Career Guidance Counselling services

What is a Career?

• Occupation

• Vocation

• Job

• Climbing the ladder in an occupation

• Live life for goal

• Combination of aspiration, achievements, success

• Happiness, satisfaction

• Monetary gain

Career is totality of the above, Career we opt for is the career that brings color to life.

There are lot of Dilemma while making decisions.

• What is the right career for me?

• Am I cut out for the career I have in mind?

• If I am not successful in the career that I choose, will I be able to switch careers?

• Which career training can fetch me a job? These are some of the major concerns that play on one’s mind when the time comes to choose a career.

Hence, the role of counsellor is a crucial one.

Career counselors are not magicians who just decide your career for you. Career counseling is a very difficult and scientific procedure, which needs to be taken seriously because someone's life depends on it. It is a challenging task in the present time.

College and career guidance and counseling programs aim to help students make more informed and better educational and career choices. Among other things, programs offer information on high school course offerings, career options, the type of academic and occupational training needed to succeed in the workplace, and postsecondary opportunities that are associated with their field of interest. Programs also often provide teachers, administrators, and parents with information they can use to support students' career exploration and postsecondary educational opportunities.

Activities associated with career guidance and counseling programs typically include:

• Guiding students and parents on high school programs and academic curriculum, preparing them for college application and admission.

• Arranging dual/concurrent enrollment and Advanced Placement credits to prepare students for the rigour of postsecondary education.

• Planning and preparation for college admissions tests, SAT and ACT.

• Informing students about postsecondary financing that can be used to support advanced education and training.

• Developing career portfolios, which include test and grades results, examples of student work, and resumes and cover letters to prospective employers.

• Arranging job shadowing, work placements, and community-based learning programs to allow students to directly experience workplace situations.

• Sponsoring workshops, classes, focus groups, and special presentations that focus on job skills and personal development.

• Providing specialized counseling and intervention services to provide students with individualized attention.

An established career counselor will firstly, be able to explain the entire report, tell them the perks and disadvantages of pursuing both their interests and aptitudes, and give them the clarity and understanding to make the right decisions. This is much needed, especially, when students are prone to taking advice from inexperienced sources.

Students tend to take advice from anyone they think has an experience. But it may not always be right or let alone be the best one. The path followed by their seemingly successful peers might not help them to reach the same destination, their model adults must have gone through failures themselves and their parents might be unaware of the latest industry demands. To make sure that students have clarity of thought, career counselors must be made available for students at all times while they are in high school to receive the right and latest advice.

Although CBSE has made it compulsory for schools to have counsellors, there still needs to be a distinction made as to what kind of counselors are required. Many of the counselors already present are life skill counselors and although life skills are important, the number of college advisors (counselors) are low. Ultimately, college advisors are what students need most to be successful. To highlight, the urgent requirement for career counselors recent stats show a whopping 92% of students who don’t get any career-related guidance from their schools.

Decisions made in High School often make or break a student’s career. Experienced career counselors are trained to understand students thinking and their potential. Once a student’s potential is understood, the counselor is able to guide the student to the best career suitable to him/her and help them make the decisions that ensure career success.

Students want to be successful and they don’t mind getting help. They may feel shy at first or think it’s weak to take help, but it is our responsibility to help them build strong careers. Having a career counseling cell in schools is the first step in doing that. It is a great first step indeed.