FEATURE ARTICLE
The Four Phases of the Career Journey and How to Progress Through Them
By Leah Shmerling
The four phases of the career journey represent the key stages one will go through whether entering the counselling profession as a student, graduate or experienced counsellor.
The primary role of a counsellor is to provide support, guidance, and strategies to help individuals cope with emotional, social, and behavioural problems. Counsellors offer a safe and confidential space for clients to explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
This pathway consists of self-awareness, exploring the industry and areas of specialisation, making decisions, and taking actions to reach career goals. Planning this path is done by exploring options, mapping the route with actions and timelines, tracking and monitoring progress, and making necessary changes. Throughout this journey, we search for fulfilment in our work and career to create a meaningful life.
Several phases of the career journey can help to understand the characteristics, challenges, and opportunities inherent at each stage.
- Phase 1 — Self-awareness
- Phase 2 — Career exploration
- Phase 3 — Decision making
- Phase 4 — Experience
Phase1 — Self-awareness
Self-awareness is essential to identifying short-and long-term career goals and making informed career decisions that align with a person’s values, interests, and strengths.
Reflecting on what you want from your career, whether a job or self-employment can be helped through some of the following questions can help aid this contemplation.
- Who am I?
- What are my strengths?
- My weaknesses?
- How can these be overcome?
- Where am I now?
- Where would I like to be?
- What are my goals for the short and long term?
- What opportunities exist?
- What threats do I need to consider?
- What are my interests?
- What are my skills?
- What do I do well?
- What is important to me?
- How does work fit into my life?
Self-awareness for counsellors
Self-awareness is important for counsellors to manage their thoughts, emotions and behaviours. By understanding themselves including triggers and biases, it makes it possible have healthy relationships and work effectively with clients, colleagues and others.
- Self-awareness allows counsellors to appreciate and manage their personalities, strengths, beliefs, and motivations to understand and relate to their clients rather than allowing clients to manage them.
- Self-awareness supports counsellors to maintain appropriate boundaries and distinguish their thoughts, feelings, and values from those of their clients whilst remaining emotionally detached.
- Self-awareness enhances counsellors’ self-disclosure about their lives to strategically support the counselling process and share relevant personal experiences that benefit the client.
As you understand yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your skill set, interests, and goals for your chosen field and areas of specialisation, you enter phase two, exploration.
How to become more self-aware
- We are all busy, but it’s important to set aside time to ask meaningful questions of oneself. We often get insight when we pause and create space.
- Practice mindfulness to focus on the here and now without judgement; feelings and thoughts will arise - let them come and go.
- Listen and be open to feedback from colleagues, family, and friends to help evaluate a situation, strengths and weaknesses to improve your
- Keeping a professional journal can help with the above reflections.
Phase2 — Career exploration
Look to understand the industry for a reality check so you can make an informed career decision about the occupation and the future job opportunities. Research and analyse the career industry through government and university publications such as Jobs and Skills Australia, myfuture, and the Good Universities Guide.
Analysis from the federal government’s jobs and skills body states the counselling profession is expected to grow strongly by 14.2% to reach 27,800 workers by 2026 in Australia. Counsellors are in demand in other industries like:
1. Mental health counsellor
The mental health counsellor's primary role is to assess, treat, and offer guidance and support to individuals affected by mental illness. They also use therapeutic techniques to help improve client’s overall well-being by creating an effective treatment plan. They serve as advocates for clients and ensure access to resources, such as support groups, social services, or psychiatric care, and help them navigate complex systems.
2. Alcohol and substance counsellor
The role of an alcohol and substance counsellor is to help people break the cycle of addiction through support and treatment for individuals and families who are experiencing drug and alcohol dependency problems. They provide confidential counselling and assist people living with drug and alcohol problems to set goals and develop rehabilitation plans.
3. Family counsellor
From family conflict to separation, to the loss of a loved one, a family counsellor's role is to help families navigate challenges, facilitate communication and improve their dynamics in ensuring the well-being of family members.
4. Education counsellor
Working in schools and other educational settings, an education counsellor helps young people navigate various situations. The role of education counsellors diverse. It involves assisting students through multiple issues and challenges, such as bullying, drug/alcohol-related incidents, family issues or mental health problems. It is highly suited to counsellors wanting to work with young people.
5. Rehabilitation counsellor
The role of a rehabilitation counsellor is to support people affected by physical or mental disabilities in leading a full life. They offer a broad range of assistance to their patients and serve those affected by a medical/mental condition, accident recovery patients, or those otherwise disadvantaged to improve their functionality, mobility, and overall well-being and participate in aspects of society such as employment.
6. Other counsellors may specialise in working with a particular group, such as people from non-English-speaking backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or single parents.
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Getting started with a job
Summary
How to explore careers
- Research the careers industry and trends. Speak with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA), the industry body that can provide relevant information, advice and insight. Use online databases, websites, books, and magazines.
- Evaluate and compare career options based on criteria that include: salary, growth potential, work-life balance, culture, impact, and satisfaction.
- Research jobs through LinkedIn and company websites. Speak with the educators, supervisors, industry association, and your network to get first-hand information. Understand that job titles and specific responsibilities can vary across companies.
- Focus on your direction, not your destination. Career exploration is an ongoing process. Keep an open mind and speak with industry professionals who can provide valuable feedback.
Phase 3 — Decision making
Once you have gathered the necessary information, the next step is to review and shortlist the information in line with your goals based on considerations of your interests, skills, job availability, salary, and work/life balance.
Ask yourself: What decision will provide me with the career outcomes that meet my short and long-term goals? Write a list of advantages and disadvantages and take some time to sit with these ideas as well as your gut feeling.
Phase 4 — Experience
Setting up the rest of your career
Beginning a course can be daunting, but there are several steps that can help. Before enrolling and during the course, connect with the educators and supervisors during your study. They offer valuable feedback, prepare students for placement experience, debrief and facilitate reflection on their learning, provide support to address particular issues, evaluate student performance, and determine their suitability for the profession.
Placements or hours of supervised practice are a core part of becoming a counsellor, and will set
Gaining experience requires searching for professional opportunities with companies that meet your career values and skill set through employment, job placement, work shadowing or voluntary work.
Attend industry events to grow in your occupation through professional development, get insider perspectives, and build a network that can offer advice and opportunities.
And most importantly, becoming a member of the industry body, the Australian Counselling Association, connects counsellors across the country and ensures they adhere to the industry code of ethics and practitioner standards. Additionally, membership gives access to comprehensive insurance and a range of professional development events.
Conclusion
Career progression is a multi-faceted and continuously evolving journey. Recognising the unique challenges and opportunities that each stage of the career journey presents can equip you with the strategies and tools to navigate the journey effectively.
Once you complete the four-step process, you gain self-knowledge, understand the labour market, select a preferred career option, and strategise your actions. Focus on professional development to enhance your knowledge, skills and industry currency. And don’t forget to enjoy the process!
Leah Shmerling
Founder and Principal Consultant
Leah Shmerling is a professional career consultant and trainer with a focus on career development, education and training. More information here: Career Coaching Training
p: +61 412 940 902
e: leah@careercoaching.training
w: www.careercoaching.training
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