Jump to content

Career Counselor - anyone gone to one?


UstadKhanAli

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I'm considering going to a career counselor. I've never been to one before. Anyone have any experiences with one? Or know a good career counselor in the L.A. area?

 

I'm growing increasingly dissatisfied with my main job, which is a Sp. Ed. Teacher for the severely developmentally delayed. And there's several reasons for this. The field is growing increasingly litigous, which results in tons of paperwork and documentation, something I don't find appealing. This seems to increase exponentially as I continue working. What I once felt was fun is growing increasingly tense, litigious, conservative, and laden with paperwork. I'm happy teaching, not doing all the other BS that comes with it.

 

I'm interested in interacting with more creative people, and doing something that is more creative and hopefully more fulfilling. I'm not sure exactly what. Obviously, I love recording music, but it doesn't have to be that necessarily. I make some doing this, enough to get some new equipment and finance my exotic summer trips, so not bad, but hardly a career right now. Does Glyn Johns want to adopt me? I love photography, but usually only make a few hundred dollars a year doing this. Working a different sort of Sp. Ed. job? Working in a different country? Different area? Do I just simply need to get out of Los Angeles? I don't know. I've worked in education before I even graduated college, so I don't really know any other field very well. I just thought it might help to talk to someone, if only to get a few ideas that I may otherwise overlook.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I wish I could give you some advice right now, but I'm too upset that the BS surrounding your gig is so onerous that it makes good people like you turn away from something where society so obviously needs your skills. Not a slam on you, at all--I can certainly understand that if you set out to do a mission and a**holes are putting mine fields in your path, you can only take so much. I've seen the same thing happen to doctors and teachers who thought their gig was helping people, only to find out it was all about red tape and lawyers.

 

Maybe someone else can actually address your topic!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Hi Ken,

I had a life coach when I went through a transition from a 9-5 to what i do now. I teach music privately out of my house and have a software support gig in the morning. I get to do that out of my house. The life coach was instrumental in helping me negotiate the terms of my employment. I work 8-1 every day.

 

The life coach was really good for me. I was kind of expensive but it is your life.

Here in Ct. I got a rate of $60 per hour and that was a phone session i did every week.

 

It's funny the weekly hour talking to someone about my life's direction and spending money on it was a good motivator for me. I was really happy with the results.

 

I will also share this idea i have been developing http://therecordingclub.net It is not operational yet but will be soon.

The best of luck to you

Tim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Hi Ken, I have gone to a career counselor twice. The second time they helped me land a good paying job with benefits. After five years with that job, I became a career counselor for young people. I work for the same agency that helped me before.

 

I feel your pain about the sp. ed. system. I taught alternative ed back in the 80s and burned out very quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I did have an all-day seminar with a SF-based "aptitude" firm which administered several different aptitude tests throughout the day, then we'd sit round-table and discuss the results.

 

Turns out, I'm an INFP, an Enneagram 5 with a 4-wing, and an NLP AVK (Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic, in that order).

 

Those three disciplines-- Jungian/Keirsey-Bates types, the Enneagram and NLP submodalities--- seem to be very good indicators of career aptitude.

 

The big thing is, how smart you are (I.Q.) has nothing to do with what you'd like to be when you grow up, not really--- your TEMPERAMENT is a much stronger indicator of what you enjoy doing.

 

The smartest man who ever lived had an IQ of like, 229... and all he liked to do all day--- and ultimately with his life---- was to record in his little notebook all the arrivals and departures of trains, to the minute and second, in the Boston underground. (I know, me neither.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Some consider me an idiot since I left a high paying job as an electronic/computer engineer to pursue a career in music.

So, from my (idiot) point of view, a career counselor may not be the best answer. Counselors have their benefit, but I think you already have the information you need. Most likely, you just need to summon up enough courage to make a decision. Obviously, that is much easier said than done, but if I can do it, then anyone can. Be encouraged!:thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

I wish I could give you some advice right now, but I'm too upset that the BS surrounding your gig is so onerous that it makes good people like you turn away from something where society so obviously needs your skills. Not a slam on you, at all--I can certainly understand that if you set out to do a mission and a**holes are putting mine fields in your path, you can only take so much. I've seen the same thing happen to doctors and teachers who thought their gig was helping people, only to find out it was all about red tape and lawyers.


Maybe someone else can actually address your topic!!

 

 

It is very very upsetting. When I first took this job as a Sp. Ed. Teacher 13 years ago, it was actually enjoyable working here. And quite frankly, I got more done as a teacher back then. Now, I write IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) that are four times as long as they were before, most of it designed to prevent litigation. I have to document every single goal that I am doing for each student (I have ten students, and each one has 4-8 goals each).

 

My school - a Sp. Ed. only school - has not had an Adapted P.E. teacher in over 22 years even though every single other school in the district that has Sp. Ed. students have A.P.E. services.

 

Our school went over two years without having a fire drill, earthquake drill, or evacuation drill of any kind.

 

The entire school district is run as a chincy cheapskate business, with the idea of cutting corners whenever possible while putting on a facade that we are doing more with fancy program titles like No Child Left Behind, Focus On Results, and other nonsense masquerading as something positive. We're underfunded because of NCLB, as they've only paid out scarcely more than 40% of what they promised to sp. ed. programs.

 

And last month, just as a kicker, I was told to take down a sign that said "Welcome to the Land of Happiness" because it wasn't conducive to education (the sign, by the way, was about four inches across). I was told to remove two of my Halloween decorations because they were "creepy" looking.

 

I signed up to teach.

 

I don't know if other school districts are run like this. Maybe I can get a job with another school district that isn't like this, I don't know. I'm intending on moving up to somewhere near the Bay Area in a couple of years. But it's very discouraging to continue working here. I love my students, but much of the rest of this is grinds me down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Ken, boy do I relate to Craig's post - I'd have posted the same thing if he hadn't. My mom, who as you know is also a teacher in L.A. and worked with some very challenged kids (juvenile court schools), ran into the same problem in recent years. She is now retired and, she says, none too soon. She's very sad about it because she loved her job and did it for 40 years, but the last few were extremely stressful because things definitely changed - the amount of paperwork, standardized testing and that sort of thing totally undermined her ability to actually teach. If she hadn't been about to retire anyway, she might well have gone into private tutoring or something else. Bleh. "No Child Left Behind" - what a bunch of BS.

 

Maybe there are private schools that would be better for you? I don't know. And getting out of L.A. certainly doesn't sound like a bad idea - well obviously not to me, since I did. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I`ve been going to a life coach/career counselor here in NYC ($150/hr) ouch... Probably going another 1 - 2 sessions and we`re done.

 

I guess you could read a book on the subject but there is something about the human element and conversing with someone that has no idea who you are and they see you for where you really are.

 

Their unbias opinions are... expense but helpful.

 

:D

EB

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Different school districts, different cities/states, different specific jobs within each vary considerably. Although your complaints are growing universal among teachers, and not just among the spec.ed. teachers, although they seem to be hit about the hardest.

 

Funny how the coaches don't seem to have to mess with all the BS, huh?

 

My only advice is to try and network with other people in your field who've attempted changes, made moves, gone back for an advanced degree, switched from teaching to admin, gone to private from public, all that stuff. Get with people somehow from different school systems, different cities and states. On the face of what you've said, it seems you still have a love and aptitude for your field, just not the way they do it in your current position.

 

I'm no expert, but I do have a severely autistic/retarded niece, and we've witnessed in detail how things go down for her over the years (she's about 20 yrs old now). One thing is certain, things will change in your field. For the better or for the worse is hard to tell, but like the old saw about the weather, if you don't like it now, just wait an hour. The next round of changes may help make your decision easier, either way.

 

nat whilk ii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Hi Ken, I have gone to a career counselor twice. The second time they helped me land a good paying job with benefits. After five years with that job, I became a career counselor for young people. I work for the same agency that helped me before.


 

 

Do they actually help you land jobs as well? See, part of me posting this is that I'm not exactly sure how they help, aside from assisting you in finding or discovering new avenues of employment and getting you to think about what is important to you in a job. I'm open to other sorts of jobs but am not exactly sure what is out there or how to go about discovering them. And I'm open to staying in my field if it's a pleasant experience, with less penny-pinching and better funding for students.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The agency I work for is state funded, and yes they help you land jobs. When I came in, the counselor helped me update and rewrite my resume, gave me job leads that weren't highly publicized, and fast-tracked my resume to a local corporation's HR department so I was one of the first interviewed.

 

In the education field, I'd contact a college placement office, even though you are not a student. They are up to date with teaching job postings. With your background, you could work for a community mental health agency, also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Some of the career counselors are more the personality-assesment types and don't do much or any actual placement. Oftentimes they are "industrial psychologists".

 

The assessments I personally find kinda fun and informative. You can buy workbooks and DIY assess, too. My wife and I did a few of those simultaneously and learned a lot about ourselves and each other - it was actually pretty amusing. My wife would say, "AHA - YES - that's EXACTLY what you do!!! Right here in the book they have you nailed. Now you can't deny it." We learned that a lot of behaviors we tended to characterize in each other as purely ornery or selfish had more to do with tempermant typology than willful misbehavior.

 

But you might already know much or most of kinds of insights the assessments provide. My only experience with the pure-dee job placement types was that they turned me on to the same newspaper ads for jobs that I could find for myself. And they wanted to charge me an unbelievable percentage of my first few month's salary to add injury to insult.

 

Surely there are more helpful people out there now....

 

nat whilk ii

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

At 44, I've discovered that QOL (quality-of-life) is not just a little thing.... for me, it's EVERYthing!

 

How true. And at a decade younger than yourself, I'm finding that if I want that new car, or computer, or family, I'm going to have to go back to that second job. Being a guitar teacher in the Bay Area is not something that puts you even in the middle-income bracket.

 

Ken, when I read your post I totally got what you're going through. As others have said, you might want to just wait it out and see if it blows over; but you can also do what I'm planning on doing soon: going to a university counselor. And you'll be more than welcome up here; we could use more community-minded artists. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

At 44, I've discovered that QOL (quality-of-life) is not just a little thing.... for me, it's EVERYthing!

 

 

Indeed. Luckily, I discovered that very early on and never wasted much time doing something I knew would make me miserable (in spite of material gains).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

I'll give you some free advice Ken. No charge.

 

Become a corporate trainer. The red tape you'll put up with will be 1/3 of what you've had to deal with. You'll get to teach people that are driven (I know you like that). They want to do something with a vengeance and you're their key. They listen, they ask pertinent question, they care because their livelihood depends on it. And for most part, they're adults.

 

I would think this would fit you to the tee...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

...but you can also do what I'm planning on doing soon: going to a university counselor. And you'll be more than welcome up here; we could use more community-minded artists.
:)

 

What is a university counselor, and what do they do? How would being a community-minded artist help in being a university counselor?

 

A few months ago, I submitted my resume to this County Board of Education place that allegedly has jobs in the public education sector in which I could teach recording engineering and Pro Tools editing to high school students. Now, that would be an ideal job. Unfortunately, there's not too many of these jobs, from what I understand. But I spoke to the person once, telling him my background, and he thought I sounded like an ideal candidate for one of these jobs. Now if this one goes through, I'd jump on it.

 

But of course, it's prudent to consider other options as well since I don't know whether they'd get openings or whether I would get it, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I've never considered the corporate trainer thing or what that might entail, and to be honest, am not sure exactly what one does. I suppose you can teach just about anything to corporations, so that's quite wide open, no?

 

In either case, thank you for not charging me!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheap, reasonably good and a decent place to start.

 

Of course, you can always hit up a local college and have some tests taken through the guidance counselors. Any decent psychologist can also help you with the tests and with making sense of what your motivations, feelings, aptitudes and goals are.

 

+ infinity to what Craig had to say...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Went to Assessment.com (thanks, Phil), took the test. Some of the results are strange, some sound like I might like 'em. That's what you get when the questionnaire is only 71 questions.

 

Assessment.com Top Careers:

 

1 - Animal Trainers (never considered this, but animals are cool)

2 - Athletic Trainers

3 - Actors (huh?)

4 - Park Naturalists (never considered this either...this always pops up for me)

5 - Interior Designers

6 - Choreographers (hell no!)

7 - Recreational Therapists (I dunno, could be cool, should find out more...)

8 - Personal and Home Care Aides

9 - Psychiatric Technicians

10 - Animal Control Workers

11 - Fitness Trainers and Aerobics Instructors

12 - Travel Guides (this could be loads of fun!)

13 - Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists (No!)

14 - Makeup Artists, Theatrical and Performance (NO!!!)

15 - Child Care Workers

16 - Physical Therapists (I had always been sorta curious about this)

17 - Musicians, Instrumental (hell, yeah!!!)

18 - Sketch Artists

19 - Graphic Designers (this is kinda fun)

20 - Art, Drama, and Music Teachers, Postsecondary (this could be fun)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...