You might be a commerce or a science graduate or possess professional qualification such as B.E., MBA, MCA, CA, ICWA, ACS etc.

You might be working as an Accountant, Admin, Executive, Financial analyst, Research assistant, Call centre agent, Back office executive etc.

You might be employed, unemployed, underemployed or self employed.

You might also fall under a different category which is not mentioned above.

But one word is common for all, which is called as Career Development, which is important to everybody irrespective of the employment status.

The term career development is very complex in nature, given the amount of opportunities available in the market. You may often get confused as to which path to take as all appears to be rosy. You also know that once you travel down a path, it is very difficult to get to the other one.

So how does one identify the right career for him/her. Remember whichever field you are entering into, you can excel if you augment your resources well and utilize it for your development.

The first and foremost exercise would be to conduct a MBO (Management By Objective) or a reverse integration. Decide up I your mind as to where you would like to see yourself, 25 years from now, i.e in 2033. If your ambition is to hold a position of Vice president in a company, plan your way like this.

          2037  -       President

          2033  -        Vice President

          2025  -        General Manager

          2015  -        Senior Manager

          2012  -        Manager

          2010  -   Senior Executive/ Asst. Manager

          2008  -        Executive

If you are successful in making an entry as an executive in 2008, you can raise to the position of Vice President in 2033.

Now another question arises in your mind. Which domain should I choose?

For this purpose you need to do a personal SWOT analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats).

Strengths are the skills which you possess at present. Some of the strength which can be attributed are you r communication skills, presentation skill, subject knowledge, prior work experience etc.

Weaknesses are those areas which are your shortcomings. This can be like, lack of skills, poor subject knowledge etc. Once you know your weakness take some constructive steps to overcome those.

While the Strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors, Opportunities and Threats are external factors. Opportunities can be in the form of job fairs, your uncle who is working as a general Manager in a MNC who can create an entry for you in the company, or the interview which you cracked during the campus interview etc.

Threat is a factor of which absolutely you have little control. If you plan to settle down in US, the recent economic showdown could be another factor. In such cases, for example if you do not get Visa to work in US, try to get one in Canada.

The above illustration is just for reference purpose and the solution might not be applicable to everybody.

Now that you have done your SWOT analysis pick up the career which is most appropriate to you. Suppose you are good at people management, you can pick upon a career in Hr. If you are strong in numbers take up a career in finance and if you are technically strong choose a career accordingly. The list is endless.

Key point to note here is, do not jump into a career, just because your close friend has taken it. Do not panic if you remain jobless for few months. Take your time to settle down. I agree that you have peer and family pressure, but try to withstand that pressure and wait for the right opportunity