Is Career Counseling right for you?

By: Jesse Macbeth

Are you considering a job change and wondering if career counseling is really worth your time? You might have received some career counseling in high school or college, but your interests and goals have most likely changed drastically as you aged. Maybe you thought you knew what direction would be best and didn’t believe you would need additional help in discovering what kind of job you would want after graduation. Many of us think we know what it will be like to be a lawyer or salesperson, because we’ve enjoyed classes that related to a specific career path. But just because you like to cook does not mean you’re guaranteed to enjoy all that comes along with the career of a chef.

Many people don’t ask enough questions when starting down their career path. Thus as you progress through your career, you may begin to realize that your position is not as fulfilling as it once was, or that the promotion or raise you finally received didn’t bring you the satisfaction you had hoped it would. This is a signal that you need to engage with a career counselor who will get to know you personally and help you tease out what type of work will be fulfilling to you in the long run.

Another signal that you may benefit from taking a deeper look at your career choice is that you are more irritable or uneasy than usual.

Job stress can build slowly and eventually lead to chronic anxiety and depression. Exploring other occupational options can help alleviate the anxieties of feeling stuck in a particular job or industry. You and your counselor will dissect your previous work experiences and explore your thoughts and emotions surrounding them. Together you will complete a personality assessment and strong interest inventory which will paint a much clearer picture of what drives you, what is important to you, what are you willing to tolerate, and what is completely unacceptable to you.

 

In your career counseling sessions, you will answer questions that you hadn’t thought to ask in the first place.

In turn, this will lead you to explore employment options you had never considered before. Together you will journey through a process which will highlight not only what a specific career will look like once you are inside of it, but how that specific career will affect your life outside of work. You will discover your relationship with money and explore the various influences it has on your career path. You will deepen your understanding of how you value yourself and your free time.

Once you have a grasp of the direction you are headed in, you are all the more likely to enthusiastically pursue the goals you set for yourself. Whether you are considering returning to school for a new degree, want to move laterally to a new position within your company, or simply want to better market yourself and even sell yourself in future interviews, career counseling has a great deal to offer. When you take control of your career, your decisions and subsequent successes become all the more meaningful.

Philadelphia Career Counselor and therapist

Jesse Macbeth is a Career Counselor and master's level marriage and family therapist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He serves clients online through our simple to use HIPAA compliant platform and in person at our comfortable Center City, Philadelphia office. Jesse offers career counseling to individuals that want to make a career change. He also offer individual and couples therapy and couples intensives for those couples that feel like they are in crisis. He supports people that are debating a change in their career. To schedule an appointment click here.