The Counseling Experience
Imagine this scenario:
You and your counselor are seated across from each other. It’s a comfortable, quiet place to talk.
You talk about the concerns you have today regarding your future. It might be about your major, career options, internships, graduate school possibilities. You discuss your interests and your hopes; you share your concerns and your ideas. Perhaps you talk about your lack of ideas - about how it feels to not know.
Your 45-minute appointment is coming to a close. Yet there’s no sense of being rushed - you know you can make another appointment. That frantic need-to-know and make-the-right-decision, that you brought with you an hour ago, has lessened. Your counselor helps you to identify some action steps to take before your next appointment. There’s a lot to do, a lot to learn, but you’re excited and optimistic as you consider the possibilities!
So what are we going to talk about?
It will depend on what is most important to you. Below are some examples of questions and concerns other students have talked about with their career counselor:
Choosing a major or career
"I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life."
"I couldn’t get into the college or major that I wanted. What do I do now?"
"I'm not very interested in my classes. Everyone else seems like they belong in this major, but maybe I don’t."
"I like my major, but I don't know what I can do with it."
"I'm on scholastic probation and I'm undeclared. I feel really stuck because some colleges require a certain GPA."
"I have so many interests that it's hard for me to narrow my goals down to just one thing."
"I came to UT for the business school but I didn’t get in. Is it realistic to think I can do business without a business degree?"
"I'm good at organizing things and I like writing a lot. What kinds of careers fit with this?"
How to Get Experience
"How can I get some experience in advertising?"
"I just completed my student teaching and didn't like it. I don't think I really want to be a kindergarten teacher."
"I work 20 hours a week to pay for school. How can I find the time to do an internship?"
How to Prepare for Graduate School
"I don't really know what kind of job I want, so I'm thinking of going to grad school instead."
"I really want to go to medical school, but my GPA is a 2.8, and I’m told I don’t have a chance at getting accepted."
"I want to go to law school in New York but my boyfriend/girlfriend just got a job in Dallas. Now I don’t know what I want."
We hope this helps "paint a picture" of what to expect when you visit with a career counselor. We encourage you to make an appointment today!