__ Directors _________________________________________________________
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Mrs Usha Albuquerque
Founder Director |
A gold medallist in English Literature and Education from Madras University, a former news anchor, film producer and author of several books on career guidance, Usha’s first career steps led to teaching English, history, education and drama to high school students.
She moved to media and journalism, appearing as the English newsreader for Doordarshan, and writing for several magazines. Soon she was producing, and sometimes anchoring, television news features, quizzes, talk shows, and documentaries for corporate houses, the Air Force, Ministry of External Affairs and international organizations, such as the World Bank and Portuguese and Brazilian TV. Her media career was capped by the production of many documentaries on socially relevant issues, including “Seeds of Life”, which won the highest national film award in the country, and “Silent Killing” which was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Award.
Adding the dimension of counselling to her portfolio for the last nineteen years, she pioneered career guidance on television by producing several widely acclaimed series – Hum Honge Kamyab, The Professionals, Parvaz and the career chat show ‘Avenues’, - that, together, ran for over 4 years. Her books, The Penguin India Career Guide – Vols. 1 & 2, are into their second edition, whilst Puffin has published her latest career guide for younger children. She is a regular columnist on careers and career counselling for national and regional dailies, television and radio channels and online sites.
Today, she combines her role as founder director of Career Smart with running Insight Productions, her film production company.
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Mrs Amrit Sujan
Founder Director ( Head of Study Abroad Services) |
Spending the formative years of her life in the UK, Amrit graduated from the London School of Economics and was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple, London. Awarded a postgraduate diploma in Business Management, she returned to India to join the human resources department of a leading multinational company in Kolkata, the first woman to be taken into their management stream through the normal route, hitherto solely the preserve of men. She continued to challenge stereotypes and break new ground, whilst achieving a senior position in the company.
This was followed by a project with the World Bank as a human resource consultant in their Power Sector Reform project, which led to a four year assignment as the communication expert in an international consultancy firm.
Among several honorary appointments, Amrit has served as a Trustee on the Board of the LVP Eye Institute, Hyderabad.
Her experience on the ‘recruiters’ side of the fence has been invaluable in developing a range of services at Career Smart of particular value to career seeking youngsters.
She has co-authored the book, Alternative Career Choices, published by Macmillan, and contributes articles and ‘expert opinion’, on careers and study abroad options, for newspapers, television channels and online sites.
__ Counselling Psychologists ___________________________________________
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Yashodhra Arora |
Yashodhra has a post graduate degree in Psychology from Panjab University, Chandigarh with a PG Diploma in Guidance & Counselling from Annamalai University. Her previous work includes working as a counsellor with a NGO in the area of education for street children. She has also enjoyed working as a Radio Jockey with All India Radio doing shows in Hindi, English & Punjabi. Her passion lies in assisting students in their career related decisions.
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Aastha Virk Singh |
Aastha has done her Master’s in Education (Psychology of Education) from the University of Bristol, England and Master’s in Counselling Psychology from the University of Mumbai. She has worked with a Career Guidance Firm in Mumbai as a Counselling Psychologist where she was involved in assessment, career counselling and personality development workshops for students across 50 schools in Mumbai and other parts of India. She has been an active member of the National Service Scheme and has been associated with various NGOs dealing with education.
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