What Does a Career Counsellor Do?

Learn about the key requirements, duties, responsibilities, salaries and required skills that should be in a Career Counsellor job description.

Job designation: -  Career Counsellor

A career counsellor is a person who often guides students as well as seasoned professionals in their work life. They often provide guidance in terms of work-life balance, career advancement and staying ahead of the professional game than most of their colleagues

Duties and responsibilities of a Career Counsellor

A career counsellor’s duty is to provide crystal clear guidance to people seeking career advices from them and it takes years of experience to provide the best solution to their respective clients. It is an extremely high-risk job because counselling on someone’s career is like deciding their future; one wrong miscalculation can lead to disastrous consequences. They need to be extremely careful while giving advices.

• Guiding students in their professional journey

• Research and analysis of latest job trends in the industry

• Having a strong professional relationship with their clients

• Conducting of seminars and workshops to guide clients in their job

• Database maintenance of students and professionals

• Keeping in-touch with their clients to provide career insights

• Personality analysis of students and professionals 

• Collaboration with educational institutes and teachers to help students

Places of employment for a Career Counsellor

• Schools, colleges and universities

• Hospitals and clinics

• Psychiatric wards

• Career managements institutes

• Government and private sectors

• Community centres

Work schedule of a Career Counsellor

Mostly it is a 40 hour per week job or simply put a 9AM to 5PM work schedule. It could extend up to weekends if workload is heavy.

Qualifications required to become a Career Counsellor

It requires a certain amount of education and work experience to be a career counsellor. Mostly degrees in psychology are needed from a reputed university. Registration is mandatory with Counsellor Council of India and a Certified Career Analyst certificate is needed.

Under-graduate courses to become a Career Counsellor

• B.A./B. Sc in Psychology or Applied Psychology

Eligibility to pursue the course: -

• Any stream with 50 to 60 percent in Class 12th exams from a recognised board (Science mostly preferred with PCB)

• Merit-based admission or entrance exams as per some institutes

Entrance-exams to be taken to pursue the course

• DUET (Delhi University Entrance Test)

• JMI Entrance Exam (Jamia Millia Islamia)

• BHU ET (Banaras Hindu University Entrance Test)

• MU-OET (Manipal University Online Entrance Test)

• CUCET (Central University Common Entrance Test)

• JUET (Jammu University Entrance Test)

• GSAT (GITAM Science Admission Test)

• MET (Manipal Entrance Test)

• SAAT (Siksha “O” Anusandhan Admission Test)

Institutes which are offering these courses 

• Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi

• Gargi College, New Delhi

• Ferguson College, Pune (Maharashtra)

• Indraprastha College for Women (Delhi)

• Kamala Nehru College (Delhi)

• St Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)

• Loreto College, Kolkata (West Bengal)

• Bethune College, Kolkata (West Bengal)

• St Xavier’s College, Mumbai (Maharashtra)

• D.A.V. (Dayanand Anglo Vedic) College, Chandigarh

• Presidency College, Chennai (Tamil Nadu)

• Christ University, Bangalore (Karnataka)

Post-graduate courses for a Career Counsellor

• M.A./M. Sc in Psychology/Applied Psychology/Counselling Psychology
  
  

Eligibility to pursue the course: -

• 50% to 60% during graduation with any stream (science mostly preferred)

• Merit-based admission or entrance exams as per some institutes

• Internships and dissertation work is necessary to earn the degree

Entrance-exams to be taken to pursue the course

• TISSNET (TATA Institute of Social Sciences National Entrance Test)

• DUET (Delhi University Entrance Test)

• BHU PET (Banaras Hindu University Postgraduate Entrance Test)

• JNUEE (Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Exam)

• OUCET (Osmania University Common Entrance Test)

• IPU CET (Indra Prastha University Common Entrance Test)

• BITSAT (Birla Institute of Science and Technology Admission Test)

Institutes which are offering these courses 

• Delhi University, Delhi

• JMI (Jamia Millia Islamia),Delhi

• Osmania University, Hyderabad (Telangana)

• Punjab University, Patiala (Punjab)

• IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University),Delhi

• BHU (Banaras Hindu University),Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh)

• Calcutta University, Kolkata (West Bengal)

Key/Technical skills

• Empathic towards their clients

• Strong professional relationships with students and clients 

• Problem assessment of clients’ careers

• Pinpoint the problem areas in clients’ professional approach

• Co-operation with students and seasoned professionals for solutions in their respective careers

Salary expectations

• Average salary: - Rs. 3 lakhs per annum

• Entry level salary: - Rs. 2.2 lakhs per annum

• Experienced-level salary (10 to 20 years of work experience): - Rs. 6 lakhs per annum

Process of getting the job of a Career Counsellor

• Placement from colleges, universities and other recognised institutions

• Job searching on LinkedIn or Indeed for career counsellor posts

• Checking out any medical institution’s profile and requirements for a career counsellor 

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