BOOKS ON CAREER GUIDANCE BY USHA ALBUQUERQUE

Careers by  Usha Albuquerque. Penguin. August 2003, 160 pp. Rs 175.00

Every student at school has his dreams about what career he would like to choose. But often he or she do not know how to translate these into concrete career possibilities. The anxiety over board exams was the worst ordeal of their life and this exam will check the student’s academic quotient. Thereafter he or she has to choose a career from among thousands of career options. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are way too many students chasing far too few seats in established colleges.

Career counseling sessions will help student to zero in on what he would like to do for the rest of his life. The role of a counsellor is to show the individual student the right path, by treading on which he/she can reach the much cherished goal. A counsellor must provide adequate and accurate information, guidance and support and must be able to judge the students' latent qualities and capabilities and help him/her select the appropriate career option accordingly.

In this volume, Usha Albuquerque, a career management expert, employs a range of specialised assessment tools (questionnaires and tests), interview techniques and information sources to establish a suitable match between the person and the external reality of the world of work.

The author emphasizes the need to start planning your career early, identification of likes and dislikes of individual, and setting realistic short-term and long-term goals to  enable one and all to fulfil his or her dreams. The author has also included diverse career profiles to expose the students the real world of careers and jobs.

The title is full of enriched information for curious minds. The volume is short enough for quick reading, but large enough to clear all doubts and tries to answer all basic questions related to careers.

This title combines the features and contents of the best selling Penguin titles ‘Penguin India Career Guide Vol. I: The Humanities’ and Penguin India Career Guide Vol. II: The Sciences and brings out as an updated single volume. 

In this comprehensive reference volume she provides an overview of careers in business management, engineering, financial services, information technology, media, medicine and the travel industry.

There is an adequate focus on each career and the information details the essential qualification requirements, job elements and its nature, pay scales and other prospects as well as the required personal attitudes and aptitudes to succeed.

The succeeding portions of the volume provides accurate, exhaustive information about the list of institutions offering courses, duration, admissions, fee etc., The volume also make the students to understand the art of  collecting relevant further information for them to decide. The volume is written in simple English and the style is lucid. The book will be useful for all those on the threshold of a new career.

Penguin India Career Guide Vol. I: The Humanities. Penguin India Career Guide    Vol. I: The Humanities by  Usha Albuquerque (Paperback).  Penguin. 484 pp. Rs 395.00. ISBN: 978-0140245813

The unique title ‘Penguin India Career Guide Vol. I: The Humanities’ is the first of a two-part series on careers in the Humanities. The title (originally published in 1995), in its  revised and updated form, focuses the opportunities available for students and professionals in the field of humanities. The author Usha Albuquerque is the Columnist on careers and a career counselor for several national dailiesThe modern day education system has been geared to finding jobs. The be-all and end-all of education is to get hold of a good job or career. The students of earlier times had stereotyped ideas about careers; they assumed that medicine, engineering and law were the best choices and everything else of no consequence. Those days the students had very little or no access to career related information. In contrast the present day students have greater access to such information through print and electronic media, besides the Internet of course. This volume also attempts to provide meticulously researched, accurate and authentic information in an easy to understandable format. The unique feature of this title is its focus on Indian context. The volume deals relatively new career options in detail with all essential pieces of information for each career like essential qualification requirements, personal attitudes and aptitudes, career specific options, job and job elements, pay scales education & training institutions (inland & foreign), studying abroad etc., The volume also make the students to understand the art of  collecting relevant further information for them to decide. The volume is written in simple English and the style is lucid. The book will be useful for all those on the threshold of a new career.

Penguin India Career Guide Vol. II: The Sciences.  by Usha Albuquer (Paperback).  Penguin. June 2000. 447 pp. Rs 395.00. ISBN 978-0140298659

The second in a two-part series, the revised and updated title  ‘Penguin India Career Guide Vol. II: The Sciences’ (previous edition was published in 1995) throws light on both traditional and new career options available to science students and working professionals in science and technology. The author Usha Albuquerque is the Columnist on careers and a career counselor for several national dailies

The traditional careers covered by the author include medicine, the Armed Forces, engineering and veterinary science. The new career options focused information technology, nutrition, gems and jewellery and footwear technology.  Each and every possible career—in medicine, engineering and IT, among others—is analysed separately with the requirements like essential qualification requirements personal attitudes and aptitudes, career specific options, job and job elements, pay scales education & training institutions (inland & foreign), studying abroad etc., The author provides an exhaustive list of colleges and institutions, courses, duration, admissions, fee etc., A chapter on Distance Education (correspondence courses) adds spice to this work.

The volume also make the students to understand the art of  collecting relevant further information for them to decide. The volume is written in simple English and the style is lucid. The book will be useful for all those on the threshold of a new career.

Alternate Career Choices. by Usha Albuquerque, Amrit Sujan. Macmillan India. 2004. 128 pp. Rs. 95.00. ISBN:                      9781403923394

In today’s global village, our boundaries have opened up as never before. Youngsters at the threshold of a career choice have several exciting opportunities to chose from. This book guides the reader toward career opportunities that were traditionally not so popular – as well as analyses trends that are in vogue in India today. It also, gives an indication of the types of jobs available in the days to come.

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