The other day, my neighbour came over to visit me and I noticed that she appeared all flustered and frustrated. When asked what was bothering her so much, she almost exclaimed, “My daughter as you know has appeared for her Higher Secondary examinations this year. The results are to be declared any day now and my daughter does not have the slightest clue about which career pathway she wants to follow, which college course will be good for her! She does not have the slightest clue about her future!”
Upon hearing this from my neighbor, I introduced her to the concept of Career Counselling. I also thought of penning down the explanation ad advise that I gave to my neighbor, so that parents in a similar situation may have some guidance.
In the modern society, a few primary factors influence and individual’s decision while choosing the career pathway, like:
- The individual’s own expectations and aspirations;
- Peer influence;
- Multiple career options;
- New career trends; and
- Parental pressure
Owing to all these reasons, when someone is clueless about which career pathway to follow, the most important and wise decision would be to go in for a round of career counselling. Through the process of career counselling, career counsellors help people to explore, pursue and attain their career goals. In essence, there are three essential elements that holistically contribute to the process of career counselling, namely:
- The process of career counselling provides individuals with the required knowledge regarding the various jobs and occupations;
- The process helps individuals to obtain greater self-awareness with respect to the individual’s abilities, interests, values and personality style; and
- The process of career counselling activates the process of decision making among individuals so that they become capable of choosing a career path that suits their unique abilities, interests, values and personality styles.
The first step of Career Pathway Planning or Career Counselling is to go through a structured Aptitude Test under the guidance of a qualified psychologist. The aptitude Test result provides the individual with integrated knowledge about three main domains:
- Aptitude– The acquired or natural ability for learning and proficiency in a specific area or discipline;
- Interest– The things that draw the attention, concern and curiosity of a person; and
- Personality– The unique characters, traits, qualities and shortcomings of an individual
It is the amalgamation of these three factors that determines a person’s success in any career that is chosen by the person. On the basis of the Aptitude Testing Report, the career counsellor then guides the individual to take an informed career decision that on one hand enables the person to invest his/ her time, money and effort in the right channel and on the other hand, helps the person along a career path that ensures personal satisfaction by providing the individual with financial satisfaction and an avenue where he/ she can make the optimum use of his/ her own unique talents.
As I told my neighbor, it is much better to go through a round of Career Counselling and spend some time and effort in the process, rather than suffer through a entire lifespan by choosing a wrong career.
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