Key Qualities and Skills a Good Career Counselor Should Have
Today, when a huge chunk of teenagers and young generation is finding it hard to figure out the best career option for themselves, it is only a professional with unbiased and non-judgemental attitude who can help students.
Career consultancy has emerged as a demand these days with an increasing number of fields and sectors to start a career. Students are often confused and torn between expectations from parents, friends, society, and trends.
If you are thinking to seek help from an expert career counselor, you should see if the person is fair enough to guide your way to the most important chapter of your life. Being a career counselor, an individual needs to be a little more attentive and sensitive as a student trusts them to shape their future, their CAREER.
Important qualities and skills that a sound career counselor should possess:
Attentive and approachable
A counselor should be very warm and welcoming towards his students or clients. If one found them unapproachable, strict, rude, or intimidating, they might not open up to brim, and counsellor might not be able to assess the student properly. A counselor needs to be attentive to a student. If a counselor is distracted or not devoted to really hero the student, he or she might feel dejected and not indulge completely in the process. An individual should be comfortable and be in confidence enough with the counselor to open up about his or her career aspirations.
Experienced and certified
An experienced counselor provides not only the courage to dream big and different but also backs it up with good practical planning and strategies to follow through it. A counselor who is certified in psychology and pedagogy understands students or people in general on a deeper level. They find out the skills and talents of students without alerting or scaring the students. Counselors learn the hidden underhanded opinions which parents often dismiss by experience in dealing with students. Anurag Jain, a certified of The Career Quest with 16 years of experience in the educational industry have an insight on how to make careers; individual-based and practicality driven.
Globally aware and abreast
A counselor should be aware of various new innovative career fields around the world and potential career opportunities in them. A counselor should be abreast of what’s going on in the world. A career counselor in Jaipur should also be well networked among the industry to offer a proper gateway to students and professionals to start in the practical world. With so many new, unconventional fields of work, continuously changing demand of the world and individuals with new talent and skills a counselor should be aware of it so he can identify student’s talent and interest and offer him or her all the most appropriate available options.
Accessible
A counselor not accessible to the student would be of no help. A counselor should be in regular contact with a student and support them with their admissions, interviews, exams, etc. A good counselor offers guidance for financial aids, educational loans, scholarships for those who need it.
Acceptive and non-judgemental
A counselor is approached by many individuals with unique talents and interests and many of them will not be completely mainstream or popular or unknown to the counselor himself but a good counselor does not judge the student and is accepting of him or her. This will gain the counselor student’s trust and confidence. Do not forget one has sought you out for help and not judgmental remarks. A good counselor never judges a student for their choice of field to work in and offer honest answers to student’s problems and doubts.
Resilient and patient
A counselor’s job is a tough one as before going in advising on career one needs to help individuals find their interested field or subject.
Many students are themselves unaware of their talents and strengths which the counselor helps them recognize. Many individuals are well aware of what they want to do but often need another person’s perspective to acknowledge what they want. This process is not always easy and requires patience.
Real-time career assessment
A good counselor or his firm should offer various tests that help them understand individual’s skills, talents, and areas of strength and weakness. It gives the process more result-oriented and solid on-paper proof to support their deductions. These tests give an insight into the client’s personality and tell a lot more than he or she must have let on. With these tests, students also get more clarity and narrow down their most beneficial option. The Career Quest offers a career assessment test for students, college students, graduates, and working professionals. They also offer Future Quest Masterclass which allows you to learn and discuss career opportunities with various other individuals. This type of activity broadens their knowledge and accelerates them towards thinking about their career and self-discovery.