Why You Need Help With Your Career
The days of the rugged individualist in the business place are gone. Things have got too complex. Everyone and everything is so interconnected now. Careers have become a labyrinth that a person can either wander through haphazardly or navigate with purpose. We need trusted advisers and encouraging companions along the way. There is no shame in seeking help. Some of the things that people can help us with on the career path include:
Learning and Experience
In days of old, an apprentice would spend his childhood and adolescence working with a master craftsman perfecting his skills. Today, we have a child labour laws. And things move much too fast to allow us the luxury of dedicating decades to learning our business. A mentor can guide us to learn what we need to so that we become skilful more quickly. He can teach us the short cuts and help us separate the things that are important to know from the extraneous matter that we can ignore. A good guide can free the ambitious worker from years of training.
Effectiveness
If you feel that you are ineffective or not making the progress you hope to make in your career, that is a sure sign that you need help. Many people just let their careers “happen” to them. If you’re not one of these people and you’re not satisfied with the speed and quality of your progress, finding someone to help may be your best move. An experienced guide can help you figure out where you want to go, how you can best get there, and a realistic timeline for meeting your goal. He can help you discover what has been holding you up and help you find ways to fix anything that hampers your progress. Everyone has their blind spots which hold them back and someone working with you can help you discover those.
Overcoming Depression
Learned helplessness is a psychological idea that many say contributes to depression. The idea is that after one is beaten (figuratively) so many times, that they just give into it. It’s hard to motivate oneself after a series of failures. After so many painful disappointments it becomes easy for anyone to just ask, “What’s the point?” and give up. People get stuck in life over many things. Career is just one of them, but it can become a focal point that taints the rest of one’s life. A career counsellor can help a person find enough success to restore ambition and optimism. Without motivation, a career is going nowhere. A good counsellor can help a depressed careerist find his way back to a place where he once again discovers his motivation.
Decision Making
Sometimes in the complex world of employment there can be too few alternatives or too many. A mentor can help in the decision making process. Career counselling is often about helping someone decide what career they want or whether they want to stay with their current careers. Life is not simple and the choices for a job can be staggering. Sometimes a counsellor is equipped to help a client through aptitude test and other tools to discover what they should take up or what changes they might want to make.