The University of Kashmir established the Centre for Career Planning and Counselling in 2004 with an aim to help students to attain academic and Career goals, in fact the basic purpose of the Centre has been to provide the students with the opportunity to realize their career potential by exposing them to career planning, career options, decision making skills, occupational information, reinforcement of appropriate work skills and attitudes, to prepare them for various competitive examinations and to provide them a platform for training and placements. To attain the basic purpose the Centre has been working towards the following objectives:

  • To provide the services and resources to the students that are essential in their career and educational planning as well as in their job search,
  • To provide an integrated platform for the youth to enhance their employability and to provide them placement services;
  • To advise any members of academic, administrative or supporting staff on how to help a student who appears to have any problem that has become a constraint for him/her to achieve academic and career goals; and
  • To provide information and training for the faculty and administrative staff through staff development programme that will help them to act as academic counsellors in different departments/ Units of the university.

Status and activities of the Centre:

The Centre provides service not only for the registered students of University of Kashmir but also to such potential candidates, particularly from socially and economically weaker sections, who desire to appear for various competitive examinations like civil services, defence Services, NET/SLET. The Centre has also developed a strong interface with the industry to provide placement & training opportunities to the youth of the state. The Centre also intends to establish an integrated Incubation Centre to promote entrepreneurship in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. Under the directions of the Director, CCPC, this Centre provides service in the following areas:

  • Career information resources;
  • Research on industry’s future needs
  • Career Planning
  • Career Counselling;
  • Coaching;
  • Training &Placement;
  • Liaison between the University and the employers; and
  • Workshops and seminars on Career Planning and Placements;
  • Incubation Centre

 

Achievements of the Centre:

The Centre has been helping the student set and reach career goals by working with a career counsellor who helps them not only in exploring their values, interests, ability and personality but also in determining how these and other factors influence their career goals. The Centre has been providing services not only for the registered students of the University but also to such potential candidates who desire to appear for various competitive examinations like Civil Services, Defence Services, NET/SLET. The Centre has conducted 24 Coaching Programmes for Centre and State Civil Services Examinations which were attended by more than 700 students during the last few years.

As a result of these efforts three students of the Centre qualified Centre Civil Service examinations like IAS and IPS over the past few years and large no. of students qualified Kashmir Administrative services (KAS) during the period. In addition to this the Centre conducted a number of workshops and orientation programmes during the period where the participants were educated about various dimensions of civil Service Examinations.

     The Centre for Career Planning and Counselling, University of Kashmir has also evolved as a centre for providing comprehensive training and placement support to the students of various streams within and outside the university. The centre has developed a close liaison with the corporate sector for training and placement of the students. The centre also works in close collaboration with major chambers of trade and industry including Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and PHD chamber of commerce. Besides this over fifty students of the university have successfully completed their training at the CII- Godrej centre of Excellence, Vikroli Mumbai. The centre has also organised training of students by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), leading public sector companies of the country. The objective of these training programmes is to provide comprehensive training to the students and to equip them with necessary skill sets required for their productive employment.

      In addition to these training programmes the Centre for Career Planning and Counselling, University of Kashmir has attracted leading business houses of the country for the recruitment of educated youth form the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The main objective of these efforts is to provide a platform to the educated youth wherein they are exposed to the opportunities in corporate India outside the state. These efforts also help the centre showcase the talent pool of the state to the corporate India. Some of the leading companies that have visited the centre in recent months include Godrej & Boyce India Ltd; HDFC Bank Ltd; Standard Chartered Bank; Infosys Technologies; Hindustan Unilever Ltd; IYogi (India), Yes Bank; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Religare; Axis Bank; Saint Gobain; HCL Technologies etc. Hundreds of educated youth from the state have been recruited as a result of these placement drives. The centre has an ambitious plan of developing into a hub for providing comprehensive training and placement to the students.

      We strongly believe that the problem of unemployment can not only be solved by providing employment opportunities to the talented youth but also by encouraging entrepreneurship among the youth. The centre has also initiated several measures to develop a full fledged Incubation Centre for promotion of entrepreneurship in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The proposed incubation centre will provide financial, administrative and technical support to the budding entrepreneurs. To initiate the process Centre intends to enter into an MOU with major agencies to setup a comprehensive Incubation Centre.

 

Objectives of the Centre:

 As of now, the objectives of this centre are:

  • To provide coaching facilities, as also testing and evaluation, to enable the aspirants to succeed in various competitive examinations for recruitment to services under the central and state governments, public and private undertakings etc.
  • To provide coaching facilities for admission to a variety of professional courses.
  • To provide coaching in communication and skills and personality development.
  • To provide study material and library facilities.

The Centre draws upon qualified faculty with professional orientation to meet the requirements of the coaching programmes. Students are selected for coaching on the basis of an entrance test conducted for the purpose, and they are offered classroom teaching, which is supplemented and strengthened by periodic tests and evaluation. The library of the Centre has a holding of relevant material on a variety of subjects which is replenished regularly to facilitate student’s access to current and relevant material available in the required areas.

This Centre for Coaching and Career Planning needs to be expanded, refurbished, and reoriented as the University has strengthened and re-defined its academic priorities and employability potential of its students.