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Ali Killaly

What is career counselling?

Did you ever come across a career advisor at school? Maybe they got you to take a quiz that ultimately told you to become a veterinarian. That's kind of what career education used to be - guidance - and it took the form of a horse being led to water. Today, the language is less about being a career advisor and more about being a career counsellor or career development practitioner (CDP). We think this revised relationship is a much better fit for the modern world of work because it's designed to create a partnership and support individuals to manage their own careers.


This next part might be a little confronting but stay with us as all is not lost: A career counsellor doesn't tell you what you should do. Sorry to disappoint. So why work with one at all? They are there to support you to figure things out. They've got technical expertise in things like the world of work, applying for jobs, policy, and industries of growth. They also have strategies and tools that they can share to help you figure out things like how to take your skills and transfer them to a new field, how to get a promotion or how to define your values and align them to your career.


Ultimately, at Workpants we aim to make ourselves redundant through the career counselling process by sharing with you all those strategies to use yourself - oh the irony!


We love using the language of counselling at Workpants because there are some core principles that we think enrich the experience for you:


  • Career counsellors are not here to judge you, they are here to think the very best of you. What a great place to start this working relationship!

  • Career counsellors are not in charge of your career. Think of us as passengers joining you on a road trip and supplying the snacks and music. You're the driver.

  • Career counsellors are real people and make deliberate efforts to show up as themselves, which means you can too.

  • Career counsellors want to hear your point of view, it’s your take that matters most and when you share your experiences you should feel heard and understood.


Maybe that sounds a bit fluffy. You might be wondering whether all this genuine, judgement-free empathy is actually going to get you anywhere with your career. It’s a fair question. The good news is that working with a qualified career counsellor (or CDP) means they use evidence-based career theories to support you to get where you want to go - and there are more than thirty of them!


Career counsellors also utilise coaching techniques to help to build a relationship of mutual respect and trust and help take the journey from career insights to tangible actions. Taking steps forward is a necessary part of going on the career journey. Coaching strategies help you to define and set goals, figure out where you are (your reality), assess your options, and a way forward.


With all this in mind, we want to leave you with our ultimate philosophy at Workpants: We’re here to help you design work that fits, and we can do this with you but not for you. When it comes to your career, you wear the pants.


Scary, but also pretty exciting.


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