Necessity of Career Counselling

Getting Around the Career Maze: A Handbook for Teens and Parents

It is about that time of year again when everyone begins to consider their future careers. People in their immediate vicinity are bothering students who lack clarity about their professional goals by inquiring if they have made any decisions about it. Students who are passionate about a certain profession and hope to pursue a career in that sector should put in a lot of effort to develop the abilities necessary for that vocation and should also seek advice from people who are knowledgeable in the field. 

Students who are unsure about their job path should not be dejected because they have a wide range of employment possibilities to choose from. At this juncture, both parents and students are unsure of their child's likes and disinterests. Students are also unclear about their future aspirations.

The Role of Career Counselors

A major issue for a career counselor is that the majority of their customers are parents who seek the counselor's assistance in helping their child realize that the vocation they(parents) have selected is the best fit for the child; the counselor acts as a mediator between the parent and the child. A young person who is genuinely interested in a certain field but is having trouble persuading his parents also seek advise from a career counselor so that his/her parent agrees to his decision..

Whether seeing a career counselor is an essential component of learning is still up for dispute. It surprises me much that in 2025, with thousands of professional alternatives at our disposal, we are debating whether career counselling is still necessary. 

Is Career Counseling Still Relevant Today?

In spite the fact that there are many alternatives professions and that getting into one of them is a difficult process, very few schools, private or government schools offer career counselling along with appropriate aptitude testing. Career counselling should be made an integral part of school curriculum Adolescents are incapable of making life decisions and are not equipped to make decisions about their future careers. 

Disrupting the Conventional Career Mold

Children in our kind of society are socialized from an early age to assume that they will grow up to be doctors, engineers, or chattered accountants (CA). Consequently, in their teenage years, a child is only aware of a few traditional careers like medicine, engineering, or CA when there are plenty of career options available before them. Parents and students alike assume that a youngster who wants to pursue a profession in medicine drops mathematics, and if he excels in math, he can become a chartered accountant. Parents and students agree that pursuing these conventional vocations will lead to success in life and there will be lot of earning opportunity. It's time for parents to reconsider what success means and stop pressuring their children to pursue these supposedly traditional vocations. They ought to believe that everyone who has chosen to pursue a career in medicine, engineering, or chartered accountancy is successful or not. It is not that these traditional careers are bad, but these careers may not be suitable for all.

Most often parents of those students visit a career counselor whose children are unable to cope with stringent teaching patterns of renowned coaching institutes, and their kid wants to drop out of the coaching institutes. Parents want a career counselor to help their child comprehend the importance of continuing with coaching programs and putting in a lot of study time to succeed on competitive exams. Parents sometimes fail to realize that passing these competitive tests is not an easy feat and that some children are better suited for other pursuits than passing these exams. A student's academic skill and aptitude are key factors in whether they pass the IIT JEE or NEET exams. Till the 10th standard, we are not able to judge the academic abilities of a student as he is put into rigorous practice and regular tests for scoring good marks in 10th boards. A child's true academic potential can only be assessed when self-study is required, which is a crucial component in preparing for competitive tests.

 Understanding Individual Strengths and Aptitudes

Secondly, the aptitude of a child is also a decisive factor with reference to their success. A child's trait, interest, and ability to do hard work to pursue a particular profession depend on his or her aptitude, which is not the same for all individuals. Parents must also understand that either getting their child admitted to a particular college or their financial affluency does not guarantee the success of their child.

Furthermore, we should not assume that all kids are equally skilled in each field of studies. We should understand the inherent abilities and traits of each child. Once we understand the same, then we should match the traits with the requirement of a chosen career. By succumbing to peer pressure and failing to recognize their child's unique qualities, parents are squandering a significant amount of their hard-earned money by enrolling their child in prestigious coaching institutes. Consequently, when the child fails to crack the entrance exam meant for medical or engineering, he gets depressed, and parents also blames the child for wasting their hard-earned money. In the meantime, the child also loses the opportunity to sit for the other exams for the courses that fit his traits and aptitude.

 Avoiding Costly Missteps

To avoid this kind of helpless situation for both the child and his parents, a counselling session with a career expert with proper aptitude testing is suggested for all the students who are in classes 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th. Career counselling is even advised for students who have already passed the 12th or 1st or 2nd year of graduation.

So, parents, before spending lakhs on sending your child to a renowned coaching institute, why not spend some thousand on a career counselor for your child’s happy and satisfying future?