How to select Stream after Class X

There are three streams to choose from after class X: Sciences (PCM/PCB), Commerce or Humanities/Arts. It is just a choice between three. It is important to understand that this choice affects our careers. And you realize it or not ‘Career’ is one big thing in life. It affects our work, lifestyle, friends, vacations, home, family, social circle & what not. Real weight of this word ‘Career’ would dawn upon a 15 year old X student in due time.

Why this decision is the most important decision yet for a Class X student:

• Stream decides the direction of career. This decision would have a major bearing on what you do for next 30-40 years.
• It is tough to alter stream once chosen even in school.
• Many career options are stream specific. For ex if you choose Humanities, you cannot pursue most science course at graduation level.

Our belief at The Career Quest is that going in future the strong walls around streams would come down in India just like in world’s top universities. But that would take some time. Till than it is good old school ways.

Popular strategies for choosing Stream/Career:

1. We look at successful siblings / cousins / relatives / neighbors. Most successful of them in terms of salary package & lifestyle is the career choice for student.
2. Parents dreams of a career (or lifestyle) for the child. This dream many times is something that they could not fulfill in their youth. This dream becomes the career for the student.
3. Parent or student come across some generic advice proclaiming XYZ career shall be the future. This becomes the career for the student.
4. Student talks to his friends and chooses the career that most of them are choosing. Reason is simple those friends say that the career is easy to pursue & they shall have fun.

Needless to say that above strategies are unscientific and chances of success here are like rolling a dice. Can you as a student/parent leave careers on chance in today’s competitive world.

What parameters should go into deciding stream?

If student is in class X, be clear we are not just choosing Stream; we are choosing Career. Career is to be decided because many careers require long term working from the time class XI starts.

Right Strategies to decide Stream/Subject/Career:

Choose by Selection: Student is clear about the Stream and Career. So just follow the love & passion. A word of caution here: as in all matters of love just check if it is love or infatuation.

Choose by Rejection: Many students are absolutely clear he/she shall not opt for two of the streams. So third becomes the obvious choice. This strategy practically works for many.

Get professional Career Counseling: Career Counseling & Psychometric Tests have evolved a lot & become very accurate now. Psychometric Career Tests are able to identify student’s real Interest & Personality. Aptitude test and Past academic track of student create another important input. A Career Counselor is able to absorb these inputs and by asking relevant questions is able to create a win-win solution. To know how we at TheCareerQuest.in do it click-here. To schedule an appointment click-here.

Understand the three Streams:

Sciences: Sciences is the most chosen stream among the three choices and offers many highly valued career options like medicine and engineering. An important aspect to note is that it keeps options open, i.e. a student is allowed to select commerce or arts in graduation after pursuing science in 10+2, while commerce and arts students cannot pursue science. Note that not all career choices available to Commerce/Arts students are available to Science students.

In Sciences, we have to take five subjects including one compulsory language. In Medical group compulsory subjects are Physics, Chemistry Biology and English. In non-Medical group compulsory subjects are Physics, Chemistry, Maths and English.

Commerce: This is the second most popular choice among students in India. Commerce stream leads towards some of the high paying and respected jobs like investment banking, chartered accountant, company secretaries, accounts and financial advisor etc.

The compulsory subjects taught in commerce stream are Economics, Accountancy, Business Study and English. The optional subjects offered by most schools include Information Practices, Physical Education, Computer Science, Multimedia & Web Technology, Entrepreneurship, Legal Studies, Psychology, etc.

Arts: Although, this stream is not so common among students, it holds many exciting career opportunities like journalism, literature, social works, teaching, etc.

We can choose from a range of main subjects including History, Political Science, Economics, Geography, Sociology and Psychology. Check with your school to find the choices available. Optional Subjects with Humanities include: Maths, Home Science, Legal Studies, Fine Arts, Physical Education, Media Studies, etc.