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One of my most frequent activities during the recession has been replying to the vast numbers of people who have asked to come and work at Career Energy as a career consultant. There is clearly something about the work we do which appeals to people; the idea of helping others is always attractive and what better to help them with than careers, which take up such an significant part of our life.

Unfortunately however, most applicants are not experienced career professionals and have not properly researched what it takes to help people to make effective career decisions and get jobs. Which is a shame because there are undoubtedly some talented aspiring career professionals out there.

The very fact that many members of the what used to be called the Career Management community now use the term career professional to describe themselves, rather than the old fashioned terms career consultant or career counsellor should give a clue as to the direction that we are heading in. It is no longer enough to have had a senior career, or to be good at giving advice, or to be a bit older and wiser in order to enter the career profession. These days qualifications are essential.

And courses are not hard to find. Some universities offer Masters degrees in Career Management whilst some career professionals choose to study for a variety of diplomas across several disciplines to build up a broad base of skills. What is important is to gain an understanding both of people and of careers in their most profound sense; not just jobs but whole-life embracing activities that define and sustain us.

As our society becomes increasingly lifestyle focused more and more people will seek quality assistance to help them plan and maintain a career that adds value to their life. The demand for good career professionals will only grow. So if you are thinking of becoming a career professional, and you have researched it thoroughly and really believe it is the right thing for you- get qualified!

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Tags: Career Advice, Career Consultant, career counsellor, Career Energy, career management, Career Planning, career professional, careers, jobs

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Career Advice, Career Change, Career Consultant, Career Energy, Career Planning, Training, Uncategorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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