Economic difficulties are nothing new. But there are times that can be scarier than others for those in certain industries. The COVID-19 pandemic, for example, has caused thousands of people to lose their jobs. Some businesses have had to shutter their doors completely.
If your career has been impacted by this pandemic or other economic downturns, you might be wondering where to turn. No one can deny that it’s scary, feeling as though you don’t know where to go for your next career move.
This could be a perfect time and opportunity to step in a new direction. But you might need to be guided in that direction.
How can career counseling help? And how can you overcome an economic slump’s impact on your career?
Learning More About Your Skills
One of the best ways career counseling can help you is to potentially steer you down a completely different path.
Whether you were happy in your career or not, did you ever feel as though your skills and talents weren’t being fully utilized? Did you want to be able to grow more in your position?
If you weren’t entirely happy, then that is even more of an indicator that you were either not being challenged or not able to use your talents in the best possible way.
Career counseling can help you to focus more on your existing skills and consider different paths in which they might be useful. A counselor can help you to consider careers that may have never been on your radar before but could utilize your natural gifts and allow you to feel more fulfilled.
You may learn that this is the perfect time to gain new skills too. Or you might even consider going back to school to start on a different career path. Counseling can help you to determine if that’s the best decision based on where you are in your life.
Determining the Work Environment That Suits You
Economic downfalls can cause a variety of issues. If you lost your job or a lot of your business, it’s not uncommon to feel anxiety, stress, or even depression. But you may have even felt that before the economic crisis because you weren’t working in the right environment.
A counselor can help you to determine what the best type of work environment to fit your needs might be. Perhaps you need a job that allows you to take frequent breaks or work remotely more often. Or maybe you need to work in a place that allows for more creativity and free-thinking.
If you had been in a certain career for a long time, you may never have considered such things. But finding the right work environment can make a big difference in how you feel as well as your stress levels.
Opportunities for Change
One of the biggest benefits of seeing a career counselor if you’re in a slump is that they can help you to recognize opportunities for change. It’s easy to feel “stuck” on a certain path, especially if it’s the only thing you have ever known.
A counselor can open up many other doors to you, depending on everything from your skills and interests to your educational background and personal life. All you have to do is decide which ones to step through.
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A career counselor isn’t necessarily there to fix all of the problems that may have been caused by an economic slump. But they can provide you with the tools and resources necessary to find your way out of it.
If you’re struggling due to the downturn of the economy, feel free to contact Integrative Psychotherapy Group for more information. Together, we can determine the best step you can take for a successful and fulfilling career.
