality education in
majority of colleges
• Competition (among peers as well
as chunk of Diploma holders ?)
• Ineligibility – academic
testimonials (70% marks
throughout and shouldn’t have
failed in any subjects)
– 40% students don’t qualify
• Plan your career - Don’t
Procrastinate
• Build your Skill sets from
Schooling Years (9th Grade
onwards)
• Consistent Academic
Performance throughout
• Research your career options
• Make sure you give a best
shot in your academics
• Developing entrepreneurship
skills to enable a person to
start one’s own enterprise.
• How about taking up higher
education overseas !

10. School Level – Defining Career Plan
It’s up to you!
General Skills- Communication, Problem Solving, Analytical skills
Subject Depth- Technical skills (Engg Graphics, HR, Finance etc.,
Corporate Skills – Team play, culture fit, tact, adaptation
• Develop Skillsets right from School level
• Develop time management
• Stay fit
• Develop reading skills (contribute to NiE)
• Develop Entrepreneurial skills
• Set Goals (timeline!)
• Take Good Notes
• Consistent Academic Performance

11. No of Vacancies – Engineering Colleges
Academic
Year
Total Seats Vacant Seats
% of Vacant
seats
Year 2013 287,000 80,000 28%
Year 2014 290,000 105,000 36%
Year 2015 293,700 126,000 44%
Source – from Media Reports August 4, 2015 as well as few educational websites

12. How a Student Chooses an Engineering College
• quality of Faculty (20%)
• Infrastructure (20%)
• Quality of Placements
(40%)
• Quality Industry Interface
(20%)
– Tie up with Industry
– Research centres
• Score is less than 35%
overall, avoid picking up
those colleges

13. How to choose Branch Selection
• Computer Science
Engineering
– Do you understand Logic
very well?
– Can you handle high-end
algorithms and do pattern
recognition
– Does writing machine-level
code excite you
– Can you design games and
small softwares to ease
your work
– Do you like Puzzles?
• Electrical & Electronics
– Do you get excited about
repairing electrical
appliances
– Do Capacitors, transistors
and ICs excite you?
– Is transmission and
distribution of electricity of
interest to you?
– Do you want a personal
Robot?

14. How do you choose Branch Selection
Mechanical & Production
Engineering:
• Have you attempted repairing
your bike yourself
• Are you good at operations
research in School (represents
the study of optimal resource
allocation)
• Can you get your hands dirty,
and don’t mind the grease 
• Do you like basic Sciences
• Do you have a good hand at
drawing
Civil Engineering
• Are you interested in
construction?
• Do built environments
fascinate you?
• Can you visualize structures
over different landscapes?
• Do enjoy making people
comfortable?

15. How about Higher Education Overseas?
• Students prefer to go to US,
UK, Canada, Australia and
Singapore for doing Masters.
• Cost of Masters – 25 to 60
Lacs – Educational Loans – 6
to 10 years of repayment
tenure
• Preferred Overseas
Destination - ?
• Why Study Abroad?
– Experience living in another
culture
– Improve your language skills
– Learn about yourself and
gain new perspectives
– Meet new people, visit new
places
– Develop unique skills and
connections
– Open your horizons – hands
on experience to
understand the world

16. Quick Facts
Top 10 destination countries:
• United States (18% of total
mobile students)
• United Kingdom (11%)
• France (7%)
• Australia (6%)
• Germany (5%)
• Russian Federation (4%)
• Japan (4%)
• Canada (3%)
• China (2%)
• Italy (2%)
Top 10 countries of origin of
mobile students:
China (694,400 students
studying abroad)
India (189,500)
Republic of Korea (123,700)
Germany (117,600)
Saudi Arabia (62,500)
France (62,400)
United States (58,100)
Malaysia (55,600)
Viet Nam (53,800)
Iran (51,600)
Data provided till the year 2013-14; Data collated from UNESCO

17. manpower requirements in different
sectors by 2022
Sources:
•IMaCS reports ‘Human Resource and Skill Gap Requirements (2022)’, 2008;
•Aon Hewitt report ‘Talent Projections and Skill Gap Analysis for the Infrastructure
Sector (2022)’, 2011,
•National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
“It is estimated that
50-70 million jobs will be
created in India - next 5
years and
75% to 90% of these
additional avenues would
require some kind of
vocational training
(FICCI and Ernst & Young,
2013)”

18. Employability Skill Initiatives
Govt of India
• Vocational Guidance and Counseling Cells being
set up in Schools
• Objective
– “motivate the students to take up skill based training
courses making them aware of the relevance of such
courses and corresponding job & self employment
opportunities”
• Benefit: “This cell would also help students to
realise their potential and selecting appropriate
vocational career”
• How long would it take to materialise:
– These things would take extra time than expected and
students are advised to take appropriate career
decision that suits them well.

19. What are the Next Steps

20. Thank You
Narasimha Bharathi
bnbpower@yahoo.com

21. 10 Things for High-School
Students to Remember
• Believe it or not, if you're in high school right
now, you're at a great point in your life.
• You have your whole life in front of you.
• And now is a good time to start thinking about
your future, to make some initial plans;
– just remember that plans can be easily changed.

22. 1. Take time to think about what you like
to do; dream and imagine ideal careers.
• Many Opportunities, different type of jobs
and careers
• Explore all your options
– Examine your likes and dislikes
– Take a few career assessment tests
– Expand your vision of potential majors and career
paths

23. 2. Challenge yourself in high school, but
don't overwhelm yourself.
• If you have a passion for something, such as
photography, find a way to schedule a
photography course along with your other
tougher college-prep courses.
• Obviously, you need to stay focused on getting
good grades, but don't overload your schedule
-- or yourself -- so that it makes you sick or
burnt out.

24. 3. Work, volunteer, or otherwise
gain some experience.
• There are even a growing number of
internship opportunities for high-school
students.
• Just remember that school and grades have to
come first, so only work if you can balance
your schedule, manage your time.

25. 4. Get as much education as you can.
• Take advantage of all educational
opportunities that come your way, such as
summer educational opportunities and
educational trips abroad.
• If you have a passion for science or math,
instead of spending a summer goofing around
the community pool, consider a summer math
enrichment program or a space-agency
program.

26. 5. Talk with as many adults as possible
about careers and colleges
• ask people -- family, neighbors, friends,
teachers, counselors -- to tell you about their
career and college experiences.
• begin to build a network of adults who know
you and are willing to assist you in your
educational and career endeavors.

27. 6. Remember that everyone must
follow his or her own path in life.
• And don't worry if you leave high school with
no clear career path -- that's partly what
college is all about, discovering who you are
and what you want to do in life
• don't feel the need to rush to make a decision
now... but don't use the fact that you have
plenty of time to make a decision as an excuse

28. 7. People change; don't feel locked
into any college or career now. I
• It's great to have an ideal plan for your life,
but remember that things happen, and your
plans may need to change... so keep an open
mind -- and keep your options open.

29. 8. Don't let anyone control your
dreams and ambitions.
• Students often feel pressure to follow in an
adult family member's career path, especially
if s/he is footing the bill for college, but the
worst thing you can do is choose a career to
please someone else.

30. 9. It's never too early nor too late to get
organized and begin making plans.
• Research your options for after graduation --
technical schools, community colleges, four-
year universities, etc. Start or continue your
preparation for the various standardized tests
• Finally, make plans to fill any gaps in your
plans -- such as striving for better grades,
taking tougher courses, gaining experience, or
earning community-service hours.

31. 10. Never stop learning... read,
grow, and expand your mind.
• Have fun, but get the best education you can
so that you are positioned to take advantage
of further educational opportunities... and no
matter where you go after high school, never
stop learning and growing.