-: If someone were interested in doing this type of job,
as an undergraduate major, I think it would make sense
to major in areas such as social work,
counseling, psychology.
I majored in communication, and had no desire
to go into academia after graduation,
and here I am, so you never really know what can happen.
If someone decides to go into this type of field,
they would need to have some type of master's degree,
and that could be in student affairs,
counseling, mine is in guidance counseling,
but I know people who do this type of job
who didn't major in anything related to the job.
So everyone varies.
The skills a successful career counselor would need
to have is patience and empathy.
Empathy is the biggest thing, because I meet students
who have various challenges, and many things
going on in their lives, and I need to be
understanding and empathetic of that,
because if I'm not, and I'm judgemental,
and I'm telling them what I think they need to do,
it's just gonna turn them off and I'll never see them again.