“Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, the fish will spend the rest of its life thinking that it is quite stupid. The fish’s best ability is to swim in the water”. Albert Einstein.

The underlying message in this statement is that everyone has unique characteristics. Let us rephrase that. All are special and have unique talents within themselves. But several factors which include but are not limited to non-recognition and/or the absence of opportunities, make people let go of these talents as they grow up. People may choose careers that have no relation to what they are good at or may not be able to even find any steady career. These issues actually start from the school-age of a person. The dreams and ambitions of kids know no limit. They are willing to explore multiple roles in life at the same time. From these, certain roles or personas in the future may interest them more. These unique traits of every child determine their personalities. These qualifications show the way for one to master several abilities for conducting multiple tasks. But children have no way of streamlining what they are interested in, what roles they will best suit and also what roles will suit them. Besides, it is not just kids or students. Even fresh graduates are often confused on what career paths to take. This could happen if they graduate in specialized courses such as engineering, medicine or law. For example; everyone can study medicine and many may pass the course (through any means!); but not everyone can be a good doctor. Moreover, there are multiple branches in medicine; including a general physician, cardiologist, neurologist, psychologist, and so many more. So which must students or others choose? On one hand, some students are flooded with an overload of information, and on the other hand, some do not have access to adequate data. Both could make them land in tough spots. This is where career counselors and/or career counsel guides can help.Recommendations,advice, analyses, and research can be highly useful for students to make the best career decisions, with confidence. This article discusses the concept of career counselling, how it is done and what are the advantages.

What is career counselling?

Career counselling, as the name suggests, is a domain of counselling that provides guidance to help decide the best-suited career for a child. There are several courses offered by educational institutions and each one has a different opinion on what is the most trending career. With these many options, students are perplexed as to what they should be doing next. This confusion can often lead to fear of failure as well as the possibilities of making wrong choices. Young people; higher secondary school students as well as fresh graduates could delay their decisions or totally not take decisions. Pressure from peers and families also add to this problem. Because of all these and many more, people may end up in an unwanted career, or in a profession that they like, but cannot grow further. Career counselling is the best approach to do away with such situations. Counsellors guide students to comprehend true potentials and get into a career that is best suitable for their personalities. This gives them increased chances of success. Counselling experts and career coaches understand the industry properly along with the benefits of each educational strea and relevant job opportunities. These job vacancies can be available in mainstream as well as off-beat careers. Counselling tests first analyze a person’s strengths along with interests. Counselling sessions will be useful for them to discover all careers that are related to their abilities and interests. This can enhance their awareness of what is to come and how to prepare for the same.

How can Career Counselling guidance sessions help?

• Career counselling sessions help students develop problem-solving attitudes which can be helpful in resolving their career queries.
• Communication skills can be improved.
• Students will be more confident to explore new opportunities according to the latest trends.
• They will be able to identify what jobs they want to do and what jobs they can do.

What is done by career counselling guides?

• Gathering of Data -

  Counsellors first gather information about who you are, where you are from, your interests, and skills among others. This is done in various ways, including questionnaires and form filling. The objective of this stage is to identify your starting point so that suggestions on your road ahead can be charted out. Such sessions can be conducted online or in-person. They are normally friendly-chats in which students will be encouraged to easily divulge information.

• Analysis -

  Once data is gathered, Career counsellors and guides will analyze them to generate useful insights. Besides self-analysis by counsellors, this stage could include career counselling tests where you will have your social behaviour assessed, along with your personality and career interests. A one on one interaction with your counsellor will allow you to discover which avenues and paths are open to you.

• Taking Decisions -

  - From the previous step, students such as you will have more clarity on the paths that are available. Next comes the time when you will have to take decisions. A career counsellor will help you with this by arriving at a common ground between your interests, your skills and the current job market. Any barriers stopping you from choosing a career will be ruled out. Proper counselling will explore which path is right for you.

• Preparation -

  An experienced career counsellor or career counselling team does not only recommend career paths for you but also prepares you for the same. Skill-training sessions, aptitude coaching sessions, and even upgrading your interview-facing skills are some of the lessons that will be shared in this stage.

MindsCue can help you here. We are an online employment consultancy run by a team of subject matter experts in Hyderabad with the core objective of cultivating better workers among high-school students, graduates and also working professionals. We do this by offering career counselling guidance through online/hybrid sessions, documents prepared by experienced people in the field giving career guidance, skill building, and technical training sessions among others. We recognize that human potential is a complex subject which needs intense exploration through scientific methods. MindsCue can give you that. Reach out to us to have further discussions.