As the job market becomes increasingly complex and dynamic, individuals are seeking expert guidance to make informed career decisions. This shift is driven by a growing awareness of the profound impact that career choices have on personal and professional well-being.
But… Do you know what Career Counselling involves?
At a basic level, career counselling involves three things: knowing about the world of work, developing awareness about oneself, and then matching the two and accordingly deciding on a career.
The Interplay of Personal and Professional Life
Although career counselling is considered a separate service, career has implications for all other areas of our life and hence career counselling needs to be viewed with other types of counselling also.
For example: Personal-social issues faced by adolescent students that require counselling can also affect career-related choices and decisions.
Career counselling also needs to consider any relationship issues or emotional difficulties faced by students as they can affect career-related attitudes and decisions. Self-awareness can also influence the career maturity level of students.
Other factors that influence career selection are age, gender, socio-economic background, resource availability, parental influence, peer pressure, etc. Thus it is important that we select our careers with informed knowledge and proper planning and goals.
Career Guidance and Counselling
Career counselling is a comprehensive approach that combines career guidance and counselling. Career guidance involves providing information and resources to help individuals make informed decisions.
It is developmental in nature and educative in purpose; whereas counselling is more remedial in nature and involves changes in nature in one’s thoughts, affect and behaviour, learning to adjust, adapt and cope with people and situations.
If you’re interested in 360-degree Career Counselling, TalentGro Global can help you with that. Visit our Career Counselling page and our Experts will help you identify your next high-paying career.
The Goals of Career Counselling
The primary goals of career counselling are to:
- Psychological Assessments: Identifying strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, aptitude, interests, and values.
- Career Exploration: Collection of career literature related to education, training and occupational aspects.
- Goal Setting: Developing clear and achievable career goals.
- Job Search Strategies: Guiding resume writing, interviewing, and networking.
- Decision-Making Skills: Dissemination of information to help individuals make informed decisions about their career path.
- Stress Management and Coping Strategies: Teaching techniques to manage stress and anxiety related to career decisions, resolve conflicts and acquire effective interpersonal skills
- Counselling Parents: Counselling parents on career-related choices
- Build Resilience: Empowering individuals to overcome challenges and setbacks.
- Improve Job Satisfaction: Helping individuals find fulfilling and rewarding careers.
Overcoming Barriers to Career Counselling
Despite the benefits of career counselling, many still face barriers to accessing these services.
- Family decisions play a major role in career decisions
- Preference of being in a “safer zone” instead of changing a job despite dissatisfaction and suffering in the job
- The attraction towards job security of a government job
- Attitude of seeing career as a means to earn money only
- Poor risk-taking and fear of adjusting to the new environment in case of a change in job
- Glorifying a few careers only as worth pursuing, e.g., science, engineering, medicine, management and discounting one’s interests and aptitude as relevant and important factors worth considering and pursuing careers in.
Read our guide on How to overcome major Career related challenges for better help.
The Future of Career Counselling in India
Career counselling is being recognised more in India at present as compared to earlier times. However, it may not be in a comprehensive manner and there are many instances of wrong choice of careers and career dissatisfaction.
The future of career counselling in India is bright. As the country continues to grow and develop, there is an increasing need for skilled and knowledgeable career counsellors.
Additionally, efforts should be made to raise awareness about the benefits of career counselling and to make these services more accessible to people from all walks of life.
TalentGro Global is a premier provider of Career Counseling services, catering to Students, Parents, Job seekers, Schools, Educators, and Individuals experiencing mid-career crisis.