Career Counseling

An individual’s career is one of the most important aspects of his or her life. It can be challenging and stressful, especially when trying to decide what career choice will truly make you happy. It can also be difficult to deal with aspects of changing your career directions, no matter what stage of life you are in.

To help navigate your way through stressful career choices, you can enlist the help of a counselor who can guide you through the process. Focus Forward Counseling offers career counseling services in both Alpharetta and Cumming, GA.

What is career counseling?

Career counselors are individuals who specialize in helping an individual find what they are passionate about and how to cope with many different on the job challenges. These challenges might include frustration with an unfulfilling job, unrealistic expectations from other team members that lead to high levels of anxiety, and a lack of work-life balance.

Career counselors work with individuals from diverse backgrounds who have a wide range of educational and professional experiences.

With the help of professional career counseling, individuals can learn more about themselves and their strengths and weaknesses. They may also learn about what motivates them, what their personal goals are, and what kind of work environment may work the best for them.

In career counseling, you may be given a career interest inventory or personality test to help understand your interests and how your personality is likely to blend with various working roles.  These different types of tests can help you learn more about yourself as an employee. Some questions that these exams can answer include:

While some people may have all the answers to these questions, others may not–and that’s okay. Career counseling services can help you explore these different questions and help you find the answers. 

Learning to cope with the present

Career counselors can also help individuals learn to cope with their current job. While it might not be the most fulfilling at the moment, there are different coping techniques to try that can help make it more enjoyable until he or she makes a change. Learning to achieve a greater sense of a work-life balance, juggling school and a full-time job, or returning back to work after years of being out of the workforce.

Finding your motivation

One of the most important questions you can have answered by working with a career counselor is to find what truly drives you and what you most value. When looking to find the right career choice for you, you want to identify the intersection of where your passion and values lie and for many of us, that can be a difficult question to answer!

Some individuals will know what they want to do with their lives from a very young age. They may grow up always knowing they want to be a doctor, teacher, lawyer, artist, or videographer. However, others may graduate high school and still be confused well into their college years. Some may even take more time to figure out what truly makes them happy–long after they have graduated with a college degree and joined the workforce.

By using career counseling services, you can unlearn the concept of the typical “timeline” society teaches us to follow and embrace your own unique journey to a fulfilling career.

There are many different forms of motivation including acceptance, honor, social status, benefits, compensation, bonuses, and awards. By working with a counselor, you can learn more about what motivates you in the workplace and what kind of environment would make you feel the most accomplished.

Landing your dream job

Career counseling can help you build the confidence you need to go after your goals and dreams. You may have the right skill set, education, and experience, but be afraid to take the next step in your career for fear of failing. Perhaps you know what you want to achieve, but are afraid of going back to school or taking a different path in your career because you don’t know how it will all play out.

Regardless of where you are on your career path, a career counselor can help you get closer to that dream job by offering tests to help you learn more about your traits as an employee, help you develop your resume, and can help you learn how to navigate a professional interview. 

Career counselors can help you learn how to have difficult and sometimes stressful conversations about professional advancement and salary negotiation. By working with someone who is professionally trained in giving career guidance, you can build your self-esteem and confidence, learn important soft skills, and navigate the path towards finding the right career for you.

For more information about our career counseling services in Alpharetta and Cumming, GA give us a call today at (404) 388-3909.