Fair way to explore opportunities
Vibha Sharma

Education and career fairs — a trend that has gained ground in the past two years or so — provide a good opportunity to students and professionals for exploring different education and career options, all under one roof. They  get first-hand information in traditional career options in India and abroad.

According to Siddharth Jain, head (marketing operations), Global Events and Expositions, which organises  several such events all over the country, aggressive competition for top courses in top colleges means that not everyone is able to get admission to the course or institute of his or her choice.  "Hence the need for exploring education and career options abroad. Moreover, with some new courses coming up in India as well, students require appropriate and authentic guidance for making the right career choice," he says.

Education and career fairs, he says, provide up-to-date information on professional courses available in India, as well as in universities abroad which do not have offices in our country.

Earlier, to find out about educational opportunities in foreign countries a student had to ask friends, visiting officers of universities, surf the Net or talk to career consultants.

"There is always a possibility of a consultant giving selective information, depending upon his interests," says Jain. "To ensure the authenticity of the participants and make sure that students are not taken for a ride,  in case of  foreign institutions we also consult the respective embassies. For Indian institutes, we try to ensure that they are recognised or the courses being offered are job-oriented," he says.

He says more than 21,000 visitors and 70 participants, including 15 universities from abroad, participated in the 24th India International Education Fair organised by them in Delhi recently. A delegation of the Ministry of Education, Korea, besides six universities from the country, representatives from Ukraine that has national universities offering courses in aeronautics, engineering and medicine at competitive costs, three  institutes from Malaysia and an equal number from Australia, participated in the fair.

"A major draw was the University of Hong Kong with graduate as well as postgraduate courses in like law, architecture, science, medicine, engineering, business and economics," he adds.

Apart from educational institutions from India and abroad, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force had also put up their stalls. 

Another facility that these fairs provide to students is the presence of financial institutions that provide on-the-spot information about education loans.

But, says Jain, job fairs have a flip side too. "At a job fair a candidate gets an appointment letter on the spot. At times, a candidate manages to get 10 appointment letters but does not even take up any one of the jobs offered to him. This is not good for companies concerned."

Moreover, it is also not a very good idea to have job and education stalls together in one exhibition as this might side-track a student who is yet to decide which career to opt for, he adds.