The most important part of a careers counsellor's work is helping people identify their skills, aptitudes and abilities, as well as their work and lifestyle preferences

From the time we can talk we're asked what job we want to do when we grow up. Most of us make a decision in our teens or early twenties, often without a great deal of thought, and end up on a certain career path. Once upon a time that might have been the end of the story, but in today's world there are few jobs for life and the chances are that due to redundancy, technological change or boredom you're going to be rethinking your career path at some point.

You can certainly do that on your own, but it may be more effective to enlist the services of a trained specialist in the form of a careers counsellor. Careers counsellors come in all different shapes, from the high school teacher who tries to help a student clarify what they want to do after school through to highly paid executive coaches who help CEOs plot out their next career transition.

But essentially, a careers counsellor provides advice to someone who either wants to (re)enter the labour market (such as a new graduate, a woman returning to the workforce after raising children or a worker who has been made redundant) or who is employed but contemplating switching occupations.

The most important part of a careers counsellor's work is helping people identify their skills, aptitudes and abilities, as well as their work and lifestyle preferences, in order to determine what kind of careers they are likely to find fulfilling and enjoyable. They may also alert their clients to education or career options they didn't know were available, give them advice on job-seeking strategies, help them construct a polished CV and simulate job interview scenarios with them to improve their interpersonal skills.

TAFE NSW has highly qualified careers counsellors on staff who can advise you on everything, from what course of study will help you achieve your career goals through to what kind of jobs are a good fit with your personality and value system.