help me find some career advice?

November 14, 2006 8:05 AM

What are some resources for finding a good career counsellor? I'm a year or two into my current job, and scrambling to figure out what to do - I need help!

I'm a technical writer/document administrator, and am working at a biotech company. Because of a succession of re-orgs, I've been managed by a series of people, with little continuity, and not much direction. I'm bored. I like the people I work with, but feeling completely under-used. Most of my current work is document administration rather than technical writing, though my new boss hopes to remedy that. While I'm definitely going to give new boss time to ramp things up, part of me realizes that I'm always going to be on the outside of this industry - I'm not a scientist, have no desire to be one, but want to feel like I'm making a bigger contribution, and doing something that requires more mental effort, and maybe some creativity.

I'd like to figure out if a job change (is there tech writing in health care or some other tangentially related field?) or going back to school might help, but I need someone to bounce some of this off of. How does one go about finding a career counsellor who isn't a shyster? (I've read this thread. If there are others I missed, let me know!)

posted by canine epigram to work & money (2 comments total)

Check out counselling or educational programs at local colleges and universities, and then see if any of the instructors or professors do career counselling on the side. I'm working with a professor (M.ED, PhD from Harvard, teaching elsewhere) who does this and am finding it very useful. I would avoid someone who is simply trained in "coaching".

Some questions to ask up front might be: what framework do you use to help me assess new directions/options, how long does the process typically take, and can I talk to some previous clients as references?
posted by cocoagirl at 8:16 AM on November 14, 2006

Also check out your college's career services offices. YMMV, the one I worked at was a great one. The one where I went to college, not so great.

Call them up and see if they do any counseling for alums. They almost certainly do.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 11:36 AM on November 14, 2006