A Guest Post by Nisa Chitakasem
You’ve been working with a career counselor for a while, but you aren’t seeing any results. With each passing session you feel like you’re wasting a lot of time and money. You’re not moving forward in your career and you’re wondering why this relationship isn’t everything you thought it would be.
Too often we turn up to see a life/career coach and we expect everything to be automatically wonderful. Did we even stop to think about what we wanted out of the sessions or why we were going in the first place? You must be clear on what you want for counseling to work.
To be clear you must know yourself. Before your next appointment with your counselor, reflect on your life and experiences and write down your strengths, skills, and passions. Looking at these lists, where can they take you next in your career? Where is it you want to go?
A career coach can only guide you if you have a vague idea of which direction you want to be guided in. A good career professional will guide you in the right direction, not make your decisions for you, which is why we can’t go to a counseling or guidance session and expect to be completely passive throughout the process. Get involved and take control of your own career.
Your relationship with a career counselor can consist of conversations going all over the place- bouncing between the past and future and different aspects of your life and career. This is why you must have clarity on what you want. The conversation should always come back to you and want you want, right here, and right now.
Editor’s note: For more about career coaches and counselors, see Quintessential Careers Directory of Life and Career Coaches, which includes links to articles about career coaches and counselors.
Nisa Chitakasem is the founder of Position Ignition — a careers company dedicated to taking you to the next step in your career. Nisa is passionate about helping individuals find the right career path for them whether it involves finding a more rewarding career, making a career change, figuring out the right career plan or being creative about career directions.
For free advice, guidance and information on careers visit the Position Ignition Career Blog or find her on Twitter: @PosIgnition or Facebook.
