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Recently I had given a presentation at Career Guidance Seminar for students who had appeared for SSC and HSC Examinations. My purpose was to acquaint the students with opportunities in the Information Technology and Finance domain, the various education courses on offer and the kind of companies they could look forward to work with. The session went down very well with the participants and we had a crowd of more than 200 people.

I also had a dicussion with my college professor Ms Manjiree Gondhalekar on the same. We discussed the role of education.

The role of education is to bring out the potential in a person. Thus education aims at self-actualization. A student should not select a career option because the particular industry offers high salaries, glamour or most of your friends have selected that option. One has to have a self-analysis SWOT before selecting a career option. One’s own interests, skills and abilities need to be evaluated. That need to be considered in the perspective of available opportunities and advice of experienced mentors.

One needs to hear the call of heart, rather than head in selecting a career. Finally that is what makes one happy. And drives you to achieve your purpose and actualized your potential.

We need to be the best. Even if we are a sweeper, we should be the best sweeper. Not everyone can be a CEO, nor everyone can be a President. Whatever roles we perform, we should be the best.

Knowledge @ Wharton’s latest issue contains an interesting article on Title Inflation. There is a proliferation of Chief Titles today – Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Privacy Officer, Chief Diversity Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Geek, Chief Hacker etc.

Earlier, companies had layers of hierarchies and employees looked forward to promotions every year or two. It helped in their career progression and satisfied their self-image. With the flattening of organization structures, the only way to motivate employee is to devise new and interesting titles.

At the same time, new titles like Chief Innovation Officer serve the purpose of reiterating the importance of key initiatives like innovation. Everyone knows company is serious about it.

So creative titles have their own benefits. But titles are not the end in itself. They have to be backed by appropriate benefits including competitive salaries and of course, a meaningful role.