I cannot enumerate the times that a new client has found our website via a random search on Google and told me they thought “this is just what I’m after!” right alongside “I didn’t know this existed”. It’s time to spread the word people. “Is it normal for people my age (30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s) to do this?” Yes, it is!
Career Counselling is for Grown-ups!
In this 4th industrial revolution, we can expect long, multi-staged and multiple careers throughout our lifetimes. The roles we choose as teenagers leaving high school are rarely the ones we will be pursuing in middle-age or beyond and not everyone dreams of retiring at 65 with only golf and cruises to fill our days toward 100.
Just as life is a series of events, problems, solution-seeking and resolution finding, so are our careers.
In the same way we may approach a doctor for a medical issue, a relationship counsellor for relationship struggles or a plumber to fix a burst pipe, Career Counsellors are the people to work with when there is career problem that feels too big to manage alone.
Career Counsellors provide services that help people make occupational and study decisions, find career information, plan and manage their careers and plan career transitions. They assist individuals and organisations to prepare for their futures by making informed decisions about career and workforce development.
In this new series of blogs, we will be breaking down what we do and how we approach our work with clients, so that the mysterious world of career counselling can stand in the sunlight.
This first blog will be focusing on Career Counselling for adults. What is it and why do I need it?
Career counselling is a very specific field that focuses entirely on wellbeing at work. Career Counsellors are highly educated and trained professionals with a passion for their field and a deep knowledge of the world of work alongside the economic, political and social changes at play in their society.
Career counsellors are deep, active listeners who take a person-centred approach to their work. What does this mean? We focus on you, the client, your needs, your specific situation, your strengths, your challenges and your interests. With you at the centre of the conversation, we help you understand and unpack the issues that are central to your personal decision-making and the choices open to you within the familial, cultural, social and economic framework of where you live.
In placing you at the centre of the puzzle, we help you understand yourself, communicate your aspirations and build a plan for your career that is personal, focused and achievable.
As an adult, it is a rare thing to sit in front of another adult who is impartial, objective and unbiased about your choices, your experiences and your opportunities, yet who is informed, fair-minded and qualified to provide cohesive, constructive and practical support and encouragement to assist you in building a plan and actioning it to ensure you fully embrace your own significant strengths toward a career that allows you to contribute in a meaningful way to your community.
Often-times, with the support and backing of a qualified Career Development Practitioner (Career Coach), individuals finally identify their career direction with the confidence to articulate their “motivating why” for making change, alongside an understanding of the challenges they may face and a plan for how to overcome those challenges and make change.
Good career coaches utilise a range of tools in doing this work, some might be assessments of career interests, strengths and personality profiles, resources for understanding different career options and learning opportunities and the global and local job market. The resources utilised will be dependent upon the needs of each individual and no two sessions will look identical and no two outcomes will be the same.
Professional career coaches subscribe to a professional code of practice and meet the ethical standards of the CDAA and CICA. They will be able to provide a list of testimonials from satisfied clients who have had a positive experience and have gone on to make courageous career decisions that have ultimately led to real career satisfaction.
At Strategic Career Management, we pride ourselves on being the leading career coaches in Perth and we invite you to take a look at our website and get in touch today to discuss how we can help you unravel your career conundrum.