How to Spot the Right Career Counsellor?
It is perfectly fine not to have all of your actions planned. When it comes to the next step or the next leap in the career, most individuals find themselves at crossroads. They are wondering which path to take in order to have a successful career. A professional can often be of help in these kinds of situations.
A career counsellor is a professional who can help you plan your next actions and guide you towards the right path leading to success. Career counselors or coaches can be approached in different stages of life: from guiding students regarding the right streams/universities to helping working professionals to transform their career and choose the right path.
A career coach/ counsellor helps you assess your weaknesses, strengths and interests. This gives you an idea about the areas you need to work on and the strengths you can leverage in the process of making your career.
What are the Services provided by Counsellors?
Career coaches and counselors provide a wide variety of services and offer assistance in any part of the career planning process. They:
- Help clients assess career values, skills and interests to open up options for their career path. They also help in identifying the right jobs, working on interviews and networking, developing resumes and cover letters. They also help individuals establish a balance between work and personal life.
- Make use of a variety of tools such as aptitude assessments, personality tests, interest inventories and client interviews.
- Help individuals identify the obstacles impeding their progress in their career plan. They coach individuals and help them overcome these obstacles without giving worrying too much about failure.
A career counsellor will not just stick to technical things but sit with you first to reassess your choices and question your preferences.
Here are 3 things that every good career counsellor possesses:
Pushes you to reveal yourself
Do you actually know the person you are? Most individuals would answer this as a yes, but the truth is that it is not often that you come across a person who knows himself inside out. Anytime you are asked about your favourite destination, you tend to take a couple of seconds before you say your answer.
Counsellors are professionals who are absolutely experienced in assessing individuals and bringing them close to their own reality. A career counsellor will force you to reveal your true self through a number of tests such as Interest profiler, Human Metrics MBTI Test, Strong Interest Inventory, etc.
Is a trend-setter
The world has seen a lot of Tom, Dick and Harry wear the cap of a counsellor for some easy bucks. Do not fall into the traps of these guys. There’ll be people who will try to fool others. In reality, they’re just job-hunters!
An exceptional career coach/counsellor is not your average guy in the neighbourhood who offers valueless advice. The most important tip for differentiating between a mediocre counsellor and a remarkable one is to look for his or her depth of knowledge, expertise and experience in the field they offer their service in.
Gives you a practical glimpse
An actually knowledgeable career counsellor will not shower you with flowery words or just appreciate your dreams. He/she will be straight on the face and show you the hurdles that your dream job can pose in future.
Your career counsellor will be preparing you to overcome the obstacles effectively and talk to about the right thing to do rather than just agree to whatever you say about your aims and goals. He/she will be dedicated to showing you a clear picture of the future career scenarios with the paths you choose. There should be no hidden information.