How Career Counseling Empowers Students To Make Confident Career Decisions

Career counseling for your child involves two important aspects:

• Looking inward to discover unknown yet important facets of their personality that will play a very crucial role in the choice of career and job satisfaction
• Looking outward to seek information and understanding about the world of work.

Career assessment involves using a set of tools to build your child's career profile. The process includes open conversations, specially designed worksheets and activities, and standardized questionnaires and assessments. As your child goes through the process, they will feel enriched by the experience of self-discovery.

Your child can opt for either an in-depth self-exploration combined with a formal assessment or a single computerized assessment that includes both. However, the goals of both approaches are similar - to help children discover their core interests, skills, personality traits and aptitudes.

Career counseling assumes great significance in the current context. The multitude of choices and opportunities available today, the pressure to follow parent's wishes, the influence of peers, popular current trends and social status, and the desire to follow one's career compass - all these factors can leave a young teen feeling quite confused. Added to this are the social, economic, cultural, technological and environmental changes that make future predictions fairly uncertain. Experts say that many jobs that will come up in the future don't exist as yet. And, many of today's jobs that would still exist in the future would be transformed beyond recognition. Within this complex context, what does career counseling mean and what can it offer?

1. Career counselors vary in their approach and style. The number and duration of counseling sessions depend on the career program being administered. So, it's a good idea to look into the details of the program ahead of your child's first appointment and check for references with fellow parents. Also, check and ensure that the career counselor has the right credentials and training.
2. Many parents and children believe that they must prepare for the counseling session, much like they would for a test or examination. This is a myth. An open mind, with lots of questions and enthusiasm, is all your child needs to bring with them to the session.
3. The counselor may choose to spend a few minutes together with you and your child before proceeding to work individually with the child. Thereafter, your child and the counselor would work together.
4. The counselor will administer questionnaires and/or conduct other interactive exercises. The general conversations and guided activities will keep your child's interest levels high. Most importantly, the counselor will help your child gain new insights about themself, become more self-aware, and understand the self better. So, a counseling session is also a deep self-exploration experience.
5. Typically, the career counselor will build your child's career profile based on aspects of his Personality and Aptitude. Personality test questions help identify areas of work your child is most suited to and how their behavior would enable them to work alongside others. An aptitude test, on the other hand, would identify your child's strongest cognitive abilities and link them to careers that require those specific abilities.
6. Once the career personality and aptitude test results are tabulated and analyzed, the career counselor will share the results in a joint session with you and your child. The counselor will offer a detailed explanation of the analysis, answer all your questions, and suggest recommendations based on the results. The counselor will also consider your family background while charting out a career path that is most suitable for your child, including courses and institutions for higher studies.
7. Ask your child to talk to individuals who are working in fields recommended by the career counselor. This will help them get a broad understanding of the various fields, their nuances, challenges, and potential for growth and success.
8. Encourage your child to engage in research for a deeper understanding of the curriculum or fields recommended by the counselor. The process will help them ask relevant questions, analyze the pros and cons, and get them deeply involved.
9. Besides working with the counselor, also motivate your child to participate in extra-curricular activities. It's the best way to learn life skills and work skills such as planning, organization, decision-making, time management, teamwork, research, and using technology.
10. When you and your child opt for the services of a career counselor, it's important to put aside your personal opinions and be open to the recommendations offered at the end of the sessions.

Ideally, both the parents and child should decide together on which career to choose. But, at the same time, it's not always easy for parents to accept an unusual career choice that is off the beaten track and unfamiliar. So, share your thoughts and feelings with your child, but not to influence their decision. Making your child aware of your apprehensions can serve to keep them committed and mindful of their responsibilities towards themself.

The career counseling experience can prove to be an eye-opener for both the parents and the child. The process must help build mutual respect, open minds to newer possibilities and build trust and an attitude of optimism. If you are satisfied with the whole process, it's best to follow up on the counselor's recommendations and keep in touch for continued guidance. And do keep in mind that your child needs your support, not just financially but emotionally as well, to keep them highly optimistic and motivated.

 Arundhati Swamy is a family and school counselor and Head of the Parent Engagement Program at ParentCircle.