Nowadays, a lot of young people still have a hard time finding out which career path to take. They usually have a problem with this because their interests and skills set do not match. Or the teenager’s parents or whoever will be financially supporting their college education want them to take a course that unfortunately, they do not like or have an interest in.
In such instances, teenagers can benefit greatly by talking with and seeking advice from career counselor. These counselors specialize in helping point clients, especially young ones, in the right direction of finding the appropriate career path for them. They will assess their clients using certain tests and interviews to get an idea of where their talents or interests lie. After getting the results, they will make the suitable career suggestions depending on the answers the client gave during the testing and interviews.
The right career counselor to go to though should not just be competent in giving out tests and handling interviews. He or she should have certain key qualities and traits that should include the following:
A genuine interest in others and with helping them. A good career counselor should have the drive and energy to sit with people through their best and worst. He or she should be fully present when listening to their clients’ stories, however difficult or long they are. Keep in mind that a good career counselor should always have a sustained commitment to facilitating human-to-human connection and positive transformation.
Good listening skills. Effective listening is a key skill any counselor should have. A good career counselor should not only to listen to what is being said, but how it is said, why it is being said, and what it means in the context of a particular client. The ideal career counselor should also be able to listen “between the lines,” for those things that are not being said by the client. This is because what a client omits from a session can speak just as clearly as what is communicated out loud. In addition, a good counselor should know how to listen without passing judgment or evaluation.
Authenticity and accessibility. Lastly, a counselor should not only be accessible to their clients in order to gain their trust, but he or she needs to be genuine and empathetic as well when listening and communicating with the clients. The best career counselor should be adept at developing a genuine empathetic connection with each client so that the counseling process can move forward and the counselor-client relationship can become stronger and more effective.
