“Personally, today I am very happy that what all that I had built for all those years in terms of information, experience helped me to take a decision to get into Career Counselling full time. Helping someone select a career and being the influencer is like being a Role Model for the person.”
– Meghna Mukherjee
Meghna Mukherjee is a Counselor at Adaptive Minds. She talks about her role as a career counselor and what excites her in this field in an interview with Amarjeet.
Amarjeet Sharma (AS): Please brief us about your Educational background.
Meghna: I am a Masters in Clinical Psychology and an MBA in HR. Done certificate courses related to Play therapy and NLP
AS: What has your time as a Career Counsellor meant to you personally and why?
Meghna: Career being one of the most important aspect of any individual. Being a Career counsellor gave me satisfaction way beyond any other form of helping services one can provide. Helping someone select a career and being the influencer is like being a Role Model for the person. It has boosted my confidence.
AS: How did you get into Career Counselling? What interested you into Career Counselling?
Meghna: As a Counsellor, I wanted to explore different segments of Counselling. Career Counselling was one of them. Before acknowledging this field, I wished to know more about the field. So I visited a career counselor being a student and when the results fit me accurately I was then interested to learn more about the process and then applied to organizations as a Career Counsellor. The accuracy of the tests and Research into different careers got me hooked into this field.
AS: Which tools do you use for guiding careers?
Meghna: The best and the most accurate is the Aptitude tests or Psychometric Assessment. It gives the child an idea as to where their Aptitude lies and helps them select the test accordingly. But I too believe that Career goes hand in hand with one’s personality. So I do conduct Personality tests to help students.
Another tool I use is called the Brain Mapping technique. It talks about the innate or inborn talent of the child. This tests shows the child’s trait since birth and how they can improve or take measures to improve in the future if they wish to excel in a career
AS: Why do you think it’s important for students and parents to undergo Career Counselling together?
Meghna: Majorly 2 reasons:
Direct Communication: Its always better that parents and kids are counselled at the same time, so that what the reports says is clearly understood and any doubts are cleared at that time. Also any point of disagreement can be clarified easily then and there only. Most essentially one idea is communicated.
Miscommunication: Here what the student would like to hear they would just focus on that, and go home and convey to their parents just that, which may be wrong and then the future of the child is at stake. The same scenario is applied by the Parents when they come without the kid for the session.
- Critical thinking / Out of the box thinking: One needs to be thinking differently. Sometimes a combination of the result is the answer.
- Empathy: A student may be disappointed by the result or the answer you give. The counsellor cannot be blunt but needs to be honest in replying.
- Patience / Good Listening skill: One needs to be attentive and hear the client completely, before giving the results.
AS: What is your advice for newbies, who are looking at building a career in Career Counselling industry? Meghna: Do not jump into, “ I know all Mode”. AS: There are many new career options that have come up over the last decade which was not heard of before, how do you stay updated on the latest trends in Career? Meghna: By interacting with people in the Academic field. Sometimes just getting engaged into reading Research articles on the net and watching Entrepreneur shows on TV
Have a question regarding your career ?
AS: Which are the Career Information resources (i.e. newsletters/blogs/websites/apps) you visit regularly?
Meghna: No Particular site. But as said earlier I listen to a lot of talk shows that makes me get into my Research.
AS: Share the names of 3 people you respect when it comes to Career Counselling?
Meghna:
- Swati Salunkhe
- Suchitra Salunkhe
- Prathiba Jain
AS: Would you like to share few words/suggestions about the work we are doing at CareerGuide?
Meghna: A one stop destination for all career related queries. A very high end educated panel members encompassing different fields. Only if you could incorporate Parents too during the conversation like a conference would be good.
Have a question regarding your career ?
