“Choosing a career is not a decision to be made in a moment. It evolves over a period of time considering various aspects and is a product of your collective decisions,” said Priyanga M., managing director of North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC).

She was addressing a gathering of students and their parents after inaugurating The Hindu EducationPlus Career Counselling 2026, held at KLE Society’s Biotechnology Auditorium on the B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology campus of KLE Technological University in Hubballi on Saturday (May 16). She also released The Hindu’s Career Counselling Handbook.

She pointed out that as the chosen path would consume nearly 10 to 12 hours of their time for the rest of the life, they should be careful while choosing their career. “Whatever you choose, it should keep you happy and contented. You should also consider what your chosen path will offer you and whether you can make a difference in your chosen path,” she advised.

Ms. Priyanga said that as technology kept evolving, one would have to face new challenges, and the manner in which one faces challenges would define one’s personality.

Narrating her own experience of cracking the civil services examination in her fourth attempt, she told the students that the civil services examination is not a test of one’s knowledge but of one’s personality and resolve.

She narrated how a lower middle-class girl like her was able to crack the examination and how at one point of time, she went through depression, lost hope, and even thought of giving up. “However, I decided to continue and decided to give my best shot as I had nothing to lose. This resolve helped me impress the same panel of interviewers who had earlier rejected me in my earlier interview. I secured an All India Rank of 149,” she recalled.

Elaborating on the civil services examination, she said every year, around 10 lakh candidates appeared for the preliminary examination and of them, 15,000 qualify for the main examination. “Only 3,000 make it to the interview and just around 1,000 finally clear the examination,” she explained.

She also said that there are no fixed parameters for defining success as the success of one person might not appear to be success from another’s point of view. But whatever you do, do it with your full heart, she said.

She called on the students to make an informed choice and not spend more time on social media and remember that outside the purview of social media, there are many people doing great things. “You should also be clear on what you don’t want to do while choosing a career,” she underscored.

Answering queries from students, she advised them, particularly the girls, to be ready to face societal challenges as those preparing for civil services would have to deviate from the timeline on personal life set by society. She advised the girls to become economically independent so they would then have freedom to take decisions on their personal lives.