Has anyone tried a career counselor?

[SpeedracerIndy]

I've asked a few family and friends, but no experience so I'm reaching a little further out.



Has anyone tried one? Did it help and was it expensive?

Thanks for any advice!

[onlycafe]

if you hate what you are doing.....get out. find something you love to do.

that will be two hundred dollars please.

[Dottore]

Do something you love and the money will follow.

That will be $500.- please.

[vash]

dont listen to the two jerkoffs above me..

that will be $1000, please.

[A930Rocket]

I'll take your job and you can have mine, which is the unemployment line.

$2000 please.

[red-beard]

With Obamacare, you now don't need to worry about healthcare so you can do what you want.

And you don't need to pay me, I'll just bill your health insurance...

[rnln]

don't worry, hang in there. Keep the "no motivation" attitude and you will lose your job. You will hang around the garage playing with your 911 and this board to chat with us all day long, until you are out of $. Then you will be worry and you will love to have your job back.

[widgeon13]

I wouldn't use one. You need to do some soul searching and figure out whether you want wealth or just a fun job, most likely you can't have both. Not many jobs give that level of satisfaction and enjoyment.

I worked for the same company for 30 years, 25 were great, the last 5 sucked. Had nothing to do with my job, my boss the last 5 years was an idiot.

Hope you find what you are looking for but I wouldn't pay to get the answer, you already know the answer.

[Dantilla]

Don't like what you're doing?

Why not become a career counsellor?

(No charge- I don't want to be your first competitor. Good luck!)

[Zeke]

I think there are online aptitude tests. I think I took one a couple of years ago and it was free. I know, you get what you pay for, but IIRC, I wasn't disappointed with the results. It was accurate enough.

Thing is, if I thought about it long enough, I would have come to the same conclusion. And, it just redirected me back into what I do now.

[SpeedracerIndy]

I'll have to try one of those aptitude tests. I looked at a few, just didn't want to get a bunch of spam. I think I'll find one or two to try as a starting point.

I wish I could find something I love to do. I just don't know what that might be, which is why I was thinking about getting help figuring it out.

And I have no worries about loosing my job due to motivation issues as someone alluded to. I happen to be fairly good at my job, I just don't enjoy it.

And to everyone who I owe money now for the advice, the check is in the mail!!!

[john70t]

I took an aptitude test through a local community college. After x years working with food(cook/cash/waiter) I inputed working outdoors, semi-flexible schedule, and not with people.

It said I was best suited as a mechanic or a garbageman. Funny thing is, those are what I did and I liked it.

[McLovin]

Do you really think someone else can tell you what you are good at and/or enjoy doing?

Unless maybe you are in fifth grade, that doesn't make any sense at all to me.

Seems like post #2 gives you all the advice any "career counselor" can.

[LWJ]

Ok. Since probably all the above posters have never been to a career counselor (given the dumb answers) I will tell you what I think.

I was laid off around 2001. Part of my severance included career counseling or some such thing. I figured it was stupid but someone convinced me to go. I will say that it was the best thing I have ever done for my career. Ever.

Results? In a two week period, I had four job offers in the field of my choice, in the geographic location of my choice. I also turned down two opportunities that would have probably turned into job offers. I now make more, work less, and never travel.

Yes. I am a very strong advocate of this.

Did they ask me what I wanted to do? Probably not. It was a very sophisticated process. Just writing my resume took me a month. Seriously! It got handed back to me so many times and so ruthlessly ripped apart that by the time I was done. It was STRONG.

I could go on. If you are in Portland, I would point you to Pathways OI. Dumb name for a great outfit. I am personal friends with the owner, Ron. I come back and pep up the sad umemployed folk and give them my story.

Don't knock it til you try it.

Larry

[McLovin]

That's something very different than what I was thinking of as a "career counselor."

What you describe sounds very useful.

[LWJ]

It was great. I agree. If someone asked "what do you want to be?" when I was looking for work, I would probably have gone postal on them.