Career Counselling

Career burnout has turned into a common phenomenon in recent times. Blame it on hectic lifestyles, tough deadlines, multitasking, rat race or cut-throat competition; many bright prospects have fallen victims to career burnout syndrome. The basic reason is that every profession is susceptible to exhaustion and mental strain. To deal effectively with this problem, people need to differentiate normal stress from more serious issues that cause career burnout.

Keep in mind that, no profession is immune from the danger of career burnout syndrome. Accepting this hard fact will make you better prepared to handle this issue and bring out some positive change in your mental set up. Some of the most common signs of career burnout are given below;

At your workplace, if you are continuously saddled with feelings of sadness and despair then something is seriously wrong with your job. You need to look out for the reasons for this depression.

Many people, when they join the job feel very happy and motivated. But sooner than later, the enthusiasm peters down and gives way to lack of motivation and desire. You have also stopped caring whether you are performing well or not. This is definitely a warning sign of career burnout. Lack of energy or feeling of constant fatigue is other dangerous sign of career disinterest.

There are several other signs of career burnout. Like, if you have frequently started to skip your office or your productivity has decreased. This is a common sight to see professionals who were earlier known for their work results and outstanding productivity, start reporting diminishing returns. The reason is simple, you have started to lose interest in your job and now, official works are no longer important to you. The final sings are of boredom, resentment and sleep problems. Once you are aware of these signs, accept the problem. Seek out help of career counsellors who can guide you properly in matters of your career burnout and new career choices.

Career assessment is a much used and appreciated word in today’s world. The competition has heated up in recent times and people are trying to employ all the possible tools to get ahead in this hugely competitive career race. Career assessment helps you in the self-discovery process. It makes you aware of your interest, right career choice for you and strength and weaknesses associated with it. While you go for career assessment, you should keep in mind certain rules that must be followed to achieve greater success.

When you go for career assessment with the help of a career counselor, remember that assessments are primarily used to guide you towards the right career. You can take number of free career assessments available on internet. However, it is recommended to go through the process with the help of a qualified career counselor who will administer and interpret your scores of the assessments.

Ideally, one should go for several assessments to know more about his interests, personality aspects and career dimensions. Comparing online career assessment will give you an idea about which one meets your needs. Free online assessments can be good but there is no guarantee of them being perfect. If you are really curious about career guidance and self-discovery then consult a reputed and established career counselor. You can also ask from your college teachers or experienced friends for better guidance.

Overly relying on assessment test is not really a wise decision. Keep your expectations in check. Assessment tests often suggest you some new career avenues that you had never thought of. It’s worth exploring these avenues further. Try to have a career snapshot of different assessment tests. This will help you in finding some definite patterns.

Planning your career effectively is a very important step if you really want to achieve heights of success in professional arena. We all have some dreams and certain ambitions regarding how we want to see ourselves at different junctures of life. Career planning is very crucial in fulfilling those sweet dreams. So while you embark on your career path, it is essential to sit alone for a while and figure about specifics of your dream. You will also need to devise proper plans to turn your dreams into reality. While you try to figure out these things you will come across the term ‘career planning’. It is a painstaking process and subject to variables like changing circumstances, education and other matters yet there has to be a vision. The planning will include your short-term and long term goals and what are required steps to accomplish them.

While you start to plan things ahead, first you need to do self-assessment. It will include skills mastered by you or needed to be acquired to achieve what you are set out for. There are whole lot of things to consider and it cannot work on impulse or predictability. You need to be honest with yourself and ask some questions like what you enjoy the most. You like outdoor or indoor activities? Do you feel comfortable with computer or prefer more of physical activity. These are just some of the questions.

Once you have sorted out these things you will need to check the job market. You should also give adequate consideration to level of training required along with expected income. These steps will be followed by final planning. Choosing your favourite career might seem like a herculean task but better to think and decide rather than acting hastily. A career counsellor can only offer that much. Selecting your career is in your hand however, career counsellor can guide you and help you. Don’t choose your career based on what your classmates are going for or what is popular in the job market. Ask yourself and you will get all the answers.

Career moves are determined by several factors. Firstly there is an inherent need in each person to grow and seek lucrative offers. This also signifies the need to gain more recognition and improve self esteem. All job profiles require decorum and it is essential for a person to hone their skills continuously. This can be done by opportunity or also getting a new area to prove oneself.

 The customary time of probation is a time given by the employer to let the employee gain a formidable position in his profile. This is a time to prove and adjusts to the routine pre-set up. The need to prove makes an individual to look into areas where there is a scope to suggest improvement and also take on the area to improvise. This is beneficial to self and very much essential for the growth of an organization.

 And yet many times we find ourselves at crossroads in our career. They are been self seeking goals, values, hard work and waiting and yet we feel that the matter about career is confusing. Job hopping is another demerit or comes up from intense insecurity. With fluctuating job market, the skills present in an individual need to be further enhanced.

 A counsellor is a person who has the psychological understanding of the environment you are functioning and the current job market. He or she gives you an impartial view point of the things that need to be worked out. This is important as the counsellor may evaluate your current positive findings and also suggests areas for improvement. Going to a counsellor is almost like a remedy to the current situation, though the individual has to work out a feasible solution.

 A counsellor evaluates your corporate skills and also suggests personality improvement which enhances your all around development. The counsellor hyphenates the doubts and solutions and the final result is a confident ‘You’. It is important to maintain a diary or schedule your meeting with the career counsellor in such a way that there are no other matters in your mind while a session is going on. Ensure a pragmatic approach to display your concerns with a career counsellor.

Career development is a gradual process. It takes time, effort, perseverance and planning. But the concept of career development begins with self development. If you can’t develop yourself, there is no question of your career developing at a desired pace. Charity begins at home and in this case, with self. Let’s read some of the tips that will help you in the process of self-development.

Realize that learning is a never ending process. Don’t confuse learning with education because latter is a time bound process but learning can go forever. A good learner is always into reading. Reading habit can cultivate your personality and will enrich your skills and knowledge.

We all are aware of comfort zone. It refers to a place or area of work where we have made ourselves very comfortable and we subsequently we stop putting efforts into new development. We continue to bask in the previous glory and this causes us to conceive a feeling of indifference. So get out of that comfort zone and start exploring and taking new challenges.

There is a no harm in giving to others what you have got. If you have been lucky enough to acquire good knowledge and skills, you can always share it with a bunch of students or other kids in a club or NGO. This will help you tremendously, both in terms of mental as well as educational sense. Teaching others will make you feel more enriched.

One of the great methods of adding some value to our development process is through attending workshops, seminars or conferences. Attending some relevant workshops will add further value to our skills and it also gives us a great opportunity of acquainting with new people and making new relationships. These relationships go a long way in the process of self-development. One should never hesitate while investing for self-enhancement. Following these suggestions will go a long way in the process of self development and later on career development.

Many of you must be having loads of questions regarding how to go for career advancement and how to grow professionally. Yes, the significance of question is understandable in the light of cut-throat competition faced by all the professionals. To succeed in professional sphere, one must continue to acquire new skills and gain credibility based on his performance. Getting ahead in the work arena will require certain planning and subsequently concrete steps from you. The moot point is that, there is no dearth of talented and skilled professionals yet not all of them witness professional growth in equal measure.

Asking questions from self is the best way forward to get relevant answers. Observing other successful professionals is also important because that will give you critical idea about how best to promote your career forward. At last, you always have the choice of consulting a qualified career counsellor and get useful suggestions. Remember, a career counsellor can guide and help you in best possible way keeping in mind your profession, education and experience level.  

A career counsellor will help you in assessing your work performance and requirements of the job. It is also suggested to keep in mind expectations from you by your seniors. Writing down crucial details always helps in understanding nitty-gritty of any problem. There is always a room to improve your performance.

It is at all times advisable to prioritise your skills. For example, you can first focus on skills that you need to work upon. Skills also act as value addition and prove to be of immense importance while you climb up the ladder of professional growth. You can also work upon self-improvement strategies like your work schedule, work habits, communication skills and communication skills etc. For that, you can decide to join a personality development class or join some relevant course. Last but not the least, always remember those who have clear goals and know how to reach there will always have an advantage in life.

A significant number of career coaching institutes have flourished in recent times. These institutes’ advice students on making appropriate career choices. Usually, choices are based on number of diverse facts. It is not just about taking the plunge into a profession that seems lucrative or where X, Y or Z has done good. This is about finding your own interest and aptitude and then making the right career choices. One of the most popular methods of determining appropriate career is career tests.

There are no fixed methods behind these tests. Several parameters are used by different organizations in designing career tests. Typing just few keywords in search engines will provide you with plethora of career tests. These tests are of different types and it is not really possible to present any standard benchmark of career tests. The ultimate purpose of career tests is to help you in figuring out which career would be the most successful and satisfying for you.

There are basically three types of career tests. Rest all the types are either offshoots or blends of these tests. First one is Skill or Aptitude tests that will make you aware about your performance using present skill set. Second one is Interest tests which are all about disclosing types of work matching with your true interests. The last one is Personality tests. As the name suggests, it tells you about your personality and how it compares to others. It also displays your approach towards work.

Different types of career tests use separate methods of algorithm. So when you provide answers to the questions asked, they are matched with the database of careers. Types of questions differ from test to test. The thing that you need to keep in mind is, no career test will give you the magic answer. Take these tests as a method to know more about yourself and the careers that might work for you. Serious soul searching will be required by you to come up with the most suited career choice.

There is no dearth of career choices. Gone are the days when we used to think of just few courses that every second or third student of our batch was dying for. Thanks to factors like internet, economic expansion, liberalisation, technical and communication revolution and rising purchasing power of middle class people, more and more new avenues are opening up. Some of these new career choices did not even exist few years back. Students are vying for new courses because of obvious benefits; less competition and a head start over potential competitors. New generation is also willing to follow its passion and not just tread down the beaten track. They say, if you truly love our job, money and success will automatically follow. So, it’s always suggested to go for what your heart and mind desires instead of falling prey to the herd mentality.

Looking at some of the new and unusual career choices are;

• Actuarial Science
• Agricultural Engineering
• Food Technology
• Art Restoration
• Physical Education
• Plant pathology
• Ceramic technology
• Counseling
• Dairy Technology
• Earth Sciences
• Edible Oils Technology
• Pharmacovigilance
• Plastic Industry
• Fire Engineering
• Footwear Technology
• Foreign Trade
• Museology
• Nanotechnology
• Forensic Science
• Social work
• Speech Therapy
• Forestry
• Horticulture and floriculture
• Fisheries
• Flour Milling
• Hospital Management
• Hydrography
• Jewellery Design
• Jute Technology
• Leather Technology
• Tourist Guide
• Traditional Medicines
• Market Research
• Meteorology
• Occupational Therapy
• Para medical
• Poultry farming
• Psephology
• Radio Jockey
• Video Jockey
• Detective Services
• Disaster Management
• Rubber Technology
• Sign Language
• Silk
• Sports
• Tea Management
• Packaging
• Paint Application Technology
• Technical writing
• Translating
• Transcribing

A career will be achievable only when there will be a career goal. Without the presence of this term ‘goal’, it becomes seemingly difficult to reach the heights of success. That’s why it becomes pretty necessary to have some goals regarding your career and then make planned and calculated moves towards achieving it. Many career counsellors equate concept of setting career goals to making a road map of one’s future. They always suggest developing clarity in your mind regarding where you want to go and what path you need to take to get there.

You must have heard the concept of ‘self-assessment’ from career counsellors. This term holds great significance because it will also act as foundation stone for your entire career. You must be aware of your values, interests and skill sets. Keeping in mind these things, now you can comfortably figure out a career that makes best use of your personality. You must be aware of your desires and ambitions. We all aim at certain designations and positions. We all have a certain perception regarding how we see ourselves few years down the line. The more you ignore these basic issues, difficult will it become for you to achieve your desired career.

You will also need to thoroughly analyse your working interests and capabilities. Like for example, whether you are comfortable working under deadlines or you like to do it alone or in group etc. Role of career counsellor becomes very important in figuring out such things. He can exactly guide you the way you want it. He will also make you aware of new insights regarding your own personality. Based on skill tests and aptitude tests, he will tell you about suitable career for you. The last step could be of deciding short term and long term goals along with your planned course of action.

Masters in business administration commonly referred to as MBA is opted by wide majority of students after completing their graduation studies. Current trends demand post graduate degree to get into any major industry. MBA in India is rapidly growing. More and more students are opting for the same primarily because of the good career options and industry placements that it provides. There are so many colleges that offer MBA degree that a student is often confused as to which school he should select and how should he prepare for the entrance exams for the same. It is for this that MBA career counseling is required.

Here, trained experts suggest colleges to you based on your career choice, your aptitude and your interests. Not just that they also give you relevant information about the admission procedures to these colleges and how should one apply to the same. MBA coaching centers like the IMS and Career Launcher have dedicated counselors that help the student in selecting the top ten colleges of their choice that they should aim at out of more than thousand colleges that offer various kinds of MBA programs.

Moreover there are many schools that offer different specializations in MBA that one may be unaware of. Career counselors guide students and inform them about such specialized courses. MBA is usually a two year full time course (there are other part time and distance learning courses also) which means that a student needs effective counselor that can guide him/her towards his career goal. All those students who wish to pursue their MBA should go for career counseling.