Yes, it is that time of the year when students are making serious future career choices. In India, the months of April/May/June/July are high-anxiety-level ones for both the school-passing students and their parents. In fact, the career choice stress amongst the parents is more amplified than the more-cool-headed young ones who are more into the excitement of freedom from the school’s dos and don’ts and pressures of super results for getting the super-high grades for the best college/institution enrolments.
A by-the-way observation – the Indian parent, as compared to the global one, often treats this phase as a matter of life and death for their ward, and would go to any extent to fulfil more so, their aspirations, than rely on the basic choices and instincts of the child. The parent abroad is more laid back and probably gives a greater playfield to explore the individual’s preferences for the path ahead.
In the earlier days, it was comparatively easier for the school-leaving students to tread along ahead as there were limited career options and there existed an element of the ‘herd mentality’. Spontaneous choices were attempting enrolment in medicine, engineering or the law. Blessed today are the students to have multifold career advancement opportunities with multiple professional alternatives that have evolved. In the present day, in the limelight are also alternatives in computer software/hardware development and allied fields, diverse arms of science, fine arts, architecture and interior design, construction, hospitality and tourism, beauty and wellness, photography, alternative intelligence specialisation —I could go on…
The young ones of today, thanks to social media and the internet, definitely have an enhanced awareness of the available professional streams. However, this overexposure can also add confusion in the young minds and their guardians.
I feel compelled to share one such encounter I had recently.
A few days back, I received a call from a close friend, Vikrant, whose son, Shashank, recently finished his schooling. Knowing my long association with architecture and academics, Vikrant, a lawyer of repute himself, requested a meeting to assist his son with some inputs regarding the architecture profession. The three of us met and had a probing/interesting conversation:
Vikrant: To be honest, we are here to meet you because Shashank and I don’t seem to be agreeing on the course ahead. Frankly, the issue is that he is inclined to fine arts, design, maybe architecture, and I feel that pursuing the computer software field would be more engaging and have better prospects.
Shashank: Yes, Uncle, I like sketching and want to pursue a career related to design. Could you please tell me more about architecture?
Myself: Well, well – that’s a healthy way to discuss and move forward. Look, always good to go for a career choice where you feel your interest lies. On a lighter note, that way, you would also be more motivated to make a mark in that field. But also important to know the other related aspects, such as career growth, advancements, financial viability, and others.
Architecture, no doubt, is a very engaging and creative profession. It is also a very demanding one, requires lots of patience, hard work and that constant motivation to take that one step extra. As you would understand, it is a fascinating blend of arts and science. On the outside, the profession is also associated with a fair amount of glamour.
Vikrant: (Butting in) I recently came to know about an architecture college of repute closing down in our neighbourhood in Noida– probably because of a lack of students? I was telling Shashank that the prospects of growth in architecture are bleak. Would you agree?
Myself: Yes, I also heard about it. The aspirations of today’s youth are high. Your concern is legitimate. There is a huge worry amongst fellow academicians in this field about the dwindling student intake and also the standard of education in the institutions. I won’t deny that interest in this profession is waning amongst the young ones. Let me put it this way – every profession has its own challenges. Architecture is a slow profession and requires a strong resource of sustaining powers. Over a period, if a student can create a momentum of unwavering passion for it, he or she would no doubt happily entrench in it.
Vikrant: That’s fine. Every profession has to have a passion involved, and also hard work. Come on, Suneet, I want a ruthlessly honest input from you. Is this profession of architecture as lucrative financially, with good growth prospects?
Myself: Ah, ha; you put me in a difficult predicament. I have spent a lifetime as an academician and author/editor in architecture journalism, and have enjoyed it, lived it. Initially, after graduation, I was into practice and writing, as I loved writing right from day one. Times no doubt have changed now, and the profession of architecture also has taken its own spiralling path – honestly, not for the better.
Shashank: But why would you say that? I understand that there is so much progress in design, architecture, interior design, product design, etc. We read about so many big projects being planned and built in the country.
Myself: You are absolutely right. There are tons to explore and create in this zone. And if I may add, there is also some very good architecture being practised in our vast country, and it is not written about in the media. As I said earlier, it all depends on how focused and involved you, as a student, want to be.
Architecture in the present age and day has evolved with a strong leaning towards technology advancements. It’s no longer just the romance between brick and mortar. As we all understand, architecture is also reflective of a cultural and lifestyle context, which in the current phase, has dramatically transformed. However, I always believe that no matter what, the basics would not change.
Vikrant: I fully appreciate the glory of the profession. Tell me, but you still have not answered my question.
Myself: Ah – that reminds me of an interesting conversation I had while taking online classes during Covid days, with some IIT fourth-year architecture students. On my asking what the plan was after passing out, a few responded that they were aiming to shift course for better pay packages. With your direct question, you put me in a state of ‘to be or not be’ as spoken in Shakespeare’s play! If I compare with other progressive professionals, the remuneration for a fresh graduate architect is, no doubt, by and large, lower. Newly graduated are very often disgruntled and frustrated with what they earn.
As I said earlier, the individual no doubt has to have a resilient sustainability. Career growth can be slow. And, never would I recommend that the newly graduated immediately jump into an attempt to start practising. Field experience is a must for some years. But as I was saying, patience levels in the present era are rather low everywhere. We have forgotten that ‘Rome was not built in a day’.
Shashank: I get it that the remuneration is lesser here, but that would not be the only criterion.
Vikrant: You are right, Shashank. But also, important to weigh in these other factors of growth opportunities, which to me, appear kind of similar to my profession—law. That’s one reason why I didn’t really encourage you to probe it seriously. Of course, I understand that along with practice, there would be other venues that would be there – research, academics, design in its varied avatars… But the quality of architecture education worries me.
Myself: It ultimately comes to the point where lies your passion if one has one. Architecture and its allied arms like urban and city planning, conservation and vernacular probes, landscape design and others – all have future prospects to discover even after graduation in architecture.
My suggestion to you, Shashank, would be to coolly assess your interests and the opportunities in each field you have probed, and then take a call. In the process, don’t negate the gut feel. I wouldn’t suggest you be a romantic. A rationalised approach would be rewarding in the long run. And as far as your interest in fine arts, even if you choose to go for another option, this interest would always assist you in developing a rounded personality. And lastly, it is Lady Luck that also plays a role.
Vikrant: I agree, with this conversation in the background, give it a day or two, and then take a final call.
A few days back, I received a call from Vikrant informing me that Shashank had decided to pursue admission in the computer software zone, and he emphasised, “It was completely his choice.”
Feature Image: by ArchitectureLive!
