Beyond Courses and Colleges: The Transformative Role of a Career Counsellor

In the summer of 2018, I witnessed something that profoundly shaped my understanding of being a career counsellor. A gentleman who had been counselled by Dr. Amrita Dass, our Founder-Director, over two decades ago, came to the Institute for Career Studies requesting to meet her. `She had just returned from an international trip and was taking a well-earned day off. Yet, he waited, patiently,  eager to express something long overdue.

As we spoke, he shared that 25 years ago, Dr. Dass guided him during a brief 15-minute session, reviewing his aptitude test and disccusing his dreams. Her words, “Everything that you touch will turn to gold,” stayed with him. At the time, he was a school student, filled with promise and hope. He went on to do well in college and entered the workforce with enthusiasm. Life seemed to be going as planned—until it didn’t. A painful breakup threw him into depression. In those dark moments, it wasn’t a job title or college name that pulled him through—it was that one sentence, that affirmation of belief. “Everything you touch will turn to gold.” He repeated it like a mantra, letting it guide him back to stability.

That conversation changed something in me.

It was the first time I truly grasped the magnitude of our role—not just as career counsellors, but as life mentors. We don’t just talk about courses and colleges. We listen. We understand. We plant seeds of belief and resilience that may grow silently for years before showing their full strength. 

Career counselling doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Careers are merely one thread in the complex weave of a person’s life. Students don’t come to us as blank slates; they bring emotions, fears, dreams, and sometimes wounds that need tending before any advice can take root. Our job, then, is not only to provide direction but also to create a safe space where a student feels seen, heard, and understood.

I recall another case—this time, of a young boy distraught after multiple failed attempts at clearing NEET. The disappointment had taken a heavy toll on him and his self-worth. When we looked at his aptitude test results, his high managerial score stood out. We suggested exploring management studies as a more suitable path, aligned with his strengths and personality. However, his parents were deeply upset with this suggestion. They had placed all their hopes on him becoming a doctor. In their disappointment, they even stopped speaking to him for a while.

Despite the emotional turbulence, we continued to encourage him, helping him rebuild confidence and reimagine his future. During the Covid lockdown, he began interacting with digital creators and developed a keen interest in branding. That interest soon turned into action. He launched his own digital marketing and branding business online.

Today, he serves international clients and is doing exceptionally well. His creativity, communication, and leadership—all of which we saw in him early on—are now thriving in the right environment. And while he did not become a doctor, I have no doubt his parents are proud of him.

Being a career counsellor is about much more than information dissemination. It is about hope. It is about helping a young person rediscover their sense of possibility in moments when life seems to be closing in. We are mentors not only for careers but for life itself—witnesses to transformation, and sometimes, catalysts for it.

Sometimes, all it takes is one sentence, spoken at the right moment, to light the way forward.