When you are in your 11th and 12th grades, it may seem daunting to make a career decision. With entrance exams, stream preferences, and the stress of the next step, it is easy to get confused about which path to follow. You might be interested in some areas, but you do not have a sense of what it is like to work there. That is where career counselling proves invaluable: you know yourself, discover what you like, and prepare for real-life applications, such as job shadowing.
Job shadowing provides you with the opportunity to get a glimpse into the life of a professional in your field of interest and to see what it is like to be in that profession. It is among the most effective ways to try the waters before making a career choice. However, to enjoy this experience, you must prepare well, and that is what career counselling does.
Finding Your True Interests
Most students have unclear concepts in their minds, such as "I think I want to be a doctor," or "I am good at math so that I could become an engineer." Career counselling will make you scratch beneath the surface. You begin to discover what you are really interested in through the discussions, interesting inventories and skill-based exercises.
The counsellor will pose questions that make you think: What do you find most invigorating? Are you a people person or an analytical worker? What makes you the most motivated? These discussions indicate tendencies that lead to appropriate areas.
Matching Interests with Real Careers
Your counsellor helps you relate your interests to careers in the real world once you have them clear. If you enjoy solving problems and working with data, they suggest considering data analytics, economics, or computer science. It is easier to select professionals to shadow using this insight — people whose work really interests you.
Avoiding Wrong Choices
Students tend to choose job shadowing opportunities without guidance, relying on reputation or influence—areas they find impressive but may not even suit them. Career counselling assists in saving time doing something that does not match up with your experiences by giving you direction to the kind of job that is acceptable to you.
Learning How to Reach Out
Job shadowing begins with taking a single bold step, which is to call a professional and request them to be observed. It may be a daunting experience, particularly when you have never written a formal e-mail or placed a business phone call. Career counselors train you on how to do so. They can teach you how to draft a polite message, introduce yourself in a proper way and demonstrate that you are interested in learning something.
You also have the opportunity to rehearse what to say in the first contact, how to state what you want to do, how to thank them for their time, and how to do follow-up gracefully.
Building Confidence in Conversations
Job shadowing will probably require you to ask questions and engage professionals throughout the day. Role play and role-play-based career counselling activities usually involve the use of role plays that mimic real-life conversations. It makes you feel confident and relaxed in workplace environments, which is a much-needed life skill that is much more than job shadowing.
Making Your Shadowing Experience Meaningful
A successful job shadowing day is not about sitting back and watching a person work, but it is about involvement and learning. Career counsellors assist you in having well-considered questions, which will expose what a career is all about. Rather than general questions such as
Do you like your job? You will learn to ask:
These questions will make you get past superficial knowledge and get a glimpse of the real picture in a job.
Understanding Different Aspects of a Career
Career counselling is also a lesson to avoid looking at the glamorous aspect of a career. You will then be able to take into account such factors as work-life balance, growth potential, stress level and salary expectations, which influence long-term satisfaction. Such an attitude renders your shadowing experience more informative and real.
Knowing What to Observe
It is very easy to spend a day following a person without learning anything tangible without guidance. Counsellors can make you think in advance by setting specific goals – what do you specifically want to see or know?
Working jointly, you could create a checklist that includes:
Knowing Your Learning Objectives.
High school career counselling will ensure that your shadowing is not in vain. Are you attempting to verify whether this is the right career that suits you? Would you like to know the education you need? It will help to have some goals to focus your observation and to be productive.
Understanding Your Learning Objectives
High school career guidance ensures you know why you're shadowing someone. Are you trying to confirm if this career interests you? Do you want to understand the educational path needed? Are you curious about specific aspects of the job?
Clear objectives make your shadowing experience more valuable and focused.
Learning Workplace Manners
There are rules in every workplace. Career counselling also teaches you how to behave in various work situations. You will know significant yet straightforward things, such as:
Knowing Workplace Culture
The settings where different careers are practised are different. The atmosphere and pace of a hospital, say, are nothing like those of a law office or a design studio. The career counsellors equip you with such differences that you can cope and feel secure wherever you go.
Processing What You Learnt
After the shadowing experience, the actual learning begins. Career counselling helps you to reflect on what you witnessed. The questions that counsellors will help you with are:
This is a reflection that can turn experience into insight, and knowing that one thing is not a career is as helpful as knowing that it is.
Thinking About Your Next Move
You and your counsellor make concrete steps based on what you have learnt. If you liked the experience, they will advise you on how to further explore it through online courses, internships, or even volunteering. And in case it is not the right fit, they will assist you in switching gears and venturing into new horizons. One way or the other, you get down to business.
Career counselling can also change your perspective on your future if you are in 11 or 12. In Mentrovert, we know how baffling this stage can be. Our trained counsellors provide one-on-one counselling that helps you discover what you are good at and which career paths you can pursue, and equips you to take advantage of career opportunities such as job shadowing.
We train students across India through convenient online classes, available from anywhere. You may not know which stream to follow, or you may need guidance on which career exposure to take; if so, you have come to the right place.
Mentrovert also offers free counselling for students who wish to get a feel for our style or require financial aid.
Take the first step today. Go to Mentrovert and schedule a session with a counsellor who understands your ambitions, your problems, and your possibilities. You have a life to look forward to, and we are here to build it, step by step.
Q1 What is the difference between satisfactory counselling and career guidance?
Career counselling is a personal interaction, a one-on-one session that evaluates your interests and personality and career objectives. Career guidance, however, is information that gives general information about various fields, colleges and opportunities. Simply put, guidance provides direction, and counselling provides insight.
Q2 When does beginning career counselling make sense to students?
Preferably, the students are to begin when they are in grade 9. It is, however, particularly critical during grades 11 and 12, where major academic and career choices are required. The earlier you begin, the more time you have to discover, and you get exposed to other programmes such as job shadowing.
Q3 What is the duration of the job shadowing experience?
A few hours or a few days. A half-day or one-day shadowing is just perfect in the case of high school students. It is not so long that it interrupts your studies or even the schedule of the professional.
Q4 Is it possible that job shadowing results in internships?
Yes. As a result of making an impression when job shadowing, in most cases, you may be given a chance at an internship or mentorship in the future. That is why professional conduct and preparation under the counsellor's direction are so crucial.
Q5 Do you mean job shadowing is only applicable to students who are aware of their career interests?
Not at all. Actually, it is usually most useful to students who are still experimenting. Shadowing allows you to see various ways up close and to rule in/rule out options before making your decision.
