INTRODUCTION
Counseling
Counseling is a broad term. In the general sense, counseling refers to the process of helping a person by providing guidance, moral support, and exploring solutions for the problems being faced. “Counseling” is usually associated with a professional helping out an individual in need. This professional is someone who understands human behavior, their personality, and knows how to give the right direction to their thoughts. This professional is a person you can reach out to in times of uncertainty, and who makes sure that your identity and problems remain confidential.
The relationship between a Counsellor and a Counselee is based on a good rapport and trust. This is important while counseling, as it helps to achieve the end goal, i.e., helping the counselee reach the solutions to his problems.
Career Counseling
Career Counseling is a process that focuses on helping one understand one’s own self, as well as work trends, so that one can take an informed decision about career and education. Career Counseling helps manage a diverse range of problems such as low concentration levels to poor time management, trust issues with family to non-agreement between parents and children on which career to choose.
In order to understand Career Counseling a little better, let us look at its most important elements:
A Qualified Career Counsellor
A genuine Career Counsellor is the essence of right guidance, which is why he/she is the most important element of any career counseling process. Career Counselors are experts in psychology, which means that they should hold at least a post-graduate degree in Psychology/Applied Psychology, and/or a diploma in Counseling Psychology. Career Counselors who give guidance for a particular field, such as engineering, management, hospitality, etc., must be experts in the concerned domain.
A good Career Counsellor is a problem solver, a keen listener and observer, and has sufficient knowledge of various fields to guide you in your career decisions.
An Agreement of Trust and Confidence
The Career Counseling process is based on a relationship of trust and confidence between the career counselor and student. In order to help him/her, the counselor may sometimes talk about their emotional and developmental issues, which can be a little stressful. The student and the parent need to place an enormous amount of faith in the Counsellor to take care of such matters.
Relevant Psychometric Assessments
Psychometric Testing (Career Assessment) is a scientific and standardized process carried out to evaluate a person’s aptitude and personality. Psychometric assessments are a Counselor’s tools, which are used to obtain the most important information about a student’s behavior, emotional strength, interests, and skills. This information helps to facilitate on what kind of careers would be suitable for him/her.
What Are Career Assessments
Career assessments, simply put, are a set of tests, tools, or analyses that help a student understand how multiple traits like those of choices, likes & dislikes, personality, et cetera determine possible success and satisfaction with different career options, and varied work environments. The beauty of career assessments, is, that there are no right or wrong answers, there are just answers that sync best with you.
How Do Career Assessments Work
Before, we go on to understand how career assessments work, it’s important to first know how students today approach career decisions.
Broadly, there are two prominent trends as to how students make their career choices.
They identify their ‘interest’ and set off in that chosen path.
They choose what’s popular and what their friends are going to do.
Both of these approaches raise more questions than they answer, as both of them do not take into consideration critical elements which influence career decisions in big ways.
The underlying process in career assessments is quite simple actually. Career assessments lay down all the possible elements one needs to consider to make a career decision, in front of students, who are now required to select a response that most resonates with them.
Thus, a student keeps streamlining towards their best-fit career, with the progression of the assessment, essentially making it easier for students to decipher their true interest and match it to other critical elements – skill, aptitude, personality to take an informed career decision.
What Is Included In a Career Assessment
The inclusions of a career assessment vary from product to product, and company to company. While there are some assessments which make use of obsolete techniques and parameters, there are some which are trying to bring about a pragmatic change to career testing and assessments. There are a couple of elements that are coherent to all assessments – Interest, Aptitude & Personality. It’s the approach to test, and additional elements being tested that make all the difference.
While some assessments simply ask the student to list their interest areas, and mark their personality traits, there are some that approach questions with situations and psychometric tools that are more scientific, advanced and progressive.
Career assessments are designed to help a student discover their innate traits, skills, and talents. A self-assessment, by the student can be particularly helpful for understand their strengths, and areas of development, and finalizing on their career.
The biggest benefit is, of course, better understanding of one’s career needs and possibilities based on who they actually are, and discovering all the alternatives that could work for them. When coupled with professional counsel, career assessments could very well help one draft a roadmap for their entire career.
Why Do I Need Career Counseling
· Helps Provide Expert Resources
Career Counseling provides access to the resources and knowledge that a career expert possesses. This knowledge of Careers, their scope and the paths to pursue them are most important from the point of view of a parent and child, since most of the times, parents or guardians do not have that kind of knowledge.
· Helps Gain Confidence And Insight
Career Counseling helps a counselee understand the hurdles in his/her career path. This knowledge helps to develop the confidence to overcome these hurdles. It is the duty of a good counselor to provide such insight and confidence to the counselee.
· Helps Change Unwanted Behavior Pattern
Students and professionals have habits that are hard to break, such as procrastinating, not keeping updated on latest developments in their chosen career paths, neglecting emotional and mental health, not trying to self-motivate, etc. A Career Counsellor helps break such behavioral patterns that lead to unproductive activities, both at home and in school/college/work.
· Helps Remove Career-Related Frustration
Choosing a career can be a demanding task for both parents and children. A lack of any source of venting out emotions and thoughts may add to the existing frustration. Career Counseling provides a platform where such frustrations can be reduced, and focus is re-directed to selecting the best career options.
· Provides A Role-Model
Career Counseling helps students connect to experts who have enough life experiences to share. They are role models who have accomplished much, and helped people in their life. This is why Career Counseling can serve as an inspiration to those who require it.
· Helps Bring Stability In Thought
Career Counselors can help you remain calm when it comes to taking a career decision. Counseling helps bring about focus, and maintain that focus throughout in our activities. Through proper scheduling and planning, they try and make your life more organized.
Career Counseling is a scientific process and involves making calculated moves, based on hard facts and methodical research.
Grishma Vijay (MBA)
Career Counselor
Grishma@
Best International Education
Consultancy Fees for Career
Guidance:
Rs 800 without Book
Rs 1500 with Book
Rs 800 without Book
Rs 1500 with Book
सलाह शुल्क:
बिना बुक के 800 रु
बुक के साथ 1500 रु
बुक के साथ 1500 रु
Grishma is a great counsellor since she not only advice but actually motivate each and every individual wheree his or her strength lies. She always works on specifics rather than generalized advice.
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