What a Career Advisor CAN'T Do

[Joywtseo421]

Once in a while, clients or students come to me looking for something I just can’t do -- magic. That’s not what they say they’re asking for, but that’s what they want.

I’ve written before about unrealistic client expectations. In fact my book, In Search of the Fun-Forever Job was based years of experience with clients who wanted to find a job that would be fun, satisfying and challenging. . .forever. But that was about what they wanted for themselves. Now I want to address what they want from me.


Sometimes clients expect me to provide a magical solution to a very complicated united states of america phone number library situation, without giving me much context or time to understand what their interests, skills, and experiences have been.

What I frequently want to say is "Hey, it's your LIFE we're talking about here; how can we possibly solve it in one meeting?"


Let Me Give You An Example
Let me give you an example. I recently had a private client who’d had significant personal achievement in teaching, but had gone through a rough time. He’d had one bad job, and was currently having a difficult time in his search. His search technique was not good, and he was what I call a "burn victim" -- someone whose perceptions have been thrown off kilter due to a bad work experience.

He wanted me to come up with alternative solutions, perhaps another career entirely. But at this point, he didn’t have any ideas of his own about alternate careers. I suggested he get himself on more solid ground by landing a teaching job, and then use that as a foundation to make career decisions while not consumed by uncertainty. I thought he'd be able to be much more creative when he was feeling better about himself, and employed.