***Will Career Counseling Help You Make A Career Change or Perhaps Make Your Dreams A Reality?

If you are considering a career change, you might want to know that you are in good company.

A recent finding from the “Working in America: The Key to Employee satisfaction” survey showed that 32 percent of the respondents were not satisfied with their current employer. This survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Kronos Incorporated.

A prior survey by the same group, found that:

• Across America, only 45 percent of workers are either satisfied or extremely satisfied with their jobsn • Only 20 percent feel very passionate about their jobsn • 33 percent believe they have reached a dead end in their caree
• 21 percent are eager to change jobs

Okay, so misery loves company. Now what? You may or may not have considered career counseling to help you in making that change.

You may not have even been aware that this service is available for adults. Most people are familiar with various types of career testing but not with what is available beyond that.

Perhaps you feel trapped – like you have no choice but to stay in your current career. You may have been taught that you have to just suck it up and stick it out and make a living for you and your family -- fun and passion is something you save for the weekends or when you retire.

Or maybe you thought you knew what you wanted to do, but then you grew and evolved, and your current career is no longer a good fit. You also may have squashed some dreams you had earlier in life for the sake of practicality (or a million other reasons.)

If any of that sounds like you, there is hope. Sometimes its just hard to see past your current situation or even make the time to do something about it. A good career counselor or career coach can help.

So which is right for you? Career Counseling? Career Coaching? Either? I have made two check lists to help you decide.

You may want to hire a career counselor if any of the following ring true for you:

1) You are not sure what you would be good at
2) You are in a hurry and NEED to make a job change quickly
3) You already like what you do and you just want to change employers within your current professio

4) You are unemployed and running short of cash and need help with a job search or resume preparatio

5) You just need help figuring out what you want to do quickly, once that is done, you can move forward on your own

You may want to hire a career and life coach if any of the follow rings true for you:

1) You are successful but want more passion and fulfillment in your career and are not sure what that would look like
2) You want to do what you are passionate about and make a good living but don’t really know if that is possible
3) You want a great career and a great life too – you don’t want to have to sacrifice one for the othe
4) You know what you ideally want to do but have some fears or doubts about your ability to make it happe

5) You want a better understanding of your natural talents and how to best use them to have more satisfaction and earn good money
6) You want to learn how to work smarter not harder and have more fun at whatever you do
7) You want to start a new business or grow an existing one and want some support in making that happe

8) You make a good living now and are afraid you would have to give that up to start all over.

Note that these are general descriptions and actual services will vary with each practitioner.

I find that most people have made up some stories about what is and is not possible for them. The roadblocks appear too large to overcome.

A good coach can help you see past the roadblocks so that you can create a career and life that truly fits for you.

Certainly there is some overlap between counseling and coaching. Bottom line, career coaching is often a more in-depth approach than career counseling so if you are looking for a quick fix, it may not be the best fit for you. One solution might be to take an interim job that pays the bills and allows you the time to invest in creating what is right for you in the long term.

Career coaching takes more of a whole life approach so that you can create the career that best fits for the life you desire to live. An ideal career is the goal; personal transformation and more happiness in life also often come as a result of this process.

Let’s face it; we spend 5 out of every 7 days of our life at work. Why live for the weekend, when you can also enjoy the rest of your week?