COUNSELING ON FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A CAREER

COUNSELING ON FACTORS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING A CAREER

Career choice has been and is still a mind-bugging issue to young people of all generations. So, many put off the decision till they have to complete their University Matriculation Examination (UME) forms while others discuss the issue with other people except a professional guidance counselor who is trained in skills relating to career decision making with which he/she helps the client.
The counselor, on his own part, must update his/her knowledge on the issue in order to guide his/her clients properly. There is the need therefore, to continuously revisit the various factors that can and do affect career choice of individuals with a view to ensuring that young school leavers approach the issue realistically and with confidence.

There are several factors that are worth considering when choosing a career and in summary some of them include interest, ability, financial resources, values, personality, remuneration and son on. Interest is a basic factor in career choice. This should however be tested and not individual to weather the storms he/she might encounter during or after training in that chosen career.

Ability/aptitude is another important factor which must be considered. Some occupations require educational preparations of various educational qualifications while some others require work. The must be counseled to be realistic in assessing his/her ability with regard to the career of choice. For instance, a student who has phobia for Mathematics and other subjects involving calculations cannot be expected to do well in engineering courses no matter how interested he/she is in becoming an engineer. Financial Resources available to a person can also affect the choice of a career as it is common knowledge that some courses are more expensive than others in terms of the finance required undergoing training. It is therefore no out of place to consider how affordable a career is before going into it.

Expected benefits whether financial or otherwise is a factor to consider, as the ability to earn money to take care of oneself and family is one of the reasons why people work. The career chosen should of necessity be able to enable one live a financially fulfilling life no matter how humanitarian it might be Retirement benefits should also be considered.

Values of the individual and in some cases that of his/her family do influence choice of career. This explains why some people resign from high-paying jobs for lesser ones that will give them time to raise their families, engage in religious or social work and other things which are of more value to them.

The curriculum to which one has been exposed in school goes a long way in affecting one’s choice of career. Students from schools with well-equipped laboratories, qualified science teacher and libraries stocked with science text books are more likely to go into medicine and science courses than those from schools without such facilities.

The personality type of the client should also be looked into in choosing a career as some occupations may require certain personality traits from a person unlike others. Those who go into education with the intention to teach must be people who are active, tolerant and patient people not passive and introverted personalities. Parental factor. These and some other factors which should not be ignored by the counselor and the client should be exhausted before the final decision about which career to choose is taken by an individual. Parents should consult the counselors while guarding their children and should not force them into their own career interests