5 Questions to Ask Your Career Counselor

Education shapes the future of an individual. It paves the path for a fruitful career ahead. It boosts confidence in people to make it big in life in the leading industries of the world. This doesn’t take away from the fact that choosing a career can still be a daunting task. With a plethora of choices, peer pressure and random career guidance from family and friends, an individual can find himself in a state of confusion. Whether you are in a school, college or even searching for a job, one of the best helps you can get is from a career counsellor. These are experts that will guide you towards the best career choices on basis of your real potential, interests and industry standards. But before meeting a career counsellor, one should set their expectations right and what queries to solve with them. Here are some of the questions to ask when meeting a career counsellor:

What could be my job choices and how to go about them?

For the students in college, applying for an internship or a job is the next big step. Unfortunately, it’s not very simple. Moreover, for an opportunity of this kind, all the students eye the well-established companies and businesses. A career counsellor deals with hundreds and thousands of candidates, helping them strategize their approach. For example, getting a job in the media industry will not require the same tactics as a job in the finance sector. You should ask the career guide about the approach for a job search based on the role, industry, and location. You should ask about how the upcoming job or internships choices will help in paving a smooth career path. A career counsellor also reveals the current developments in an industry and how that knowledge could benefit you to land the job.

What is there really to flaunt when there is less to flaunt?

Every other student is unsure of what they should flaunt to the employer that will go well job choice. Career counsellors actually help you leverage academic experiences, extracurricular on-campus activities, volunteering activities, etc. that will create a good impression on a hiring manager. This is because employers are ready to hire and guide a candidate that has potential to learn, work and improve. A career counsellor can advise you on how to improve your communication skills and how to display your intelligence and professionalism in the best way possible.

How does my resume look and what could I do to improve it?

It’s important for oneself to understand their personal skills, aptitude and interest to pursue a particular career. You should also know that the interviewer is not interested in your life story. Thus, your resume should just highlight those skills that are job-specific. They would also like to get peek at your personality on paper to understand the level of interest and passion. Your career counsellor has the experience to guide you towards making a resume that stands out to employers. They advise you on how to reduce the clutter and put up only the important information such as internships, volunteering, on-campus activity participation, responsible positions held, etc. Counsellors help one craft descriptions of skills and personal qualities that will attract employers.

What else are the hiring managers looking at?

Many employers are currently using social media to check out their potential candidates before even scheduling an interview. From your profile picture to the way you’ve published your personal information, they could be looking at anything to develop an understanding of you. They can like or dislike a lot of things and may not generally talk about it even with you. You can sit down with your career counsellor and get to know what the hiring manager might be thinking about your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles and what could be changed to seem more appealing.

What should be the immediate actions?

One meeting might not be enough with a career counsellor for the questions you want an answers to. But you could definitely ask them for an immediate plan of action that could be worked on to send out to at least few companies before your next meet. This is important because job or internship openings are for a limited time and should not close before you can apply.

Most importantly, never be intimidated or afraid of asking questions or meeting your career counsellor regularly as and when you’re proceeding with your career or job search. They have immense knowledge of career and industry standards that can help you make a solid roadmap for the future.