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 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.

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.

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.

Every career counselor gives you certain tests to know your strengths and weaknesses, to know your interest levels and to learn about the way you think and your brain functions. Aptitude and ability tests are designed to assess your logical reasoning ability or thinking performance and capacity. Generally they consist of multiple choice questions and these tests are administered under exam conditions. Aptitude tests are strictly timed and a typical test might allow 25 minutes for 30 or so questions. The results of your tests will be compared to that of a control group so that one is able to make correct judgments about your abilities.

Aptitude tests are conducted online or on a paper. Most centers now have online testing as the results of the same can be immediately available. Online aptitude testing can also be taken at home. These tests are also known as speed tests or power tests as they basically test how fast can your brain answer. Power tests tend to be used more at the professional or managerial level. The questions in aptitude tests are relatively straight forward so the challenge here is the time limit as you have to not just answer correctly but do that in a very limited time frame.

Aptitude tests usually consist of the following: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning,   abstract reasoning, spatial reasoning, mechanical reasoning, data checking and word sampling. Here are some tips to help you with your aptitude tests:   Find out from the counselor what type of questions can be expected, go with a calm frame of mind to answer the questions with concentration, look at a sample paper if possible, go through one paper of each type and see how you get on, practice some online papers if you can.

Offering a course in education or career enhancement is a meticulous effort. Though one can be an exponent in the field of teaching or expressing content, there is much do in implemting a program. For the same a detail analysis of the subject has to be done with many matters like research, relevance, type and the student’s ability. Ascertaining the student eligibility and standard, many academic and pre schools opt for the services of a curriculum development consultant.

The subject per se has to be clearly assigned as per the capacity of a student. This also must be listed methodically and categorized as Basic, Intermediate or Advance level so their enough scope for development and graduation in each case. The prospectus must clearly indicate the details of the subject, fee structure and examination procedure. A consultant for curriculum development is more into research and analysis. There is scope to include new methods of teaching and relevance and also it is important to let go of any kind of obsolete methods.

The values given by a consultant for developing a curriculum is a very professional standard and many Business schools who believe in the modern method of practice and learning are accepting their services. Years of academic practice and maturity in the assignments is clearly seen in the work of an experienced consultant. A consultant who works for pre school curriculum development or voluntary NGO’s who teach adults or underprivileged children has a greater task to perform.

The services of a consultant can be hired as a faculty or visiting faculty structure. In case of visiting faculty the hours are fixed and he or she can offer their consultancy based on a project, new curriculum or expansion program. The services are charged on hourly basis and extensions will surely seek more remuneration. Here the duty is to arrive at an acceptable curriculum with constant scope for improvement working on the guidelines of the academic institution.

Ad hoc curriculum changes can also be consulted with a senior consultant who understands the importance of the change and yet keeps a certain link with the main emphasis of the curriculum. The consultant is required to constantly update his or her knowledge and keep a keen interest in the happenings on education at a macro level.

When one thinks of counselling, most people think of it as some kind of advice, sympathy, or assistance. However, this is not what counselling means. Counselling skills refers to creating an environment where in an individual can explore, talk, discuss, understand, and comfortably share his feelings, thoughts and ideas without any preconceived notion or bias.

Counselling skills involves a keen ability to understand human behavior and human emotions, a scientific and systematic way of assisting an individual to help them cope with their problems, a wide knowledge base about the nature of problem and how can one solve the same, innovative thinking capacities and suggesting right actions with any kind of enforcement.

Counselors need to be patient listeners. Hence first and foremost, counselors explore issues through attentive listening. Counselors then need to assist their clients by helping them to understand their world, their feelings and the situation in a better way. For example, a career counselor will usually chat with the student to find out his interests, his personality type. Then he/she will help the student to narrow down to two or three career options depending on the result of certain tests that then student undertakes. Counselors also talk to their parents in order to understand their family environment and culture they come from so that they can suggest the best career for their student.

Counselling skills also involve looking at options open to the client, sharing the best and worst possibilities, highlighting the strengths and the weaknesses of the client, sharing your own experiences that help the student to understand his problems better, and also sharing information.

Counselling skills involve goal and strategy setting especially in case of career counselors which help the student to set their goals, providing support and resources by giving them required information, training and coaching, helps clients to solve their problems, assisting them in making their decisions and evaluating and reflecting. Counselors undergo training and development where they are taught these skills and how should they about step by step in counselling their clients.