Career and Professional Success through Counselling

In order to fulfil their objectives, the young people aspiring to a professional career need specific skills for making adequate choices when on the job market. Based on this idea, a career counselling program took place aimed at university students who, together with "planning" actions (based on analysis), were given the opportunity to practice and understand the concept of elaboration (which requires affective implication and interpretation). In addition to the classical structure of a counselling program (obtaining objective information trough psychological assessments and elaborating a psychological-professional profile), activities based on the sociodynamic model were also included, aiming to help identify potential professional identities for the participants in this counselling action. The program focused on developing specific skills to help achieving success in the early times of career building, such as analysing professional versus personal live roles and personal branding. The program was optimally implemented, without any abandonment. For career counselling specialists this may offer an alternative way to organize and run a counselling program, and for the beneficiaries it may represent a learning activity useful for developing their professional identities.