About Us Advisory Board Govering Body 2007-08 Last 8 Years

“IQRA Society for Career Guidance”, Worth-Emulating Services During the Last Eight Years

A survey conducted in Andhra Pradesh showed that a staggeringly high 95% students did not have access to career-related information and as a result they always grope in the dark in so far as their careers are concerned. It is very unfortunate that their parents, relatives, teachers and friends are also not well equipped to guide them in their career-related matters. These students do not have any door to knock at, any shoulder to lean on, and any person to look up to. For all practical purposes they are “educational orphans”. The result of this unfortunate state of affairs is either long spells of unemployment or incompatible jobs, with dangerous consequences for individuals concerned, their families and the society at large.

Creating Career Awareness

It is in this context that IQRA Society forCareer Guidance, established on June 10, 1994, decided to strikeat the very root of the problem. The Society conceptualised and executed aseries of innovative programmes in order to create widespread awareness aboutthe multifaceted career and educational alternatives and in different walks of life, to provide guidance in selecting the right career and educational alternative and to help students develop the right personality in keeping with the demands of the present day competitive world. As a part of this mission, IQRA has organised career camps in different districts of A.P. and Karnataka as the awareness of students and parents was confined mainly to B.Tech., MBBS, B.A. B.Sc. and B.Com., a deliberate attempt was made in these camps to enlighten them about the numerous other career and educational opportunities in such areas as information technology, hotel management, vocational courses after SSC and Intermediate, Self-employment and entrepreneurship, competitive examination, scholarships, opportunities abroad etc.. The career information was provided by a trained multi-speciality in-house team of career counsellors of IQRA.

The students were told that jobs in Government, Public and Private sectors are either shrinking or stagnating in the new market economy at a fast pace. In view of this, the youth was advised to stop craving for jobs in these sectors and instead explore newly emerging opportunities in the informal sector. Keeping in view the fast pace of globalisation and entry of multinational corporations, the youth was also advised to stop thinking about their career plans on a local plane and instead start visualising their career options in a global perspective. It was emphasised that students of earlier generation had to face mostly local competition, but today’s youth has no alternative but to prepare itself for competition at the global level. It was emphasised that although globalisation has created numerous career opportunities for youth, only those highly proficient in their respective subject matter and good at communication skills stand a chance to benefit. The students were urged to improve their conceptual and technical abilities, as competent people are grossly short in supply, despite extensive unemployment.

Keeping in view that Hyderabad is fast emerging as the country’s IT capital, IQRA organised a series of lectures and enlightened students, parents and teachers about emerging trends in this field, new career opportunities and the educational requirements to fill up these slots. They were told that the belief that information technology is the monopoly of computer science engineers alone is a myth and the reality is that students of all disciplines like Arts, Social Sciences etc. too who acquire training in the application of the technology, will occupy the centre-stage of this emerging industry. They were also informed that, of the 20 lakh jobs that are expected to be created in the field of information technology, only about three per cent are meant for the computer science engineers, while the lion's share will be cornered by professional of all other domains who acquire core competencies in applying IT techniques. The students were advised to learn their respective discipline thoroughly, before venturing into learning the application of information technology. It was emphasised that information technology is a means to an end and not an end in itself. IQRA also made an attempt to create computer literacy among persons belonging to all age groups by organising short duration training programmes on Internet, e-commerce, etc. Care was taken to design these programmes in such a way that at the end of the course, the participants are able to use a Personal Computer on their own, fora variety of purposes.

Keeping in view the craze among the students for going aboard, a number of camps were organised on this theme. The participants were told that while planning is important in their career matters, it is much more needed for those who intend to explore career opportunities abroad. They were advised to commence efforts at planning to study aboard at least two years in advance. It was also emphasised that in the United States while there are about 3500 institutions of higher learning, only about 40 of them are considered to be the best, therefore, it is necessary that admission is sought only in such institutions. Dispelling the myth that the opportunities abroad existed only for software professionals, doctors and engineers, they were informed that good career prospects exist even for students in the fields of arts, literature and humanities.

Workshops were also organised on career opportunities in the Gulf countries’ keeping in view the fact that Indians constitute about 10% of the population of these countries and send about five billion dollars through normal banking channels. They were told that consequent upon the process of localisation in all the Gulf countries, the demand for technical and professional jobs has come down, but the demand for technical and professional jobs in such areas as computer software, chartered accountancy, chemical engineering, medicine, hotel management etc. still continues unabated. They were told that the employers in Gulf look for computer literacy and good communication skills on the part of candidates, irrespective of the positions and sectors of economy. They were told that they can also explore the possibilities of establishing business of their own in partnership with localism the Gulf countries. Contrary to general belief, they were informed that good career prospects exist for women candidates too and working in Gulf countries is absolutely safe for them. They were advised to send their applications bye-mail as most of the institutions are maintaining their respective websites.

Face to Face Counselling

The students need expert advice in addition to career information, in selecting the right career alternatives. Keeping this in view, IQRA invited experts of great repute in which exclusive individual guidance was provided on a face-to-face basis. The advice was given taking into consideration the aptitude, personality profile and the socio-economic background of candidates. Wherever necessary, psychological tests were conducted by trained psychologists and counseling was given by them on the basis of the scores of the candidates on the tests. The following eminent persons provide counseling to students/parents: Dr. T. Hanuman Chowdary, IT advisor to the Chief Minister of AP, Dr. Richard J Cohen, Executive Director,Indo-American Centre for International Studies, Prof. V. Venkaiah, Rector, B.R.Ambedkar Open University, Mr. J. Satyanarayana, IFS, First Secretary, Indian Embassy at Qatar, Mr. Devashish Ghosh, Senior Vice-President WIPRO Technologies,Dr. U. Balaji, Vice- President, Satyam Computers and Mr. Zain Hussain,Vice-President, Satyam Computers. It may be noted that for young student it is next to impossible to have the opportunity of interacting with these renowned persons on their career-related matters. It is only because of the efforts ofIQRA that the students and parents got the rare opportunity of seeking their expert advice.

In addition to career information and career counseling, IQRA organised a number of “Mock Entrance Tests”, for a number of state level entrance tests on order to give the participants an idea about the exact pattern of these tests, contents of the question papers and their strengths and weaknesses. The students were given required information about these tests and they were provided face-to-face counseling in order toenable them to improve their performance at these entrance tests. This went along way in enabling the students to take these tests with a reasonable degree of confidence.

Entrepreneurship and Placement Assistance

IQRA provided assistance to students fortheir job placement in different organisations and also provided escort services for enabling them to set up their own business units in order to make them job providers rather than job seekers.

Small business, self-employment and entrepreneurship have grown in importance on account of such market factors as recession, automation and the Government’s downsizing mantra. Keeping this in view, IQRA organised a number of workshops in order to create awareness about opportunities in different sectors of economy, vocational and entrepreneurship development training programmes for the prospective entrepreneurs, schemes offered by banks and financial institutions aimed at promoting entrepreneurship. Workshops were organised for promoting self-employment on the part of female candidates too, keeping in view the fact that AP Women Cooperative Finance Corporation, Shramik Vidyapeeth etc. are implementing exclusive schemes for this target group. IQRA has sent out a message loud and clear to the thousands of unemployed, “ Forget nine-to-five jobs and be your own boss, look out for self-employment options: According to IQRAthe need of the hour is to motivate them to shed their fears about job security and go in for self-employment. IQRA went even beyond mere creating awareness about opportunities in self-employment. The office bearers of IQRA selected afew promising and deserving candidates and coordinated with a number of professional organisations, where they were provided a comprehensive set of escort services, including selection of right business idea, conducting of market survey, procuring necessary licenses, getting the loans released from banks and financial institutions and grounding of units. Consequent upon these efforts, a number of candidates have successfully established business units of their own and become a role model and source of inspiration for others.

Most of the students need assistance fortheir placement in different organisations. IQRA liaisons between the students who need placement assistance and the organisations, which have openings for fresh graduates/post-graduates with different backgrounds. IQRA has played a key role in organising preliminary interviews and group discussions on behalf of these organisations and forwarded the names of short listed candidates for final interview for placement in a number of multi-national and other large and reputed organisations. Some of these candidates have been finally selected in these organisations.

Personality Development Programmes

IT was felt again and again the personality profile of students needs to be enriched. Mere awareness and core competencies alone are not enough, they should have the right personality profile, positive attitudes and a compelling drive to excel. IQRA organised a series of programmes on personality development. The resource faculty at these workshops comprised such eminent psychiatrists as Prof. M.A.Majeed Khan (Deccan School of Medical Science), Dr. M.S. Reddy (Apollo Hospitals) Dr. K. Chandra Shekhar, (Vijaya Nursing Home) and Dr. G. Prasad Rao(Medwin Hospital).