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What
is Career Counseling/Coaching?
By Jim Davis
Career
counseling is much more
than just matching people with potential jobs. It can help you to
decide what you want from your job and your career. It can help you
to understand the various influences that family, friends, and
society in general have on career selection. It can help you to
discover and take advantage of potential you didn't realize you had.
Or, if you are unhappy with your job or have trouble keeping a job,
career counseling can help you decide what to do.
Sometimes
people think, "I'm not ready to think about a career," or
"I'm too concerned about keeping food on the table to worry
about a career." And, when people are just starting out, they
often find that they must take jobs that they don't want, just to get
experience. All too often, however, this becomes a "way of
life." They wind up changing jobs to get a few more dollars a
week, or often just because they just didn't like what they were doing.
Changing
jobs is not always the answer. Many times, people just keep making
the same mistakes again and again. Career counseling can help you to
understand what you need from your job, in addition to a paycheck.
And, it can help you make decisions about what you want from life
that will help you decide what direction to take concerning your career.
Career
counseling can also help to overcome job loss, whether it's from
"downsizing," a company closing, or even getting fired for
making a mistake.
A
Career Counselor Can Help You To:
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Identify
your skills, interests, and personality type to help select
potential career paths
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Understand
how your family and friends influence your career decisions and how
your career decisions affect them
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Make
your job search more effective by networking to find job leads
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Improve
your interview skills by learning to listen "actively" and
to use "body language" effectively
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Learn
to develop a resume that will get you an interview
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Learn
effective negotiation and conflict resolution skills
Career
coaching is the application side
of career counseling. Just as athletic coaches help athletes maximize
their abilities, a career coach can help by providing feedback on
what's working or not working, showing how to make improvements, or
suggesting new strategies.
Whether
you decide to change careers, find another job in the same field, or
even keep your existing job, career coaching can mean the difference
between just knowing what you need to do and actually doing what you
need to do.
And,
a career counselor/coach can be even more effective by providing
both functions.
A
Career Counselor/Coach Can Increase Your Effectiveness By:
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Helping
to develop your career plan
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Assisting
with resume preparation
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Providing
practice interviews and providing practice to improve telephone skills
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Helping
you to develop negotiation skills
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Providing
follow-up for actual interviews, including feedback to improve
future interviews
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Assisting
you in development of your job search network and providing
potential job leads
-
Arranging
information interviews
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Providing
follow-up after you find employment
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Providing
support as you negotiate your starting salary, a salary increase, or
changes in working conditions
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