IT has long been your dream to get into a good B-School. But you realise it is not to be, at least not this year. Do not despair. Career planning is an ongoing process and a reality check on your decisions allows you to make adjustments and see if your desired outcomes are being achieved. This does not mean your initial decision was 'bad'. Each one of you must look at 'what if not?' options to the Holy Grail of modern youth - Common Admissions Test (CAT). This re-evaluation may lead to minor changes in your career choices or a complete revision of the options on your table.

There is a plethora of career options awaiting you. To evaluate these options objectively, you must first answer the following two questions honestly - what am I good at? What would I enjoy doing in my career? If you return 'MBA' for both, you may lose sight of some of the very promising options cited below.In this list, we have deliberately omitted some of the more popular career choices, and included some, which you may not even be aware of.
 

• Banking and Finance
  Banking courses include Operations Management, Finance, Marketing, Human Resource Management, International Finance, Strategic Planning and IT. After completing a banking course, you can hope to be absorbed into a bank as a middle-level executive officer. Several universities offer banking courses. The most popular exam to gain entry is the Bank Probationary Officers' exam, popularly referred to as the Bank PO. They are conducted depending on vacancies in PSU banks. The Banking Service Recruitment Board (BSRB) conducts this test. Your preparation for MBA exams will come in handy in these exams too. PSU banks recruit mainly graduates at the entry level on basis of all-India level examination. However, professionals like engineers, doctors, technologists, lawyers, ex-defence personnel, etc, are also recruited for senior positions through all-India tests.
   
• Actuarial Courses
  Actuaries are experts in assessing the financial impact of tomorrow's uncertain events. Their job is to look at the past data and analyse it. They provide future models to enable decision making with confidence. In simpler terms, they assess risk and interpret it in financial terms to help in decision making. It helps to be a graduate with a background in Mathematics, Statistics or Econometrics. The course has no fixed duration. You have to pass the requisite number of subjects to be awarded the fellowship. The placements are primarily in the insurance sector.
   
• Chartered Financial Analyst Of late, this programme has become very popular. Even students at premier B-Schools seem to be doing this, along with their core curriculum. Any graduate can pursue it. You need to master its study material and take the test to become a charter member. Once you become a CFA, the opportunities in finance will open up significantly.
  
   
• Mass Communication
  People with Mass Communication degrees, diplomas or certificates get into a variety of media jobs, the most favoured being in print and television journalism. If journalism pumps up your adrenalin, there are a number of diploma, graduate or masters courses in Mass Communication on offer from a number of reputed institutes.
   
• Media Jockeys
  Being a radio or video jockey is a matter of style, personality and presentation and communication skills. Degree or diploma holders in Mass Communication, Acting and Drama, Music or Media Studies may and this career. There are people who do not possess these degrees but still get in through auditions. If you love music, have the gift of the gab, a good voice or sense of humour, you could fit into this career pretty easily. The extensions to these roles are anchoring events or hosting various competitions.
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• Technical writers
  In some organisations, there is a special desk for technical writers. The job essentially involves translating business or technical jargon that the organisation needs to communicate to its clients and customers, in user-friendly language. The organisations could be product companies, FMCGs, KPOs, etc.
   
• Copy writer
  "Thums up! Taste the thunder!!" This is a copywriter's creation. If you are not short of ideas, and have a way of expressing your thoughts in simple but powerful language, this is the job for you. Advertising agencies and other creative organisations looking for such people will lap you up. The good thing is they do not associate creativity of a copywriter with any degree
   
• Languages
  If you have a knack for picking up languages, do consider a career in this field. You could bag a range of jobs that use language skills, from the travel industry and freelance translation to training in organisations. You can opt for certificate, diploma or PG diploma courses to pursue this career.
   
• Travel and Tourism
  A career in the travel and tourism industry in India will lead you into the tourism, airline and hospitality industries, both private and government-owned. There are many good universities offering postgraduate diploma courses in tourism. This is a good option if you have an entrepreneurial streak. &nbspMasters in Social Work Keen on social work? Did you know there are courses that prepare you for it? MSW course prepares you scientifically for this aspirational career. An ideal springboard to work in NGOs.
   
• MS in Library and Information Science
  Have you ever considered this as a career option? The MS (LIS) course is offered at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. This is an advanced programme in Library and Information Science (LIS) with special emphasis on application of information technology. The objectives of the course are to create manpower having the capability to work efficiently at higher levels in libraries and information centres, design and develop information systems, and contribute academically to the area of Library Science. Any person with a bachelor's degree from an Indian university with a score of at least 60% is eligible to apply.
   
• Entrepreneurship
  You could become an entrepreneur without investing much. There are organizations whose business models are based on franchisees, which are licensed out across the world. These franchisees play the role of 'Sales Agents' for the organisation. In turn, the organisations share their revenues with them. A good choice of an organisation and product would help you become a millionaire without an MBA!