Students at a crucial juncture in their academic journey and contemplating career choices received valuable guidance on planning their future from experts in different fields at The Hindu Education Plus Career Counselling session 2025, held here on Saturday.

Conducted at the Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering (VVCE), the event was attended by more than 700 students, with many of their parents as well, taking the opportunity to get doubts cleared on various career choices.

B. Sadashive Gowda, principal of VVCE, made a presentation and gave an overview of the technical education scenario in the State and the country, apart from highlighting the criteria the students should follow for selecting colleges for admission. Prospective students were told to pay attention to parameters like college infrastructure, faculty, placement history, location, reputation, and previous years’ cut-off marks before making the final choice.

He cited the AICTE records to point out that in 2024-25, there were 13 lakh engineering seats in the country, of which only 70% of them were filled up. In Karnataka, there were 1,12,000 seats, of which 92,800 seats were filled during 2024-25, the enrolment being 83% of the available seats, Prof. Sadashive Gowda added.

Pointing out that aspirants enrolling for core engineering streams like civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics, and communication were relatively less compared to IT and related streams, he drew attention to the government’s push for the semiconductor industry.

Prof. Sadashive Gowda said if this materialised, then it would require more trained manpower from the field of electronics and communication than the country produces, hinting at great job opportunities in these streams in the future.

Ameen e-Mudassar, career counsellor and CEO of CIGMA, spoke extensively on career choices other than medical and engineering and said there was a window of opportunity waiting to be tapped. Aptitude, attitude, interest, and skills are key to a successful career, he said, urging the students to identify these traits early in life.

Touching upon the current trends, the students were told to adapt themselves to the change being ushered in by new technologies like artificial intelligence. Speaking at length on the importance of focus and discipline, he said students should be focused on what they want to achieve and be disciplined enough to pursue it.

He also gave a presentation on the “path less travelled” and touched upon fields like aviation management, foreign language expert, sports management, transportation management, sports coaching, financial analyst, teachers, culinary arts, machine learning, etc.

Uday Shankar, nodal officer of the Karnataka Examination Authority helpline division, provided information on CET counselling. S.N. Manjunath, head of the community medical department of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, S. Bhargav, a chartered accountant from the ICAI Mysuru branch, and Vinutha G.R., a former IAF officer who was selected for civil services in the 2024 UPSC exams, were other resource persons. A career guidance handbook containing information on various career options and courses was also released and distributed free of cost to the participants.

Platinum sponsors: The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Presidency University, and Reva University.

Gold sponsors: R.V. University, Bengaluru, Chanakya University, Bengaluru, East Point Group of Institutions, Cambridge Group of Institutions, and Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences.

Silver sponsors: GSSS School of Architecture for Women, Mysuru; JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysuru; JSS Science & Technology University, Mysuru; Karnataka State Open University, Mysuru; Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan; Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering, Mysuru; Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru; Soundarya Group of Institutions, Bengaluru; Adichunchanagiri University; The Christ (Deemed to be University); CMR University; Indian Institute of Fashion Technology; Karnataka Milk Federation; MSIL, and K.S.Group of Institutions.

Associate sponsors: Khaja Bandanawaz University, Kalaburagi; SDM Educational Society (R), Ujire; The Institute of Cost Accountants of India; Karnataka Bank; Shaheen Group of Institutions, Bidar; Bapuji Educational Association (Regd), Davangere; Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society, Kalaburagi; VTU; Navkis Engineering College, BLDE Association, Vijayapura, and IDBI Bank.

Regional sponsor: MVJ College of Engineering, Bengaluru.

Snack partner: Naturo.