A career counsellor can be a therapist, life coach, or another professional who is trained to discuss general career information and career development. They can provide valuable resources and also administer job ability assessments.

 

As mentioned above, they see clients of all ages and of varying needs. Therefore, no one career counselling session is identical. Instead, each session is designed to cater to the individual’s specific career issues, work experience, desires, and skills, which will prompt an evaluation and guidance from the career counsellor. They may pose questions like:

 

• What are your interests?
• What are your strengths?
• Do you want to be active throughout the day or are you okay with a desk job?
• How much money do you need/want to make?
• Are you wanting/willing to move or travel for your job?
• What core values do you live by?
• Do you hope to challenge yourself or take on a less-demanding career?
• What are you qualified to do?
• Do you want to be a leader?
• Do you want to do more independent work or collaborate with a group?
• What do you most want out of your job?

 

Questions such as these are designed not only to determine if a current job is a good fit for the client but to help them paint a clear vision of what they want for their future career path. Because while some may set clear career goals at the start of their career search, they can easily be forgotten or undervalued later down the road.

 

•  Career counselling is designed to assist you in making informed occupational and education decisions.
•  It requires client participation; the counsellor is not there to do all the work or to make decisions for you.
•  Everyone can benefit from career counselling: youths, young adults, older adults, males, females.
•  Career counselling is offered in grade schools, colleges, clinics, community organizations, correctional facilities, career resource centres, and
•  Career counselling is offered in grade schools, colleges, clinics, community organizations, correctional facilities, career resource centres, and more.
•  Counsellors may administer an IQ or personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which helps determine potential career paths.
•  Sessions are multi-faceted and vary from person to person depending on needs, desires, and skills.

 

Individual

 Most individuals take career decisions without fully exploring themselves or the environment around them. Some of the issues faced in this exploration are:

 

•  Lack of knowledge of one’s preferences
•  Lack of resources and inclination to collect all relevant information
•  Limitations in comprehending all the information
• Lack of a framework for reaching the right decision

 

Choosing the right vocation(s) is the one of the most important decisions in our lives, with wrong choices significantly impacting earnings and growth potential. Therefore, a right choice of education matching one’s long term career goals and aligning to ones interests and abilities is critical. Further, the expanding set of vocational options, longer work tenures, and need for life long learning adds to the importance of making the right choices through every stage of our life. Thus Career Planning for Students, Graduates & Working Professionals is an essential life skill, now needed across an individuals lifetime.