A NOVEL APPROACH TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT OF A CAREER MENTORSHIP SOLUTION THROUGH ACTIVE ALUMNI-STUDENT INTERACTION AND COLLABORATION

The education span of a typical undergraduate student ranges, usually from a minimum of three consecutive years to a maximum of 5-6 years. It is during these very years that every student is in need of constant nurturing and a holistic tutoring experience to shape their career in the appropriate direction. This paper explores the possibility of creation of a medium to guide these students for their numerous career and academic pursuits. It aims at setting up a body, the Career Advisorship and Consultancy Cell (CACC), which would effectively channelize the resources, namely the alumni of a university, for purposes of acquiring quality guidance and support. Bringing together student interests, industrial experiences and academic options in various fields under the umbrella of one single entity would be summarily emphasized upon.

Current counselling and career advisory centers are focused primarily on monetary aspects and offer the minimum possible services at pure exorbitant rates. Rather than the counselling being specifically focused on the pre-final and final years of one’s undergraduate studies, consistent care and mentorship throughout the entire course of studentship would be the prime focus of the CACC. Deliverables would include exposure and awareness about various career prospects and exclusive mentorship based on student interests. A systematic outline of internship opportunities, both administrative as well as research based would be chalked out for the students to enable them to pursue their choice of interest and alumni care and backing for student’s projects and entrepreneurial pursuits would be accounted for. Needless to say this would establish a platform for University-Industry collaboration on a continual basis. This would in turn enable the students to mould their skill set in accordance to the changing trends in the market/industry.

Speaking of the structure of this cell, 4 major subdivisions will together make up the CACC , namely the Data Handling Cell (DHC), Alumni Care, Research and Consultancy and Scholastic cell. The Scholastic cell will primarily be consisting of faculty members, from all departments of study, including members of the Academic Counselling Cell (ACC) and student members from various disciplines. The Alumni Care cell would be the sole bridge between the CACC and the alumni. All exchange of information between these two entities would be orchestrated through the Alumni Care cell. The Research and Consultancy cell would include members from various academic, scientific and vocational training societies of the university. The cell would bring together all possible resources and strategies for the CACC. Lastly, the Data Handling Cell would be the one integrating the results and outputs of the rest of the three cells together, to successfully deliver the final package to the students. Essentially, this cell would be the body under which the student registers and interacts for all intents and purposes.