Career counselling for teens and young adults

Are you …

Confused about what to do when you leave school?
Keen to find the career directions that are the best fit to your unique qualities?
On a career path, but not confident you have made the right choice?
Overwhelmed by the endless range of career and training options available?
Doubting the choices you’ve made for uni study?
Wondering what school subjects to choose, so you don’t limit career options?
Feeling disengaged from school?

Why do career counselling?

Counselling with Career Sense can identify the career paths you are best suited to, which makes future planning so much easier. You’ll learn a lot about yourself, and you’ll come away with a plan specific to your individual needs. When counselling is complete, you will:

Understand yourself better
Recognise which career(s) are best for you
Be able to select the school subjects you need to achieve these careers
Understand your tertiary study options and their entry criteria
Be less stressed, because you know where you’re going
Understand the relevance of school study for your future
Feel confident about your future

“During my last year of high school I went to three different career advisors, and left feeling frustrated, confused and lost, leaving with arms full of brochures and absolutely no direction. Choosing to use Career Sense was one of the most significant decisions of my life. The meetings were interactive, extremely thorough and totally enlightening. After a one on one session with Jo I left her office feeling relieved to have found a career path that fitted my strengths and interests, and excited and motivated about my tertiary studies. Career Sense was literally a life changing experience”. LW

What happens during your session?

Your counsellor Jo Davies will use her extensive career counselling experience and the innovative online career direction tool, Career sense Insight©, that she has developed based on years of experience, to guide you through a process which helps you develop a picture of what really matters to you in a career. While you already know yourself, it can be hard to understand what that means from a career related perspective.

Career Sense Insight© has been designed to make it easy for you to understand yourself and to identify those careers that make sense for you. During the session you will:

Delve into your background – what you are interested in, what you like to do in your free -time, your family background and your educational experiences - and begin to see what these may mean about you.
Complete a series of online interactive activities to explore your values, skills and interests, identify your career defining attributes and use these to generate a dream career statement working with Jo and using Career Sense’s Insight©.
Follow the career directions that are standing out for you and explore these in more detail through a series of specialised online card-sorts aligned with occupational sectors and customised to New Zealand’s educational opportunities.
Use your increased career self-understanding to generate a list of possible careers and draw this down to a short list of those careers you are most interested in and plan to explore further now that you are thinking more clearly about what you are looking for in a career.
Plan the next steps to take after your session including school subjects, NZ study options, career exploration, attending opens days, getting involved with activities that relate to your future career or talking to experts in the field you want to pursue.

Jo’s one-on-one process helps you identify the careers that fit who you are, and being involved every step of the way gives you ownership of the outcome.

You take home:

Your 15 page Career Sense Profile detailing what you are looking for in a career, including your career defining attributes and career statement.
My Future Career Worksheets which help you to make sense of your Profile including results from the specialised card sorts you explored and the preferred careers you selected based on your increased self-understanding including their study options, recommended school subjects and career exploration activities to undertake.
A vastly enhanced self-understanding of what you are looking for in a career and ownership of the outcome.

How to make it happen

1. Book an appointment by either calling (09) 449-2312 or email Jo using the Contact Us form. Career Sense is located in Campbells Bay on Auckland’s North Shore.

2. Once you have booked your appointment, Jo will send you an email with a link to do some of the preparatory Career Sense Insight© assessment activities. These help to get you thinking about careers and take about 20 minutes to do. They should be completed at least 2 days before your appointment.

3. If your appointment is going to be online, Jo will also send you an email with instructions about how and when to connect with her online.

4. Attend your face-to-face counselling appointment with Jo at Career Sense. You meet with Jo for about 2¼ hours and then your parent(s) or support person are invited to join you for a further 30 minutes for debrief and discussion.

Questions and answers

How long does it take to get an appointment?
Typically appointments are available within 2-4 weeks, but from June to October appointments are usually booked 4 weeks or more in advance. If you are in Year 13 or wanting to make a decision for the following year, it’s a good idea to book your counselling for the beginning of the year.

How much does a career counselling session cost?
The cost for the three hour appointment is $650 (GST incl) including session preparation and the report. There is an additional cost of $100 (GST incl) to do the online activities and assessments using Career Sense Insight©, including both the preparatory activities before your appointment and the more detailed activities during your appointment. If you need them, follow up appointments are charged at $180/hr.

What if I need to cancel?
If you need to cancel or change your appointment please let Career Sense know as soon as possible. Like many other professionals, Career Sense charges for appointments cancelled within 48 hours of the appointment. If you don’t provide at least two working days’ notice and your cancellation results in your appointment slot not being filled, you will be billed for the costs involved in preparing for your appointment.

When should a teenager/young adult start the career planning process?
It’s time to start thinking about career planning as you have to make subject choices that could limit your career options. For many students this is either at the end of Year 10 or 11. At this early stage it is not so much about selecting a definitive career, but about identifying likely careers and making sure the subjects you take cover these as you continue your education.

Why is the counselling session up to three hours long?
Unlike many career practitioners, who will see you for one hour sessions over multiple weeks, Career Sense prefers to do one comprehensive session. Most clients comment that the time has flown and didn’t seem long at all. It’s an enjoyable process and it feels great to have concrete outcomes from a single appointment.

Do I need a follow-up appointment?
This depends on the age and stage you are at. If your first appointment is at the end of Year 10 or 11, then you will want to come for a follow-appointment to refine your career choices and subjects in Year 12 or 13 as you learn more about yourself. A follow-up career counselling appointment typically takes 1 to 2 hours. Some people like to touch base throughout their career, and others prefer regular support and backup. Career Sense can accommodate your ongoing needs.

Do you want to get started?
Make an appointment

Call Jo Davies on (09) 449-2312 or use the Contact Us form.

Contact Us

Address: 70 Aberdeen Road,
Campbells Bay, Auckland 0620
Phone: (09) 449-2312
Mobile: (021) 174-7233
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