The Exploration phase of the career counseling process is where we take the ideas we uncovered in the Assessment phase, and work on turning those seeds of ideas into something more! As a career counselor, I can help you narrow down the available options, then gain the information that you need to make an informed decision about your career direction.

In this phase we will do research together and on your own about different career options you’re considering. I help folks with identifying people and organizations that might be good resources for informational interviewing, which can help you learn more about a field from people who are actually doing the work.

I also help people identify volunteer opportunities, where you might be able to get real world experience doing the work that interests you, or at the very least work adjacent to it. You can hear more about my approach to volunteering here, on the Macslist Podcast: https://www.macslist.org/podcasts/career-happiness/how-volunteering-helps-you-change-careers-with-aaron-good

We’ll also investigate what classes or additional training you might need to take the next step in your career. My years as a career counselor have shown that sometimes a lot can be learned from a single class or two, rather than spending a lot of money on a whole graduate program or bootcamp.

The Exploration phase can stretch on for a while, and is often the phase full of the most ambivalence and worry about what comes next. One benefit of working with me as your career counselor is that I’m also a mental health and relationship counselor who is accustomed to helping clients with difficult situations and emotions.

Once we have some good ideas of what you might want to pursue, we move to the next phase of the career counseling process: Marketing and Promoting yourself.