7 Questions For Students to Ask a Career Counselor
Have you just cleared your 10+2 education, or pursuing graduation or need a career to advise to choose the best-suited career option- to help you deal with all your messed up problems, a good career counselor can be the best helping hand. They can help you with your resume and guide you with the best career paths. Seeking to advise from a career counselor can be the best rescue for your puzzling career problems.
When you are ready to meet your counselor, you must be fully prepared with your questions about what you expect from them and what you need to contribute to the best results of that counselor meeting. A good career counselor can help you a lot in guiding your ways to the bright future. They also aid in determining your strengths and can guide you to use your passion to find the best job prospects.
Do you have a professional process for my assessment?
A Counselor along with good communication and psychological assistance should be able to give you a planned professional analysis through which he/she will be clearly able to identify your strengths. This would help them match your strengths with your skill and interests to find the most appropriate lane to follow next.
Be sure to ask the process of assessment that your counselor would follow before you make a deal with them. See that their answer should be logical and reliable for you.
Career Quest provides different types of career assessment tests for students, college students, and working professionals.
How to find a professional market for my skill/talent/interest?
If you are already skilled in a particular forte or stream or you have a talent, discuss it with your counselor and the possibility of finding a professional market for that.
There are many streams that might be in need of your talent and interest but common perception towards it might make you hesitant. For example, strong gamers and hackers have a great demand in various sectors of science, ethical hacking, and illustrators.
If you want to make a change in society and prefer working in that direction rather than only for economical support ask for guidance in that area?
How to make my resume/profile stand out from others?
Today, competition is cut-throat and you are not the only one graduating and stepping in the professional world or you are not the only one applying for the prestigious college. So, ask your counselor for ways to make your resume stand out from others. Start your preparation early and add workshops, internships, and experience to your resume with the guidance of your counselor.
Can you give me a brief outline of the plan I should follow?
Ask your counselor for a practical and logical working model and strategy to follow to reach your aim. There should not be just encouraging talking and promises but a plan with a back up on paper for you to follow through. If the plan is in steps, it is better as it creates small stepping goals for you which are easier to achieve.
So, ask your counselor for a plan to work on or at least the first steps of the process towards your third sitting with him/her.
Best college/company/market for me?
You might be very good at artificial intelligence or you are looking for a college to offer you a sports quota admissions but it might not work in your favor if you apply for the wrong college.
The same goes for a company you might be applying in for a job n but that company might not be best for your career growth.
So, ask your career counselor in Jaipur for the best college for you to apply according to your requirements and which will open opportunities for you later.
Similarly, ask the counselor for the best market and company to look for jobs in.
Does my social media affect my resume?
Today social media is a very important part of your identity. Yes! It is a secondary resume of sorts. Social media is no longer just a medium to post about what you ate for dinner but the social media platforms have spread its arms largely in every sector.
These days most of the Ivy league and average colleges do a thorough check of their applicants about their personality, social views, and activity in society. Also, interview panels in various firms go through your social media as a part of the hiring process. So, ask your counselor to help you find work and activities which you can showcase on your social media to have extra credit and take his or her feedback on it.
What are my resources?
Apart from your own school’s database and networks, there are other resources that can narrow down your search for the best options.
Your counselor can help you get into contact with alumni and employers in the industry.
Your counselor can help you get internships or interviews or can help you get in contact with firms or organizations to get you a summer job or workshops which will give you valuable experience and credits in your resume.
It is imperative to ask all the resources they can make available to you. Not just that, a career counselor can also help you in forming a good network with professional organizations.