You know that’s a really good question.
Why take the trouble to talk to someone about your career? Why should someone else tell you what you should do with your life ? What career to choose? Is it really worth the trouble to seek the help of a career counselor?
Well the answer is yes it is worth it.
The reason is this – when we are in school or college we think that it will all just fall into place. We will finish school and then move on to college (miraculously discovering what it is we are meant to do) and then after college the right job will simply land in our laps and we’ll live happily ever after.
I don’t know about you but I definitely thought this is how it worked back in the day. But that’s not what really happens. Not by a long shot.
What happens is choosing what we want to do in our lives can be a little tougher than that. Of course add to the mix that there are so many options out there now, and scenarios changing literally by the hour things get alot more complicated.
There are gazillion different career paths in any field. So for example if you want to be an engineer you need to think about whether you want to get in Electronics and Communication, Computer Science, Mechanical, Mechatronics, Artifical Intelligence, Geomatic Engineering and thats not all the list goes on and on. Again Humanities career path leads up to many, many different options – journalism, hotel management, psychology, journalism, media, law, hotel management, advertising, PR, social media, teaching, event management…. And add to this the lines are getting blurry between the different streams. A commerce student can now become a web designer or an ethical hacker by taking short courses alongside their degree program. But all this is a good thing – you actually have more options available to you and you can truly find a career that meets your particular skills, personality and interests. There are no limits.
But you need to know how to make the best of these options.
So you need to know what options are out there, then what is it that you enjoy doing most, what are you good at? And sometimes there is alot of noise all around us – parents, friends, relatives, popular media all have something to add.
Honestly you are the best person to decipher what is best for you. But you could use a little help from an objective, well informed third party. Someone who has knowledge about the world of careers, who knows the options that are out there and whom you can talk to about your interests, skills, and options. This is where a career counselor comes in. You can speak to a counselor and figure things out with his/her help. This way you’re taking an informed decision all things considered without feeling overwhelmed.
Its good to start planning your career early on. So then you are putting some thought into it. You are starting to think about what it is you really want to do. Sometimes you will discover that you chose a career that was not exactly right for you. You chose subjects that dont feel right for you after getting into them. Maybe you need to pause and think if this is really the right thing for you. Do you want to go ahead with this or do you want to take a step back and rethink your choices. So sometimes we get to know whether we really like somethinhg or not only when we try it out. Ok. Now go back and read that previous sentence once again. Coz it’s important.