Career counseling

Career counseling involves properly understanding your client’s needs and then guiding them towards achievable goals (Niles & Harris-Bowlsbey, 2017).

It is important that counseling professionals are compassionate individuals with a desire to help others in order to foster an authentic and safe relationship (McFadden & Curry, 2018).

I have always loved helping others, ever since I was younger. I was taught from an early age to always try and help people and treat everyone you come in contact with, with respect and kindness. One of the strengths that I can use as a career counselor would be my compassionate, positive attitude. I try to find the joy and good in every situation, even if it appears there is none. Compassion is important in any counseling environment because it creates an open safe place for the client to be vulnerable and feel free of judgment. I also love to encourage and motivate others. I find joy in helping to change someone’s mood from sad to excited or happy. My friends and family often come to me to vent about tough issues they are dealing with. In these situations, I try to remind of good things they have in their lives and remind them that I care about them. This skill could also be used in a career-counseling environment.

For example, if a client is feeling discouraged about not achieving their goal, I could remind them that they have already succeeded by just trying and that important changes take time. I would have trouble listening to the client explain their situation and issues without sharing my opinion immediately. I have a tendency to want to jump into the conversation if I think of something to add value to the discussion, instead of waiting until they are done talking and then sharing my thoughts. This came come across as interrupting or rude to some people and I would need to practice holding off on sharing my opinion for a more appropriate time.