CHENNAI: Students across the country have just finished their board exams and are in the threshold of taking the most critical decision of their lives. What should I do after school/college? What should the duration of the programme be? What are the job prospects after finishing the course? These tips may help in planning and decision-making.

Make a SWOT analysis of yourself — Write down your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You should first assess your interests and goals. What are you passionate about? Make a clear list of your skills and try to match it to your personality traits.

Career aptitude tests — There are a battery of tests which will help you do a self assessment of skills, interests and personality traits. These tests will indicate how you can map your personality traits to your skills, competencies and long term interests. Some tests are freely available online and others for a reasonable fee.

Explore different career options — Today we have no dearth of information and reports to tell us how we can look beyond traditional career choices. Make a list of the options you have in mind, then narrow down the list to those close to your interests and skills.

Speak to more people — Expressing your thoughts and ideas, discussing with senior and experienced people and professors and other people related to your area of interest will help you find answers to questions related to your career. Use social networking to interact with like-minded students.