Helping Students Make Educational Decisions with Clarity, Context and Confidence
I am Shelly Chugh, an Educational Consultant, Career Counselor and former Senior Secondary School Principal.
With 26+ years of experience in education and 28+ years of professional experience overall, my journey has taken me through teaching, academic coordination, school leadership and senior-secondary education. This experience has given me something that cannot be gained from assessments alone — an understanding of how students actually navigate the academic system, and how marks, aptitude, interests, parental expectations and future possibilities intersect.
At NextStep Career Solutions, I bring this experience together with structured assessment and personalised guidance to help students in Classes 8–12 make informed academic and career decisions.
Why NextStep?
Choosing subjects, streams and careers can feel overwhelming — particularly when students are expected to make important decisions before they fully understand their own strengths, interests and possibilities.
My approach is therefore not to tell a student what they should become.
It is to first understand who they are as a learner, examine their aptitude and interests, consider their academic context, and then explore pathways that genuinely fit.
Understand the student.
Explore the possibilities.
Plan the NextStep.
My Perspective
Having worked in senior-secondary education and school leadership for many years, I understand the realities behind academic decisions — curriculum and board expectations, academic pressures, parental concerns and the many choices available to today’s students.
This is why NextStep focuses on more than a test score.
Assessment provides evidence.
Experience provides context.
Guidance connects the two.
We are based in Chandigarh and work with families across Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, Zirakpur and online across India.
Meet Shelly Chugh
Educational Consultant | Career Counselor | Former Senior Secondary School Principal
M.Sc. Chemistry | B.Ed. | PGDBM
26+ years in education · 28+ years of professional experience
Helping students make better academic decisions through assessment, context and experienced educational guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should my child pick a stream?
The stream decision happens at the end of Class 10, but the thinking should begin earlier. Starting in Class 8 or 9 gives your child time to explore interests and strengths without the pressure of boards. In Class 10, we help families finalise a choice well before results, so the decision is based on aptitude, interests and goals, not just marks.
What does the assessment include?
The assessment explores your child’s career interests, learning preferences, academic patterns, and responses to stress and challenging situations. It uses established frameworks to help understand what interests your child, how they prefer to learn, their academic strengths and areas for development, and how they may respond when under pressure.
The process includes approximately one hour to complete the assessment, followed by a comprehensive written report covering all these aspects. This is followed by a one-on-one online or in-person counselling session with Shelly Chugh, former Senior Secondary School Principal and Educational Consultant, to discuss the findings, subject and stream options, and practical next steps.
The assessment is intended to support informed decisions about your child’s academic direction; it is not a fixed prediction of their future.
G. C
We had a wonderful experience with the career counseling services. The guidance was personalized, practical, and helped the student gain clarity about career options and future goals. What was especially valuable was the support extended to parents, helping us better understand and guide our child without unnecessary pressure. Professional, empathetic, and highly recommended for both students and parents.
Amit
Navigating the board years usually feels like walking through fog, but our one-on-one session with Shelly Ma’am changed everything. There is a profound difference between theoretical counseling and guidance rooted in decades of school leadership. You can immediately feel her background as a veteran principal—she doesn’t offer generic textbook advice; she brings real-world perspective and quiet reassurance. The roadmap she built for our child was structured, practical, and completely lifted our anxiety. If you have a child in Class 10 or 12 trying to figure out their next move, NextStep Career Solutions is simply in a league of its own.
