Career counseling/coaching is an extensive process with any number of directions -- career choice, job search, vocational adjustment, career development, and career change. Regardless of your overall objective for career work, self-assessment is the requisite first step because when self-knowledge drives decision making we tend to make better choices.
Vocational self-assessment itself includes a several factors, one of which is frequently overlooked. The articulation of work values is central to the self-assessment process whether you are looking for a new job in your field, seeking to move ahead within your field, considering a career change, or selecting a college major.
I have found that most people can communicate their basic values pretty readily. What is important to me? What values do members of my family hold? These questions are essential to ask in career work as well. Translating these beliefs to the workplace is an important consideration because they are the principles that motivate us. When workplace values are out of sync with our own set of values we tend to feel discontented, even if we enjoy work tasks themselves.
The values we hold influence our overall job satisfaction.
Some of your work values may reflect conditions offered by the organization. Others may align with your intrinsic value system. And still other work values are those which permit you to make specific lifestyle choices. Good career counseling/coaching ought to
(1) present you with the opportunity to generate a vast array of values,
(2) consider the ideals most important to you,
(3) examine how conflicting values may affect career decision making, and
(4) arm you with the self-information necessary to help you make wise career decisions.
We spend a great deal of time at work. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, on average, working adults spend about 35% of our time in work related activities. Good preparation is essential to maximize vocational satisfaction and motivation. When you understand how your core set of values relate to the workplace you increase your ability to choose a path that really suits you.
I'm not sure - I still have questions about how career counseling could help me.
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