What is career counselling and when does career coaching start ?

Posted on June 05, 2024 by Martin Hahn, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Many people, if asked to define career counselling, would probably opt for something resembling the approach proposed by Parsons, as long ago as 1909. He wrote: In the wise choice of vocation, there are three factors:

1 A clear understanding of yourself

2 A knowledge of the requirements and prospects in different lines of work

3 True reasoning on the relations of these two groups of facts

This approach is based on the measurement, through testing, of the client’s aptitudes and interests, followed by a recommendation by an ‘expert’ on occupations which provide a match in terms of the aptitudes and interests required. This process of ‘talent matching’ (sometimes known as the ‘test and tell’ approach) was the predominant form of assistance available to people seeking career help until the 1960s.

Career counsellors should not accept their clients’ demands and expectations for ‘advice on the best career’. Firstly, making appropriate occupational decisions calls for the assistance of skilled and sensitive counselling: to reach the point where a rational decision can be made, emotional issues such as managing relationships, coping with loss and change and recovering from damaged self-esteem may first have to be addressed. Secondly, since a ‘job for life’ is no longer a reality, lifelong decision-making skills are more conducive to the continuing challenge of making appropriate life and occupational choices, which are themselves increasingly interdependent. Thirdly, employers require an increasingly flexible approach to their changing requirements, expecting employees to take responsibility for managing their own development, which might mean creating or accepting a ‘development opportunity’, such as a secondment, rather than waiting for promotion. There is also an increasing recognition that individuals themselves progress through a number of life stages and changes in their role requirements and responsibilities. Fourthly, making decisions is very much a matter of personal responsibility.

A counselling approach empowers people to take such responsibility where they, not the counsellor, are the ‘expert’. The career counsellor, like all other counsellors, provides time, support, attention, skill and a structure which enables clients to become more aware of their own resources in order to lead a more satisfying life. Career counselling as a process which enables people to recognise and utilise their resources to make career-related decisions and manage career-related issues. Although focusing on the work-related part of a person’s life, it also takes into account the interdependence of career and non-career considerations.

The overlap of career counselling with personal counselling, careers guidance and coaching. The focus needs to remain on the career aspects of the client’s life and the approach is primarily one rooted in counselling. ‘Coaching’ means different things to different people. People coming for career counselling are often unclear about their career direction. Coaching aims to enable people to become more effective in their current careers. Today, the terms ‘advice’ and ‘information’, as well as ‘guidance’, are as commonly used to describe what careers services offer to potential users. The activities of those involved in providing information, advice and guidance will involve counselling, as well as coaching, teaching, assessment and advocacy.

In addressing personal concerns regarding redundancy, retraining, relocation, retirement, relationships at work, promotion, career breaks and stress, career counselling necessarily overlaps with personal counselling.

The services which may be offered by career counsellors

One-to-one career counselling:

• one-off consultation;

• a series of one-to-one meetings without assessment;

• a series of one-to-one meetings with questionnaire and test administration, feedback and counselling; • a series of career counselling meetings with written assignments (but no tests); and • a series of career counselling meetings with tests and written assignments.

Group career counselling:

• career development workshops (also known by other titles, such as career planning, review workshops or self-development groups).

Access to careers, learning and development information via a library or the Internet. Coaching in job-hunting techniques, including CV writing and interview practice:

this may be one to one or group based.

The majority of career counsellors provide their clients with access to careers information in some form. Some career counsellors make use of web-based occupational information and other careers guidance tools.

A number of critical questions applicable to the practice of career counselling: To what extent should the client’s feelings be expressed and dealt with, or is the focus on the rational aspects of decision making? It is unrealistic to expect that all clients will be ready to consider rationally the choices available. Career counselling should allow clients’ feelings to be expressed where such expression will further the goals of career counselling. For some people, the degree of anxiety felt about a work or non-work problem will need to be addressed either prior to or concurrent with career counselling. For example, a divorcee may need to address feelings of loss while seeking to support herself financially.

For other people, various ‘self-limiting beliefs’ may be contributing to unproductive behaviour not only in making rational decisions about a career, but also at work. Who should collect or provide the information: client, counsellor or both? I believe that this is a joint responsibility. The two main types of information the client needs in order to make an occupational decision are personal information and information about the nature of different jobs and work environments. Make use of various sources of information about a client, including self-assessment exercises, psychometric tests, and information emerging from discussion in counselling sessions.

Both the counsellor and the client are information collectors, although the collection belongs to the client. The client is responsible for researching information about jobs and work environments, whilst the counsellor points the client towards sources. Who is the expert (that is, who should be in charge, deciding how the issues raised should be handled): client, counsellor or both? We believe that clients are very much the experts as far as handling their own problems is concerned. It can be easy for clients to give up their power to the career counsellor and adopt a passive approach to the ‘expert advice giver’. Involve clients in choosing whether to take tests. Encourage clients to listen as active participants to and reflect upon tape recordings of feedback discussions and researching options.

While some counsellors and clients may have misgivings about the tape recording of sessions, this is a powerful and effective tool.

Who should have the responsibility for making the decision: client or counsellor? The approach to career counselling firmly rooted in a counselling, not a didactic or advisory, ethos. The responsibility for decision making is therefore with the client, whilst the counsellor is responsible for facilitating the process.

What should the predominant counsellor style be: directive, collaborative, interpretive or reflective? Career counsellors need to be able to adapt their styles according to the needs of the client and the stage of the career counselling process. A prescriptive style is inappropriate to the approach described in this book. A reflective style may well be appropriate early in the career counselling, but may also be appropriate together with tentative interpretations and a more challenging style later on. In the final stages of career counselling, when action is probably being addressed, a coaching style may be appropriate.

The solution-focused approach can be very effective in career counselling. Being solution- rather than problem-focused, it can be especially relevant when the client in career counselling is ready to do something, but needs help in describing, and committing to, the small steps required to get going . The entire career counselling process can facilitate clients’ in managing their careers more effectively. Since some clients who come for individual career counselling undervalue their strengths and skills, a supportive style can affirm their intrinsic value. When it is appropriate, a cathartic style may enable clients to free themselves from negative emotions through, for example, crying and expressing anger. See Heron (1990) for a fuller discussion on styles of intervention. What should be discussed in career counselling? The client’s personal/emotional problems, self-appraisal, decision making, test results, information on options, evaluating options, job hunting? Career counselling recognises the interdependence of problems and that personal issues need to be addressed within the career counselling process. Similarly, a career counsellor will need to use a coaching approach when addressing job-hunting issues.