This 5th year student declared that she felt totally confused around her career
“I think I am interested in everything! Whenever I hear about any career I think: ‘Oh yeah, I would love to do that!’ How am I ever going to choose just one career?”
The counsellor firstly reassured the student that it was never a question of just choosing just one career for the rest of one’ life. The vast majority of people will make at least 3 changes in the course of a career.
This student then completed the assessment. Her aptitude test revealed that she was not only strong in Numerical subjects but also in Verbal subjects. This is somewhat unusual as most of us tend to favour one side of the brain more than the other.
Those who favour the right side of the brain will like verbal or creative subjects, while those who are more comfortable using the left hand side of the brain will like Numerical and factual subjects such as Mathematics and Science.
This particular student found that she liked using both sides of her brain equally. Her career choice then seemed huge to her and she felt “all over the place”.
The counsellor informed the student that there were many careers which involved both and that eventually she would possibly be more comfortable in a career that allowed her access both. When they examined areas like Architecture, she became quite excited. She could see that this career would allow her design but she would also have to consider the more technical aspects of structure etc.
Careers such as Industrial design held a similar fascination for her. An everyday object would have to perform a certain function and perform it well, but could you design it to do this and also have it looking great, make it lightweight etc?
Once the student learned that she did not have to choose one set of skills over the other, she was much relieved. The fact that many careers actually ask you to favour both sides of the brain at the same time, made her feel even more comfortable.
The counsellor then worked with her to make sure that she chose both scientific and creative subjects to provide her with maximum choice when she was selecting her eventual course of study.