Limits of Traditional Career Counseling

Word count: 500 Estimated read time: 3 minutes

Back in 1976, as I was preparing for graduation from high school, career counseling amounted to little more than aptitude testing, interest selection, and a bunch of books to look up colleges. And while career counseling today goes a lot further toward helping students with their career selection, the focus is still on the two basic questions of “What do you like to do?” and “What are you good at?”

Because the emphasis is still on these two questions, we still have significant problems with students dropping out of high school and/or college, individuals going into careers or jobs that make them miserable, frustrated parents taking their dissatisfaction with life out on their families, and so on.

The basic problem with limiting career counseling to these two questions is that they don’t help the student get to the core of what truly drives their behavior. “What do you like to do?” limits them to where they are now. For instance, seven year olds might say they like playing on swings, while most seventeen year olds would probably say they like hanging out with their friends.

And choosing a life path based on “What are you good at?” limits an individual to making a decision based on what they “know” they are good at. For instance, I am really good at washing dishes, but that doesn’t mean I want to make it my life’s work.

When I was in high school, people were always complimenting me on my ability to type. ‘Wow,’ they would say, ‘you’re really fast. You should be a typist or a secretary or something like that.’ And, for a while, I thought they might be right. And yet, there was this voice inside me saying, “I don’t want to be a secretary.”

Another problem with focusing on what a student likes and/or what they are good at is that it limits them to thinking only within the scope of their current knowledge, and only at those opportunities that are in close proximity. It also tends to keep them focused on advice from peers, parents, and teachers—individuals who may not always recognize the student’s driving forces. This is especially true if the advisors are also focusing on what they believe the student likes to do and/or is good at.

Identifying what really makes you tick is one of the hardest things a person can do. I believe this difficulty exists largely because we live in a society where “parenting” is synonymous with “behavior modification.” From the moment we are born (and in some cases even before), we attempt to express our essence, and the world counters with behavior modification. For instance, if we cry, we are hushed; if we are quiet, we get slapped on the butt.

By the time we reach the age of seven, if we prefer reading books, we are encouraged to “get outside and play.” Or, if we prefer playing outside, we are directed to “get inside and do our homework.” We are constantly told “Don’t be so __________,” and “stop doing/being _____________,” and “start doing/being _______________.” It’s amazing that any of us actually grow up knowing who we are and what drives our own unique behavior.