Introduction:
Do students need good career guidance to make the right career choices?
Before that lets understand -What is career guidance for students?
Well, choosing the right career education is important for students as it might have long-term consequences in their life especially when deciding one.
According to a great social reformer and a very inspiring personality of India, Swami Vivekananda – True guidance is like a small torch in a dark forest. It doesn’t show everything once. But gives enough light for the next step to be safe.
Matching the world of work with your potential is what career guidance for students helps with. It is of utmost significance because it can make or break the future of a student.
In this post, you’ll get to learn all about the what, why, and how of the career guidance process along with the differences between career guidance and counselling for students and so much more. So, keep reading to find out what career guidance is, but before that do you know? What is meant by Career Guidance?
It’s a comprehensive, developmental program designed to assist individuals in making and implementing informed educational and occupational choices.
To put it in simpler terms, career guidance is the approach used to help individuals (school/college students or professionals) choose their courses or career paths wisely. It aims at helping them acquire the knowledge, information, skills, and experience essential to determine career options and to narrow them down to make one solid career decision.
What’s the importance of student career guidance?
The student career guidance process involves helping them to achieve their identified career options or acquiring their professional goals.
Let’s consider an example: a student is pretty sure about what he/she wants to pursue, say he/she wants to become an Engineer or Doctor. So, proper career guidance would assist him/her to:
- Decide the right stream in class 10th
- What entrance exams should he/she prepare for?
- Which colleges to seek admission in?
- What scholarships are available for him/her?
Here are five reasons as to why career guidance for students in secondary schools and colleges is so crucial:
- Helps You Get Clarity on Your Desired Goals
- Helps You Acquire Ideal Information on Courses or Career Paths
- Helps You in Planning Your Final Career Choice from a Myriad of Options
- Helps You in Preparing to Face the Competition
- Helps You Stay One Step Closer to Success
However, for success, it is significant for you to get the right advice from the right person.
Want to know the perfect way to career guidance test? The answer is DMIT Test (DERMATOGLYPHICS MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCE TEST)
Although, before you approach it we recommend you to first avail the one-to-one free online career counselling session by our expert – Mrs. Surekha Bhosale @ MyCareerBuddha
Thus you now know – What is the importance of career guidance? But, are career guidance and career counselling two interchangeable terms? Let’s exactly know what is the difference between these two processes?
The difference between career guidance and counselling for students
All right, so what’s the differentiation of career guidance and counselling for students?
The difference between career guidance and career counselling is that on one hand guidance is assisting students in achieving their desired career goals which include acting as a guide, leading, and setting up a course of action, whereas on the other hand career counselling is a process which helps individuals in knowing and understanding themselves through career assessment tests or psychometric tests.
Below are the seven dissimilarities as discussed:
- Guidance is preventive, while counseling is curative. Students may seek guidance before choosing careers, but a student seeks counseling to cope with life and clarify their goals.
- Guidance helps the students make the best choices, while counseling helps them change their perspective. The guidance gives students ready answers, while counseling helps them come up with their well-informed solutions.
- Guidance utilizes an external approach to tackle the problem at hand while counseling utilizes a detailed approach to build the root causes of the issue before tackling it.
- Guidance is the best approach for tackling career and educational issues while counseling is best employed in tackling other personal and socio-psychological issues.
- Guidance is provided by an expert in the field at hand or anybody superior. It does not require professional training. Counseling is given by people who have been professionally trained to handle psychological issues.
- Guidance provides ready answers and decisions for students while counseling empowers them to create the most appropriate solutions to tackle an issue.
- In guidance, confidentiality is not a guarantee. It can be conducted for a student or a group. In counseling, students are guaranteed confidentiality since the sessions are always one-to-one.
Hope you understood: What is the difference between career guidance and career counselling?
Want to know more about what is career counselling for students? Students you can now learn and gain insights about: Why do we need career counselling, via MyCareerBuddha!!!
Why there is a need of career guidance for students?
As student’s you might always have this question in your mind regarding – Why do we need Career guidance? There are many purposes as to why career guidance test has become a necessity at present time but we will discuss three of them. They are as follows:
#1: Embrace broad perspective to examine career skills
If you don’t like your job taking a career switch may become challenging.
In this emerging tech-world, the education sector is encompassing tools that can generate defined and measurable outcomes. Similarly, counsellors execute technology-equipped tools such as aptitude tests, personality tests, and others that are helpful in making smart decisions.
Utilizing psychometric tests, career counsellors evaluate your interests, aptitudes, personality types, and competencies. This will help you understand your potential and skills in terms of a professional aspect and enable your career counsellor to filter the most suitable job types as per your assessment report.
#2: A clear road-map towards a fulfilling career
Career advisers drive a student towards his right career path by defining a clear road-map for him. The right career map is an impressive tool for a student to stay focused and to attain beneficial outcomes.
Career counselling is not limited to a platform that asks you about your desired career choices. It is a process that encourages students towards analyzing their skills, understanding their career matches, and embracing the most optimal career solution. Career counsellors contribute by strategizing a robust career schedule for the students.
#3: Resolve career conflict between children and parents
Career advisers respect and understand the opinions of both parents and children and thus, recommend an optimal middle path. Career counsellors are unbiased, and hence, offer a balanced thought by making both parties know the details of career options.
Moreover, career counsellors are not only career experts but also understand human behavior. With the knowledge and expertise counsellor’s have, they guide and inspire people to implement high-yielding results. Career counselling is the gateway to the best career move for both parents as well as children.
With that said, career guidance is a must! However, do you know? Who needs career guidance? Well here’s the answer to it.
How can career guidance test help students?
The career guidance and counselling help a candidate to choose a career as per their interests, abilities, and strengths, and other psycho constructs.
Despite the fact that we realize this what really matters is who can benefit from student career guidance?
- Student of Class 9th – 10th
The students generally of these grades who are at the edge of making the most vital career decision i.e. of choosing a stream to pursue higher education benefit the most. Whether it is selecting the right stream to the right board, and mapping career goals, taking professional career guidance at the right start and correct time early on in life makes all the difference with respect to making a career decision as well as in securing a student’s career.
- Student of Class 11th – 12th
Students at this phase struggle a lot and often feel pressured to make career choices as the career options possible for a student to opt for are more than hundreds out of the four possible options (non-medical, medical, humanities, and commerce). To ensure that the full process from selecting the correct career options to accomplishing those goals goes easily, it is significant that one looks for career guidance from an educated (and experienced) mentor.
- College Going Students/ Working Professionals
People who have already made a career decision need to work towards it, to attain the maximum results. A guide advises them of the best career opportunities and approaches to do the best in the field they have selected for themselves. Usually, people end up taking the wrong directions in order to attain their goals. Either they realize that the career option they have chosen is not meant for them, or it dawns upon them that the option they have chosen isn’t strong enough to keep them inspired or thrilled throughout their professional lives. As a result, they tend to rely on the advice of experts, and that is where a guide steps in.
Takeaway: Six Elements to Mark in Your Career Guidance that will help you make a Good Decision
A good decision makes sense and feels right. Although answering these few fundamental questions considering these six elements (Creative Alternatives, Useful Information, Sound Reasoning, Commitment to Follow Through, Helpful Frame, and Clear Values) will assist you to get started in making informed career choices:
Q. What can I do?
Q. What do I need to know?
Q. Am I thinking straight?
Q. Will, I do it?
Q. What am I really deciding?
Q. What do I want?
Conclusion:
Students at present frequently choose majors based on their interests rather than what benefits them; however, the choice in education attainment, major, and occupation could impact their future. Proper career guidance would assist you in executing and leading toward a future course of action and help you in making informed educational and occupational decisions. Be it a school student or a working professional, anyone who opts for career guidance and counselling makes the most of it.
In an age where career queries are not unusual, it’s imperative to resolve the questions related to career or career guidance, in common. So, what are you waiting for? Are you confused while making career decisions? Talk to MyCareerBuddha’s expert career counsellor and acquire the guidance needed to find out where your true potentials lay!
