The teenagers who are in the penultimate and final years of their high School are at the crossroads of their career thinking which direction to take. With the right guidance they can be made aware of the different professional avenues open to them so that they can branch out into the right field or choose the carrer of their choice.

With this in mind and to do its bit as regards in chanelling the minds of the younger generation in the right direction, the Goan Welfare Society held a career guidance seminar for Standard XIth and XIIth Students at the Indian Embassy's auditorium on 23rd May.

President of GWS, Wilson Coelho welcomed the students, parents, speakers and guests. He requested the students who will be carrying the reins into the 21st century to take maximum advantage of this seminar and focus their attention in choosing the right career and emphasized that the GWS on its part will endeavour to encourage the youth by organizing these type of activities and not only dance shows and parties.

The ten orators, talked extensively on professions which ranged from Management, Banking, Physiotheraphy, Information technology, Advertising to Accountancy.

The first speaker Muriel Alphonso got the seminar going with a presentation that focussed on general career related topics.

Marc Roy D’Souza from Hotel Le-Meredian highlighted the benefits of working in the hotel industry and gave a talk on hospitality & management.

Patrick Miranda’s oration on Management in detail highlighting on how the system works, what pre-requisites are required in terms of educational qualifications to go into the management field, what it takes to be managers together with the perks & packages offered for successful managers must have got the young minds thinking if they should go in for those MBA's.

For those interested in the glamour field of advertising must have got their minds worked up with the presentation provided by Assis Cardoz together with slides highlighting the different aspects of advertising, its specialities and rewards.

The students who have their sights set on becoming Chartered Accountants must have been satisfied with Rao’s (a C.A. himself) detailed talk on the debits and credits in the field of Accountancy.

Vijay Kulkarni a marketing officer with Burgan Bank-Kuwait gave a talk on Banking and its related fields.

All the lengthy gabs about different professions must have confused the young minds as to which profession to choose. A short break for snacks and refreshments must have refreshed the minds of the future C.A’s, Advertising magnates, Managers etc.

After the break and just prior to resumption of the seminar the tiny tots put up a wonderfully choreographed dance performance called Blue Danube. The kids were trained by Helena Fernandes.

Jamil Arif of N.I.I.T.- Kuwait representated the field of Information Technology. He highlighted the career aspects in this field. His assertion was that with the present scenario there will be no dearth of jobs for I.T. professionals for years to come . Speaking on N.I.I.T's role in this regards he explained in detail what it has to offer in terms of training in the IT field.

Julio Lobo from the National Bank of Kuwait talked generally in terms of confidence building and encouragement. He requested the parents not to put any constraints on their Kids and allow them to do what they are best at. As for the students he requested them to adopt a positive attitude and to look at life in a much broader perspective.

The penultimate speaker Dr. Milania Jacob a Physiotherapist talked extensively on physiotheraphy and advised the students of the various professional colleges offering courses in the field of Physiotheraphy.

The final speaker of the day the second secretary of the Indian Embassy to Kuwait, Sanjeev Kumar, who was also the chief guest spoke at length on the Indian Civil Service.

Dr. Jerry Rodrigues compered the seminar and with his career related humorous quips kept the proceedings interesting. He also advised the students not to go into any profession for its glamour and to look towards the traditional professions as they can take one places with the right handling.

Joe F.X. D'Costa the Vice-President of GWS in his closing address thanked the students, parents, guests and the sponsors.

The Pictures :

Image 1 Kids performing "THE BLUE DANUBE"
Image 2 The Crowd

Wellington Dias
Email : wellydias@hotmail.com