Unemployment: Career Guessing

I've had some time to think about what I would like to do and I've made a decision: Career Counselling.  If you recall, I mentioned that my work history is like a patchwork quilt.  As luck would have it, I spent my four years in university working part-time as a post-secondary planning advisor and I really enjoyed it.  The thing with being a post-secondary planning advisor is that I had to have a grasp of the bigger picture to help guide others in their decision-making.  Basically, you had to know a lot about careers.

Hah, and that's not ironic.  Knowing about many different careers and actually having one don't have to go hand-in-hand.  Thinking back now I remember my supervisor telling me that she learned something new every time she heard one of my presentations.  I learned so much in that role from the people I assisted and other service providers; I was also so genuinely interested in learning more that I built up a lot of knowledge.  Out of the very many things I've done, this is the one that stands out as something I could really see myself pursuing.

I've done some research on educational requirements for these positions and they vary. (To find information on careers you're interested in, visit www.alis.alberta.ca.  It's a fabulous site; I used it all the time as an advisor.  As an added benefit, they have added something called Career Insite which can help you pinpoint possible careers based on your interest areas.)  If I want to be a counsellor in a school, I might need to get more education but not necessarily.  I'm kind of hung up on advancement though, so I will likely be getting more education somewhere.

I've looked at certificate programs and master's degrees so far, as well as further degree opportunities.  Did you know that if you already have a degree you have the opportunity to complete another in only two years?  At the UofC they offer the education degree (after-degree program) and since I already have a BA I can take another degree (BA only) with a different focus - like psychology - and complete it in two years.  I'm kind of kicking myself for not doing what I think every classmate I had did - minor in psych.  Mine was philosophy.  I thought I wanted to go to law school after graduation and I figured it would help...

Part of the reason I'm looking forward to the career planning workshop is that it will give me an opportunity to scope out the competition; I mean, find out how the facilitator got into her line of work (and also the former...).  Not being sure if I want to head back to school or to work is also on the list of things I need to figure out.  With the economy the way it is right now, I'm considering the possibility that there won't be a job for me.  If I'm still unemployed at the end of August, I'm going back.  But will I take psychology or education?  Not sure.  That's the other reason I'm looking forward to the workshop.  I need answers :)