How do you identify the right skills for new career counselors?

1 Communication skills

Communication skills are essential for any career counselor, as you will need to listen actively, ask open-ended questions, provide feedback, and convey information clearly and respectfully. You will also need to adapt your communication style to different clients, settings, and situations. For example, you might need to use different strategies when counseling a high school student, a mid-career professional, or a senior citizen. You might also need to use different modes of communication, such as face-to-face, online, or phone. To improve your communication skills, you can seek feedback from peers, mentors, or supervisors, participate in role-playing exercises, and practice using different communication techniques.

2 Empathy skills

Empathy skills are the ability to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others, especially those who are different from you. Empathy skills are crucial for building rapport, trust, and respect with your clients, as well as for helping them overcome barriers, challenges, and fears. Empathy skills also help you to avoid judgment, bias, or stereotypes that might hinder your effectiveness as a career counselor. To enhance your empathy skills, you can learn more about the backgrounds, cultures, and experiences of your clients, practice active listening and reflection, and express genuine interest and compassion.

3 Assessment skills

Assessment skills are the ability to use various tools and methods to gather and interpret information about your clients' abilities, interests, values, personality, and goals. Assessment skills help you to understand your clients' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as to guide them in making informed and realistic career decisions. Assessment skills also help you to monitor and evaluate your clients' progress and outcomes. To develop your assessment skills, you can familiarize yourself with different types of assessments, such as tests, inventories, portfolios, interviews, or observations, and learn how to administer, score, and report them. You can also learn how to integrate assessment results with other sources of information, such as client feedback, labor market data, or career theories.

4 Facilitation skills

Facilitation skills are the ability to design and deliver effective career interventions that help your clients achieve their career goals and enhance their career development and learning. Facilitation skills include planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating individual or group career counseling sessions, workshops, programs, or courses. Facilitation skills also involve using various techniques, such as coaching, mentoring, teaching, or counseling, to motivate, inspire, and support your clients. To improve your facilitation skills, you can seek opportunities to gain practical experience in different career settings, such as schools, colleges, organizations, or communities. You can also seek feedback from clients, colleagues, or supervisors, and participate in professional development activities, such as courses, workshops, or conferences.

5 Self-care skills

Self-care skills are the ability to take care of your own physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being, especially in the context of a demanding and stressful career. Self-care skills help you to prevent or cope with burnout, compassion fatigue, or vicarious trauma, which might affect your health, happiness, and performance as a career counselor. Self-care skills also help you to maintain your professional identity, integrity, and ethics, as well as to balance your personal and professional roles and responsibilities. To enhance your self-care skills, you can practice healthy habits, such as eating well, sleeping enough, exercising regularly, and relaxing. You can also seek support from friends, family, or colleagues, and engage in hobbies, interests, or passions that nourish your soul.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?