How To Choose A Good Career Counselor

How do I choose a good career counselor?

One of the best things that anyone can do is, first of all, pick up a terrific book called "What Color is Your Parachute" by Richard Bolles. It is the job-hunter's bible. And Richard, in his book, has an entire chapter devoted to "How do I choose a good career counselor?" And some of the things that he recommends is, number one, finding out how long the career counselor has been in practice, what their credentials are, where they went to school, what they studied. Do they have contracts? Are you required to work with them for any particular amount of time? Do they guarantee any kind of results? A good career counselor will not guarantee results, because we're not dealing with black and white here; we're dealing with individuals. Just like a good psychologist is not going to guarantee results with their clients, a good career counselor is not going to do that either. The other thing, again, is the career counselor licensed or certified? In some states, that is a requirement, and so it's up to you to determine through your state's department of commerce, your labor department, your consumer affairs department, is career counseling licensed or certified in this state? If so, be sure to ask, and be sure to ask to see those credentials.