Who is a Career Consultant? Undercover recruiter? Psychologist? Or just an expensive coach?
Getting a profession, and building a career occupies an important place in the life of an adult. The realization and success of a person depend on how correctly the direction of professional development is chosen, and the way to achieve the goals set. Career consulting – assistance of specialists in choosing a professional field, achieving career growth and development goals.
Of the 503 respondents who took part in the survey, only about 36% of applicants had heard of such a specialist as a career consultant. Among people familiar with the services of these specialists, only about 9% of applicants turned to a career consultant for help. At the same time, every second specialist who knew about career counseling, but who had not used the service before, had a desire to do so.
Truth or lie? Despite the fact that most of the respondents are not familiar with the services of a career consultant, users of the service intuitively understand what they do and what issues they can help solve. However, there were also incorrect assumptions about the activities of career consultants.
The corporate career consultant seeks to embed the employee’s personal goals into the goals of the business. Here the thesis familiar to everyone works that when the personal goals of an employee and the goals of the company coincide, everyone wins. In other words, if, while solving business problems, a person solves his own problems, then he works as diligently and actively as possible, and at the same time realizes himself. With this concept, he does not need to be forced to work, control, and invent ways of motivation – he is already motivated by his own inspiration.
For example, a marketer began to study programming – first he writes macros for Excel, then he learns simple code, gets carried away, and in his free time, out of curiosity, makes an application for the phone. After some time, he starts throwing up: is it worth changing a profession, quitting, and how to get a job in programming without experience? Suppose this marketer’s employer knows about his interest in retraining and offers him participation in an internal automation project with the prospect of moving into the IT direction later. It is highly likely that the employee will accept the offer with enthusiasm. The employer has its own benefit: compared to an external candidate, this employee already has knowledge of the company’s features, and internal processes, he is his own in the team.
In small companies, similar moves and promotions often occur, because everything is in full view of the manager and he knows the potential of each employee well, notices if someone is bored or burned out, and began to think about other functionality. When it comes to medium and large businesses, a separate function is required that could correlate the goals of employees with business goals.
A career consultant acts as your personal coach to help you achieve your career goals faster. In terms of investment, career development will increase your income in the long run.
You can walk this path on your own, making mistakes, or safely and quickly with a professional career consultant.
Stages of career consulting
An individual approach is applied to each client, but there are common features. These include: site layboard
1. Studying the situation and problems of the client
Before starting work, you need to find out: what professional qualities and skills the client have, his wishes regarding his career, desired position, and salary level; to what extent his personal qualities correspond to the chosen profession, and whether he needs retraining.
2. Analysis of the labor market and wages
The specialist must be aware of the current labor market conditions at the present time. It may also have contacts with certain employers in order to find a job in the shortest possible time.
3. Preparing a client for a job search
Based on the information received, taking into account the wishes of the client, a plan for his career advancement is developed, which includes: the development of tasks and goals; developing a strategy to achieve them; the choice of specific means for the implementation of the strategy.
4. Actual assistance in finding employment
A detailed story to the client about all the intricacies and peculiarities of writing resumes and cover letters, ways to search for vacancies, rules of conduct at interviews, and answers to the most common questions of interviewers during an interview.
5. Further advisory support
Systematic assessment of progress in achieving the set goals and objectives in order to change the strategy if necessary.
When working together, a career coach and a client should get the following result: a job search plan, according to which the client can act independently; achieving a specific career strategy; understanding by the client of their strengths and advantages; increasing confidence in their actions to achieve a career goal.
Why do you need career counseling?
There are many cases in which a career consultant may be needed. Most often, the following are distinguished:
1. Downsizing
Many workers do not know where to look for work. There are times when, due to self-doubt, difficulties arise in passing an interview. In this case, career counseling will help you avoid common mistakes and give you the opportunity to return to work in another company as soon as possible.
2. Job search for a top manager
Employees who previously held managerial positions are more likely to face difficulties in changing jobs than ordinary specialists. In this case, career counseling will help solve these difficulties.
3. Employee age
For both minors and pre-retirement employees, employment is almost always a problem, and professional advice helps find a way out.
4. Market Features
The demand for the profession and the level of wages play a role.
5. Expectations of the applicant
Many problems come from overestimated or underestimated expectations/requirements of the applicant and the employer. In such cases, a career consultant acts as a psychologist.
6. Career start
For most novice professionals, the first hiring is a serious test, and a career consultant will help to avoid common mistakes of young professionals. It will also help you find a decent job with good prospects.
A career consultant may be present within the company. It is needed to motivate employees. If there is career advancement in the company, then the consultant helps to find the right path to this advancement. Acts as an assistant when an employee loses interest in work.
How to choose a career consultant
Pay attention to the content that the consultant gives. Does he write articles and is their content informative for you. He gives interviews and speaks at specialized conferences. Conducts webinars or courses.
Of course, the main criterion should be the quality of knowledge shared by the consultant. Its content should be clear, interesting, and informative to you.
The person himself should be pleasant because with him you will communicate on fairly personal topics and discuss your experiences. As such, it must inspire confidence in you.
The number of reviews is not a criterion for the effectiveness of the consultant. Not all people want to advertise their work with consultants. But the quality of the reviews says a lot – what people say, what they focus on, how much you believe what was said.
Career counseling is a really effective method of achieving success in your professional activities!
