Ah, career counselors! The people who are paid by other people to help us through an assortment of career problems and choices, mostly early on in our life.
Cooperate with the counselor. Answer questions. Do the tasks and the exercises. Look at the problems as if both of you are looking at them. Do this if you want the counselor to help you explore your options and make informed career decisions
The counselor can only help you along a path that seems most appropriate for you. You have to do the heavy lifting yourself.
Your honesty will help you a lot. Share the other problems you are facing in life, sharing ideas about pressures and conflicts. Incomplete information begets incomplete solutions.
Know clearly what you want. Not enough to say you need some direction in life or want to gain focus. Be more specific with your goals. Say things like, 'I want to be able to provide for my young sister'.
There will be a final plan of action in the end. Your counselor and you will work at it. Also, how else would you know the counseling is over?
Doing trumps thinking (and over thinking). Enough of making charts and giving tests related to your interests, skills, abilities, values, personality traits and goals. At the end, you must have figured things out. Now do the stuff.
The good counselors are honest with you. They will bluntly say what they think, if they think you need a heavier push, especially if they think you are all talk.
Thank you for reading.
This guide is from The Success Manual, which contains 200+ guides to succeeding in business, career and personal life. Get the pdf ebook for $12 only.