So what do you want to do after school? What do you want to become? How do I want to live my life? The question many of us dread to answer. Career counselling can help.
Where do you even start? The reality is not a lot of people truly know how to answer this question. Shane Koyczan beautifully states the frustration many experiences to answer the above questions. He states:
“See, they asked me what I wanted to be, then told me what not to be. And I wasn’t the only one. We were being told that we somehow must become what we are not, sacrificing what we are to inherit the masquerade of what we will be. I was being told to accept the identity that others will give me.”
However, it does not have to be like this! The reality is that in the modern economy people reinvent themselves constantly, and striving to find more purpose in their work or career choices. The exciting field of career counselling can help empower you to answer these questions. (Or even be more comfortable with the ambiguity in deciding on a career path).
What is career counselling?
Career counselling is the process in which psychological assessments and interviewing techniques are used to empower clients to make an informed decision about their future or current career prospects. Basically, it is a process that can assist a client design their ideal career or life. Therefore, this process can help make 1) a decision about the subjects you have to take at school, 2) help to decide what to study after school, 3) what career field is best suited for you, or 4) highlight fields that will provide you with a sense of purpose or even 4) design a joyful life at any stage of your career.
How does career counselling work?
The career counselling process is normally a collaborative process. The career counsellor would use various career counselling assessments and use the results of these assessments to assist the client in making an informed decision about the next step.
The life design approach to career counselling has gained popularity over the last few years with the work of Mark Savickas and it has started shifting the thinking from a positivistic paradigm in career counselling to a more constructivist paradigm. This means that career counselling is shifted from a worldview believing that client’s personality is fixed and the career counsellor needs to investigate this and tell the client what to do vs. we all are in the process of growth and development.
What does the career counselling process look like?
- Personality assessment
- Values assessment
- Interest assessment
- Aptitude assessment
However, the traditional approach has come under scrutiny lately due to its positivistic assumptions. Therefore the life design or career construction approach is recommended. This approach combines elements of self-construction theory, career construction theory and the life design paradigm. The career construction process normally entails the career construction interview and if the client needs more clarity the abovementioned assessments will be incorporated as well.
Values of career counselling
“[Career] assessment and intervention should, therefore, be aimed at improving people’s employability, enhancing their career adaptability, and helping them assume authorship of their career and life stories”.
So who usually needs career counselling:
- A student needing clarity on what career will suit their abilities
- A student that needs to decide which subjects to choose at school
- A graduate that is seeking clarity on the career decisions
- A person seeking a career change
- A young adult going through a quarter-life crisis
- In general help with life designing
Therefore, if you feel that you or your child needs some career guidance book a session with a career counsellor. Let me help discover your career narrative.