What Are The Benefits Of Career Counselling?

1. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses.

A career counsellor can help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. You will often start out with career-related assessments that can show you where your natural strengths lie. You may also complete exercises that will help you gain clarity in where your natural abilities are best suited, as well as helping you evaluate where your interests and values are aligned with your strengths.

Through gaining clarity in this process, you can choose a career that is aligned with your skills and characteristics. By choosing a career aligned with your strengths, you will find greater joy, opportunities for growth, and experience flow in your work. By avoiding careers that highlight your weaknesses, workplace frustration is lowered.

2. Identify different career options.

There are so many potential career options available that sometimes the choices can seem overwhelming. It can be difficult to choose a path and move forward when we have so many options. A career counsellor can help you explore all your options, whether that is full-time employment, part-time freelancing, or opening your own business.

Working through a structured process with a coach, you will be able to start narrowing down your options by considering which career paths align with your passions, strengths, values, and long-term career goals.

3. Develop goals and an action plan.

Developing strategic goals and a concrete action plan is an important part of career development. A career coach can support you in developing this plan to help you move forward faster. Many clients find they get stuck with moving forward before they seek out the services of a career professional. A good career coach will keep you accountable and moving forward, in contrast to how we may start slacking off on our goals when we do not have a professional holding us accountable.

In a career coaching program, your goals are aligned with your long-term career goals. You will have specific, measurable goals that you will aim to complete in a reasonable time frame. You will have an action plan with items to check off as you complete them, which will help you feel a sense of accomplishment. Your coach is there to help you set achievable goals, track your progress, and motivate you when you need it.

4. Maximize your job search and receive feedback on your resume.

Job searching can be tough, especially when you’ve been out of the game for a while. Many of our clients have been in the same company for a long time and they may not have had to do a formal job search in many years. Job searching has also changed in the recent past, with more and more jobs being advertised through online avenues or not being advertised at all. The majority of jobs are acquired through the hidden job market - that is, they don’t make it to public postings at all.

A career coach can help you refine your job search technique and maximize your chances of finding the perfect role. They can help you brush up your networking skills, so you have a better chance of hearing about these jobs before they are posted. A career coach can also support you with developing your professional documents to put your best foot forward, whether that is your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile. Leave it to a career professional for unbiased, objective feedback on how to improve these documents to present yourself in the best light possible.

5. Brush up on your interview skills.

Interviewing can be stressful for the best of us. There is a lot of pressure when you walk into an interview, where your skills and qualities are being evaluated by a stranger and you are competing with others for a position that you want. Interview coaching can be beneficial in many ways to help you prepare for upcoming interviews.

Your coach can help you learn to communicate your professional brand, express positive body language, and answers questions with clarity. You will be able to prepare for different styles of interviews, and learn how to answer tough interview questions. Your coach can help you learn to negotiate your salary and benefits, an important part of landing a new role, as well as help you learn techniques to manage stress and anxiety that may arise throughout the interview process. Mock interviews are another element that the coach can incorporate, so you can receive real-time feedback on your interview skills and discover areas for improvement.

6. Reap the economic benefits.

Job searching can be tough, especially when you’ve been out of the game for a while. Many of our clients have been in the same company for a long time and they may not have had to do a formal job search in many years. Job searching has also changed in the recent past, with more and more jobs being advertised through online avenues or not being advertised at all. The majority of jobs are acquired through the hidden job market - that is, they don’t make it to public postings at all.

A career coach can help you refine your job search technique and maximize your chances of finding the perfect role. They can help you brush up your networking skills, so you have a better chance of hearing about these jobs before they are posted. A career coach can also support you with developing your professional documents to put your best foot forward, whether that is your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile. Leave it to a career professional for unbiased, objective feedback on how to improve these documents to present yourself in the best light possible.

7. Improve your mental health & wellbeing.

Navigating career challenges can be stressful, whether you are feeling unfulfilled in your current career path, feeling anxious about an upcoming interview, or simply wanting a way to grow in your current role. Employing the assistance of a career counsellor can help relieve some of this stress, as you move through a process to help you gain clarity and confidence in your decisions.

A career counsellor can help you get on a path that is aligned with your core values, so you find meaning and fulfillment in your work. At Careers By Design, you will have the added benefit of the incorporation of scientifically-based emotional resilience training, to help you manage stress, build confidence, boost productivity, and gain clarity.