Rarely does our first job stay our permanent career for the entirety of our working life. In fact, it’s estimated that the average person has twelve jobs in their lifetime (U.S. Bureau of Statistics, 2023). Additionally, the Covid-19 pandemic had a great impact on job stability and job loss! In this blog, we will answer the question: How can career counseling benefit second career adults?
Counselor Ginger says, “The Global Pandemic of 2020 impacted the daily lives of Americans in many ways, and career stability (or lack of) is one of the losses. The most common age for a career restart is 39, and changing careers every four years is no longer the taboo it once was to the professional reputation of the worker. Second careers are currently being looked at as a stimulant to the economy rather than the red flag of a ‘high risk’ worker for a company. A helpful way to view a second career is to think of change as an opportunity to find passion about that type of work and to pursue more training and education to use in negotiations for higher income. For many people, changing careers offers a fresh and invigorating start into the next life phase where a person might return to excitement about the adventures ahead in learning.”
How Career Counseling Helps Second Career Adults
There are a number of factors that go into determining the best career option. Jobs are not one-size-fits-all, but rather should suit the needs of the individual. Because there are a number of factors that distinguish individuals from each other, career counseling can help clients evaluate jobs and select one that is a good fit. These factors include:
- Personal Skills: Your level of education and work experience can help direct where your career goals could lead, but a discussion could also be held about future steps in education or work to meet bigger goals in the future. Things like physical capabilities and craftsmanship in your work experience can help shape the kind of career you may be interested in in the future or make your resume stand out. Self exploration is an important part of this process – it helps to look inward to see what possibilities may be desired or not desired (Yilmaz, 2016).
- Work Attitudes: Searching for careers can be challenging. You may feel discouraged from past work experiences or frustrated about searching for another new career. Things like career optimism can have an effect on how motivated you are to search for a possible new career. Career optimism means to “expect the best possible outcome or to emphasize the most positive aspects of one’s future career development, and comfort in performing career planning tasks” (Rottinghaus et al. 2005, p. 11). Once a job has been established, the attitude around the career also has an effect on your performance and how resilient you may be in challenges at that career.
- Bringing Awareness: There are most likely careers that you aren’t aware of or haven’t considered! New job opportunities open up often, and having a professional to help guide you through that process is invaluable. Job titles and descriptions may be confusing, so career counselors can assist in the search and help navigate challenging descriptors. Career assessments and career aptitude tests are tools that counselors may use to help you find potential in things you could be interested in. These tools can take into account how much educational and job experience you already have, what you are interested in occupationally and hobby wise, and will ask questions about different possibilities that may be available. Even if you’ve taken a test like this in the past, these answers may have changed as you have grown as a professional and can be helpful to take again.
- Personal Needs: A change in employment may have been necessary because life circumstances changed causing you to need different capabilities – examples might be child care needs, a change in salary, desiring additional benefits, job scheduling, or technology requirements.
- Exploring Opportunities: Looking for potential positions can be tricky if you’re new to it, you haven’t gone through that process in a while, or you’ve been looking for a while and just haven’t gotten the hang of it. Knowing how jobs are hiring in the field you’re interested in is important and knowing how to best get a response can be the difference between an offer and not receiving one.
- Research Assistance: Knowing what you’ll need to know about the company beforehand may not be as straightforward as some may think. It’s important to know what the company will be like before interviewing so that you can be well informed about what you are interviewing for and even more importantly, so you’re not signing yourself up for something you aren’t interested in.
- Interview Preparation: If you’ve never had a formal interview before, or if you’re not having very much luck with recent interviews, mock interviews can be held with a career counselor to provide feedback and polish your answers to interview questions.
- Resume Writing: There is a specific language used for resumes that may seem far-fetched for some to obtain. Career counselors can help you build a new resume or update your current resume. If you haven’t been through the process recently, it also may be helpful to explore how to upload your resume to job search websites for maximum offers.
- Negotiating Terms of Employment: Career counseling can continue into the career. Just because you’ve received an offer may not mean the end of that counseling journey. The offer you received may not meet all your standards. It is important to know how to negotiate to receive as much support as possible towards your needs.
- Growing in Current Position: There is anxiety in being new in a job or in a new kind of position, and career counselors can continue to support in that adjustment period. Learning how to overcome challenges at the start of the new job, and strategies to grow into promotions and meeting more goals can also be discussed even after a job is achieved.
If you are navigating career or job changes, our team is here to support you! We offer career counseling at our locations throughout Alabama, including a career counseling package that includes 6 hours of counseling sessions. Contact us today to learn more!
For information on how career counseling can benefit high school students, visit this article.
Sources:
Rottinghaus P. J., Day S. X., Borgen F. H. (2005). The Career Futures Inventory: A measure of career-related adaptability and optimism. Journal of Career Assessment, 13(1), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072704270271
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2023, August 22). Number of Jobs, Labor Market Experience, Marital Status, and Health for those Born 1957-1964 – 2022 A01 Results. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/nlsoy.nr0.htm
Yilmaz, K. (2016). Role of self-concept and career awareness in career exploration and career planning. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 16(2), 161-178.