What is a career counselor?

 

Although you might well be a highly skilled, well trained financial professional who’s been around the block a couple of times, we encounter situations throughout our careers when we can benefit from unbiased advice.   We all have the smarts to rationalize the consequences of a job or even a career change, in an ideal environment, but few environments are ideal and sometimes the complexities are daunting and can be overwhelming.  Other matters that complicate our careers may involve dealing with a job loss, reentering the workforce after an extended layoff, looking for career alternatives, overcoming challenges, even writing a résumé and understanding the protocols and etiquettes involved in a job search. 

 

Also known by other names, job coach, vocational counselor, career facilitator, the first thing you want to keep in mind is that if a career counselor guarantees you a better, hire-paying or more prestigious job or fulfilling career, go on to the next guy.  Career counselors simply cannot make those kinds of guarantees. 

A career development professional will help you explore and understand your options, inform you of market trends in your field, help  you assess your skills, your interests and the value of your experience.  He or she will have your career in mind and will provide the guidance to help keep your career path arcing upward, help you hone your skills and move up the ladder.  And when conducting a search, your counselor will help you present yourself in the best possible way, as well as help you identify alternative courses. 

 

What a career coach will NOT do, is make your decisions for you.  What a career coach will do is empower you to recognize within yourself the ability to make your critical career decisions for yourself.

Some things are just too important to have not had a coach or mentor, someone who really cared.