Six Reasons Why You Should Become a Career Counsellor

“I Hate My Job!”

“I want to change my field.”

“I wish I had a cooler/better paying job.”

Over half the population echoes these statements on a daily basis. Scroll through social media and you’re bound to come across several posts about people hating their jobs, or terms like ‘quiet quitting’ and ‘rage applying’. Gone are the days when people were okay with a terrible job as long as it brought in the money. We’re in a day and age where people seek fulfilment in what they do, where they’d rather pursue their passions than simply run after profits. 

Back when your parents were making career decisions, that wasn’t the case. They had a handful of options to choose from, and career decisions were often based on what their parents recommended, what their elder siblings went ahead with, or the tried-and-tested popular routes that guaranteed job security! Very rarely would one choose an offbeat path or consider switching careers. 

This strategy may have worked for their generation, but it may not be the best approach for ours. We have far too many options, far too many tried-and-tested popular routes, and very different aspirations or expectations from our careers. Picture this – you don’t know what to eat and open up Swiggy or Zomato, hoping to find an answer. There are so many cuisines and so many options for each cuisine! More often than not, you’d just get overwhelmed with the number of options and give up – I know I’ve done that far too often. Now imagine – if picking a meal from so many options can feel this taxing, how does one pick a career from so many options and stick with it for life? It’s not like you can just go with the first one that comes your way and switch later if you don’t like it. There are 12,000+ career options – how many switches could you possibly make before finding what’s right for you?

We’ve established that confusion is inevitable, which is why guidance in making career decisions is the need of the hour. No one wants to take risks when it comes to career choices. Between job losses during the pandemic and the recent wave of layoffs across the world, it’s more important than ever to find a path that works for you and helps you pay the bills. And if you’re good at guiding people, becoming a career counsellor may be THE job for you! Here’s a list of reasons why you should seriously consider this career. 

Why Career Counselling?

Given the expanding range of careers, one might pursue and eventually make a livelihood from, counselling as a profession has expanded by leaps and bounds. Without our knowledge or understanding, new industries are introduced to the market every year in the time we live in. In order to raise awareness of professions that are both well-paying and in high demand, career counsellors play a crucial role in this situation. Here are some reasons why you should consider this field for yourself.

1. It’s For Everyone!

Just about anyone can get into the field of career counselling. You don’t need technical expertise or a specialised degree – you could be a school teacher, doctor or army professional and still transition into this field at some point in life.
Age is also not an important factor in this field. Even if you’ve recently completed your psychology degree and gotten an additional certification in career counselling, you’re good to get started! And you’ll have a wide audience to address as well. From students in Class 8 and above to working professionals with decades of experience in their field – everyone’s looking for career counselling!

2. Recession-proof

The job market is only getting tougher every year and layoffs are at an all-time high. Now more than ever, people need career counselling. If they have been laid off, which roles can they switch to? If they’re just entering the job market, which roles can they apply to? If their role has become redundant due to AI and technological advancements, where else can they utilise their skill set? People need someone who is knowledgeable about a variety of job alternatives. a mentor who can help them choose a professional path that suits their skills. And in a market that’s so volatile, they’d rather get professional guidance than take their chances. So no matter how volatile the market gets, there’s always a need for career counselling!

3. You Get To Fill The Gap

The knowledge that was required 10 years ago is no longer in high demand. The support given by career counsellors in making an informed decision about one’s profession based on the job market is becoming more and more necessary because of the introduction of new technology. The field of career counselling is flourishing. India needs at least 1.5 million more career counsellors to fill the gap between students and career coaches due to the huge demand for them in the nation. You get to bridge this gap!

4. Flexible Timings And You Can WFH!

We’re in the era of Hybrid Working, and here’s a profession that can be done remotely! Online counselling has shot up to popularity since 2020 – almost all of Mentoria’s counselling sessions happen online! Additionally, unlike most corporate jobs with set timings, this one allows you to choose your schedule. If you’re considering this as a part-time gig, you get to choose the hours during which you will offer career counselling. Need something to do over the weekends? Plan all your sessions only for weekends – you’re more likely to get clients then as well. All you need is a laptop with good audio and video, and an excellent internet connection.

5. Excellent Career for Entrepreneurship

You can work as a career counsellor for any organisation or school, partner with any organisation, work full- or part-time, and even launch your own career counselling business. With this occupation, you have a lot of freedom, and you may start a career counselling firm for a decent price. You should be aware that career counselling provides career coaches with a variety of income alternatives if you choose to work in this field.

6. Great Pay

An experienced Career Counsellor with 10-20 years of experience makes an average compensation of 5.6 Lakhs annually, compared to a mid-career Career Counsellor with 4-9 years of experience earning an average pay of 3.4 Lakhs annually. You can work as a counsellor at multiple firms at once this means multiple sources of income!

Here’s “How” You Can Become A Counsellor

You should think about a job in career guidance if you want to be a teacher, counsellor, or educator because of the enormous potential that it offers for people.

The most crucial component of any career counselling process is the career counsellor, who is the essence of good advising. Career counsellors should possess at least a post-graduate degree in psychology or applied psychology and/or a diploma in counselling psychology because they are psychology experts. Career counsellors that offer advice for a certain industry, such as engineering, management, hospitality, etc., must be authorities in that sector.

There is no longer a requirement to visit brick-and-mortar universities in order to earn a degree if you want to become a certified career counsellor. Many online certified courses that have the required clearance and accreditation allow you to get a certification. Regardless of where you live, these online courses give you the freedom to learn the specifics of the profession from the comfort of your home. All you have to do is sign up with them and submit an application for their course.

High schools and universities employ career counsellors to assist students in preparing for their desired jobs. You could also work in private practises, employment and staffing firms, and social services organisations.

Let’s Help You Get Started!

If career counselling is something that looks appealing to you then reach out and pursue this field! The scope of counselling is quite broad so don’t worry about that. If you are still confused regarding how to go about it then Mentoria is here for you! Mentoria promises to handhold you on YOUR journey. Feel free to call us to speak to our career mentors and choose the right career guidance plan that suits your needs.

Mentoria brings superior learning and certification programmes, guaranteed earning opportunities, and micro-communities with like-minded career coaches and enables ‘counsellor-preneurship’, to beat the clutter of existing career counsellor training platforms.