Career Counseling

Career counseling helps people:

• Gain awareness and knowledge of self by assessing interests, abilities/ transferable skills, values, and personality as they relate to career choices
• Explore and integrate gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, spirituality, culture, disabilities, and/or social/familial influences into career choices
• Explore life styles, sense of meaning, and contributions to society
• Learn decision-making styles and strategies applied to career decision making
• Clarify and set realistic and achievable goals
• Develop and implement an action plan related to a career path
• Develop coping skills to manage anxiety, rejection, disappointment, grief, lack of confidence, stress, and/or depression associated with career choices.

Other career-related definitions:

Career, as defined by the National Career Development Association, is “the combination of activities performed at any given life stage in all roles of life, including the role of worker.”

Career development is a lifelong process of managing learning, work, leisure, and transitions in order to move toward a personally determined and evolving desired future.

Career planning consists of the stages involved in this process including self assessment, setting goals, and designing learning and action plans to achieve those goals.

Career management is a lifelong, self-monitored process of career planning that involves choosing and setting personal goals, and formulating strategies for achieving them.

Confidentiality: Our appointments and any records kept by our office are confidential. Confidentiality Statement

Confirmation and intake: Once you have scheduled an appointment, we will send you a confirmation email which includes a link to our online intake. Complete the intake to help your counselor prepare for your time together.

Appointment time: Your appointment is scheduled for 60 minutes. You will have time to ask questions.

Number of appointments: This will be up to you and your counselor to decide. As long as you are making progress on your career planning goals, your counselor will be happy to continue working with you.

Cost: There is no cost for our appointments. We do charge a small fee for assessments. Your counselor will discuss these options with you.

Sessions: Your counselor will use your intake responses to structure the appointment but will also discuss your expectations for the session and your overall career goals.

Counseling as a partnership: Your counselor will guide you through the career planning process as a partner. The career planning process does involve work on your part – counselors can’t do the work for you and don’t have the answers!

Do any of these statements apply to you?

• I am thinking about a job change and not sure where to begin
• I am wondering about other career options and not sure what is out there
• I am having challenges on the job and wonder what I can do about it
• I am ready to advance my career but not sure how
• I am unsure of what interests me, what skills I have, and how my values and personality play into work
• I am in need of help setting goals and creating a plan
• I am not sure what next steps to take in my work/career
• I am having challenges working remotely and/or creating work/life boundaries
• I am suffering from burnout
• I am not sure how to talk with my supervisor about my needs (ie: exhaustion, having to do more with less, inequalities, uneasiness regarding return to campus, role changes, etc.)

Even if only one of these statements applies to you, career counseling can help!
Contact 608-265-2257 or accesscenter@ohr.wisc.edu to schedule an appointment.

Still not sure? Contact us and we can discuss your situation.

Yes. UW–Madison employees can talk with a career counselor about how taking an assessment might benefit them.

If you are interested in taking the SII and/or the MBTI, please contact our office at accesscenter@ohr.wisc.edu or 608-265-2257 to learn more. There is a small fee for each assessment.

Strong Interest Inventory (SII)

The SII is based on the idea that individuals are more satisfied and productive when they work in jobs or at tasks that they find interesting and when they work with people whose interests are similar to their own. The SII measures your interest in a wide range of occupations, occupational activities, hobbies, leisure activities, and types of people. Your interests are compared with those of thousands of individuals who report being happy and successful in their jobs. Cost is $28.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

The MBTI is the most widely used personality assessment in the world. It offers a foundation for understanding the ways people think, communicate, and interact. Your MBTI results will assist you in identifying occupations that will be challenging and more interesting, work environments that are satisfying, effective work relationships, and leadership and interpersonal communication styles. Cost $47.