Introduction

Modern day students face numerous scenarios in the beginning or middle of their studies/career path where they may benefit from impartial counseling. They may be in the selection process to decide upon to pursue advance studies or professional workplace, considering whether to revisit the job-related courses or job positions, re-joining the organization, or just looking to learn more about further studies in particular. A solid base starts with the fundamentals. Students and aspiring candidates know that it's a challenging process, so they need to understand the processes leading to both guidance and career counseling to form a successful career.

Career counseling and career guidance

Students and career opportunists openly share with the counselor or a consultant regarding the issues about career building. The participants convey to the counselor their thoughts, worries and challenges. Then the counselor helps them correlate their dilemmas and other related factors to arrive at a decision. The primary aim of counseling is to open up the candidate and get the support they need.

Career counseling is the business-like functionality, which ensures a step-by-step method to help the aspirants develop the entire career direction, or road map focused on their personality traits, values motivations and abilities duly supported by proper career assessments.

The guidance refers to suggestions given to a student on career-oriented aspects. A specialist in the area of selecting career encourages aspirants to shape themselves for a particular career chosen for future success. Guidance is intended to make prospective candidates aware of the benefits and drawbacks of their choices. It brings to light how to make the correct decisions. The experts are making students aware of the fact that their actions have consequences, particularly in the future, depending upon the selection of their career building path.

Career guidance is almost like a retail store or maybe even a supermarket where the customers (here, students) can find multiple opportunities to buy. There might also be options that you don't even feel like buying anything at all.

Importance and benefits of both career guidance and counseling

Taking the appropriate career choice at the right moment obviously matters. For instance, an ambitious aspirant might consider that marketing is not the suitable career choice for him, after having served as a sales representative for a considerable period, or anyone might discover the same early during his student life. An individual has the choice either to realize where his genuine interest lies and move towards the same direction or to be satisfied with the present job or course he is pursuing. Since shifting channels and finding something totally new takes a lot of preparation and planning about the purview of the new career alternative, guidance on picking the right career is always appropriate right from the outset.

Career directions can be easily changed, and you can make an educated decision with the assistance of a perfect career guide. With constant attention to the career track, many career challenges are avoidable, and it is also not advisable to go for career guidance when you are in crisis. It must be a continuing process, and guidance from a counselor at every stage of one's professional journey should be the ultimate objective.

The counselor acts by support and mediation as a reference with motivation and assistance to get the proper direction. In essence, the counselor is a career advisor who will serve to educate, inform and provide learning opportunities that promote the development of information, behaviors and abilities that all aspiring students requires in to build on their career effectively. Career counseling is a structured and preventive mechanism where the individual in question has the position of a valued customer (student or performer) before a reasonable and successful self-orientation is achieved.

The concept of counseling in career planning is one of the most essential features in the lives of students. The counselor is the one who honestly counsels the candidates, based on their temperament and skill.

To deliver the best output, students who have already decided upon their career choices need to act upon accordingly. A career guide will notify them of the ideal career prospects and strategies to do their best in the domain they have opted. Broadly speaking, potential candidates may end up picking the erroneous roadmap to meet their targets. In later stages, either they accept that their career path is not meant for them or they suddenly get the impression that the choice they have made is not good enough to keep them inspired or motivated in course of their career growth. Consequently, they appear to consider the guidance of a specialist, and this is where career guidance is a much-preferred alternative.

Most often, students are in a state of confusion until they make crucial life decisions. It usually includes seeking advice from parents and peers before determining what to select. Assuming that a majority of brightest students have rational thinking, they try to attain what is best for them. Shouldn't the same reasoning be applied when deciding upon a profession, or changing job profiles, which is basically a big decision that you make in your life?

Career counseling is the method of offering advice, encouragement and guidance to select the right path after passing class 10, and the proper direction after class 12 and during pre-graduation and post-graduation stages. Career uncertainty and inaction can influence you at any point of your career building, so having the right help to overcome it and plan to perfection is very critical. Career Counselors encourage you to discuss various career opportunities, range, institutions and alternative scope. Importance of career counseling lies in choosing the right path. With a team of career counselors and leading mentors across the country, you can be assured that you are going to get the most accurate career advice and counseling.

Career counseling for students comprises of a range of professionals and tailor-made career advisory elements to all students of schools and colleges. Career counselor gives one on one counseling sessions for students looking for a decent career with both offline and online modes of time bound aptitude tests without compromising quality. These assessments greatly help in deciding which career route is to be selected for future prosperity.

Career guidance and counseling: key difference

Career guidance for students provides a variety of experts and comprehensive career components for both school and college-going students. Career advisor offers one-time solicitation for students seeking guidance in both offline and online modes without losing efficiency.

Student counseling is regarded as expert advice provided to an individual by a counselor in helping him resolving personal or psychological disorders.

Guiding students is preventive in nature. It relies on the policy namely prevention is better than cure.

Counseling aims at corrective and remedial steps such that you can mend your ways and part with your ongoing job midway.

Guiding aspiring students is vast and demonstrative involving extensive activities for permanent solutions.

However, a good counseling is meant for reserved discharge of series of advices with in-depth sessions.

Career oriented guidelines help students to choose the most appropriate career path as per individual preference during initial stages.

In student counseling sessions, you have the opportunity to change your decisions after proper job counseling to be back on the right track.

Guidance activities deal with further educational and career- oriented perspectives.

A proper counseling handles purely personal and psychological factors of aspirants.

Career guiding principles are centered on experts in the field.

A student counselor should be a top-notch expert who should be sufficiently trained in his domain.

Career guidelines are open and transparent.

Counseling part is truly private and confidential.

State of the art guidance may be given to several students at a time or one at a time, depending on the situation.

Counseling always involves a one on one structure.

Students are guided by an expert advisory.

Career oriented counseling is accomplished by professional expertise.

Processes to conduct both career guidance and counseling

Career guiding force aims at raising awareness among students or persons of the correctness or falsity of their decisions and the value of their choices on which the rest their future. It is a program that helps students choose the most fitting course for them, exploring and improving their cognitive and educational skills and ambitions. Importance of Career guidance refers to self-growth and helps an aspirant prepare effectively for his present reality or future planning.

The term counseling is described as a talk session where an individual (student) openly discusses his/her concerns and expresses opinions with the counselor, who recommends or encourages the respective student how to deal with the situation. It aims at addressing those issues regarding personal or socio-psychological factors, giving rise to emotional distress or mental anguish which makes one feel uncomfortable. In a secure atmosphere, the counselor listens empathically to the students’ concerns and addresses it. It's not at all a one-time operation, but there are a lot of sessions to attend.

Conclusion

In light of the above, it is evident that guidance and career counseling are two separate concepts that you can well understand post reviewing the article. The guidance attempts to offer solutions while counseling seeks to identify rising problems and fix them permanently. As both the methods seek to address the issues of the students or aspiring candidates, so both students and their corresponding professional input should be included at any time for better performance.