Career Counselling

Career Counselling

In today’s world, we have both an abundance of choice as well as increased uncertainty.  What kinds of occupations will be relevant in 10 or 20 years?  How will automation impact the workforce?  Will my skills be relevant?  What will a work week look like?  

At Compass Clinic, we think the question often posed to young people, “What do you want to be?” is wrongly worded.  We feel that this question suggests that there is only one answer to that question.  Given that the average individual will change career paths more than once in their lifetime, we think the better question is “What is my brand?”  This question offers a talent lens to assessment and really asks, “What makes what you offer special and appealing?”  

Over many years, we have worked with students to define their learning strengths and stretches.  It is a natural progression to help these students define their strengths and stretches as they look towards entering the work force.  Many of our own clinical counsellors and psychologists have gone through career counselling when they were younger.  Most will tell you that it was utterly useless.  I believe I was told that I should either be a surgeon or a landscaper.  Well, I do love gardening but at the time, I didn’t find the advice particularly helpful.  

We want to add innovation to our approach to Career Counselling.  Yes, we will do psychometric testing that defines some career strengths and weaknesses as well as desirable workplace settings.  What we will also do is help the individual define their brand and how they might sell their brand in different settings.  This is helpful, not only for career planning, but also for scholarship interviews and College interviews.  

Creating a Story.  People remember stories.  I recall that I was working with an exceptional student and I asked her what makes her special.  She told me that she is bright and hardworking.  But so are a lot of other students and it didn’t really capture why she stood out.  I asked her, what would make you stand out to me if I was looking to hire you.  By working with her to understand her brand, she started weaving a story about how she brought creativity and leadership to the field of science.  Divided between her love of writing and her love for science, she wanted a bit of both in any university pathway.  This led her to applying for the Arts and Science program at McMaster, a program that fits her perfectly.  

The other way our approach is different is that we understand that life is all about balance.  Our balance between love, work, play and health may shift along our life journey but understanding that this is all a balancing act is important when considering career pathways.  For example, if I am torn between my passion for music and my passion for psychology, I might say that I will meet the need for music in my “play” category and meet my need for helping people in my “work” category.  By allocating places in the dashboard of life, we are able to bring design principles to our own life design.  

Finally, when you do a Google search for “career counselling”, you will see that the credentials of people offering the service vary greatly.  The Career Counselling at Compass Clinic is offered by Registered Clinical Counselors or psychologists.  Most people will have extended health coverage for these services.  

Compass Clinic was so named because we want to help people find their way.  We hope that you will consider us for career counselling.  Click here for more information regarding booking and pricing.