Beyond Answers: The New Job of Career Counsellor

“I think I want to be a psychologist.”

For a parent, teacher, counsellor, educator, this is a familiar starting point. The conversation can quickly move towards Psychology as a subject, undergraduate programmes, universities, admissions requirements, and possible career pathways.

But what if the student’s statement is not a decision but a hypothesis? What is the student's statement trying to tell?

I am fascinated by human behaviour. I enjoy understanding people. I want to know why people think and behave differently.

That could lead to Psychology. But if we understand it deeply we can learn how it may also lead to behavioural economics, neuroscience, organisational behaviour, UX research, education, marketing, or social research.

The student may not have chosen a career. They may have identified a curiosity worth investigating.

This distinction matters.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 2025 State of Global Teenage Career Preparation, based on data from 690,000 teenagers across 81 countries, found that 39% of students across OECD countries could be classified as career uncertain. It also found a significant mismatch between teenagers’ career expectations and labour-market demand.

Perhaps, we should stop treating uncertainty as something to eliminate and teach students how to navigate it, rather than finding answers in real terms.

From Recommendation to Hypothesis

Traditionally, if you see career counseling, it has followed a familiar sequence: Assessment → Interpretation → Recommendation

A student completes an assessment. The counsellor interprets the results. Possible careers or courses are suggested. Assessment remains valuable. But a result should be a starting point for investigation, not a verdict.

Instead of, “Your assessment indicates Psychology”, we might say, “You appear to enjoy understanding people and behaviour. Let’s investigate whether that interest holds when you experience some of what psychologists do.”

This changes the educator's role in general, becoming less of an answer-provider and more of a hypothesis designer.

The Career Experiment Model

Assess → Hypothesise → Experiment → Reflect → Recalibrate

1. Assess

For young learners, we can begin with what we already know about them: their interests, strengths, academic patterns, values, experiences and assessment data if we plan to take it into consideration.

But ask, ‘What does this evidence suggest we should consider or even explore?’, and not ‘What career does this evidence prove the student should choose?’

2. Hypothesise

Turn an aspiration into something testable.

A student interested in architecture might think, ‘I enjoy visualising spaces and solving design problems’. A student interested in finance might say, ‘I enjoy analysing patterns and making decisions using data related to the market’ and a student interested in Psychology might say, ‘I enjoy understanding human behaviour and listening to people’s experiences.’

The hypothesis gives the educator a direction to guide the student.

3. Experiment

Now create a small, meaningful experience.

A psychology aspirant could interview a practising psychologist, attend a university lecture, go for a summer program, read an accessible research paper, or undertake a small behavioural research project.

A student aspiring to become an architect could visit a studio, speak to an architect, explore design software, or complete a spatial-design project. Students aspiring to become entrepreneurs could interview a founder, test a small product idea, or analyse how a local business solves a customer problem.

The purpose is not to prove that the student has chosen the “right” career. It is to generate evidence.

This is supported by OECD research showing that teenage engagement with the world of work—including workplace visits, job fairs, career conversations, volunteering, and short work experiences—is associated with stronger employment outcomes later in life.

4. Reflect

Experience alone does not automatically produce insight. Reflection does.

After an experiment, educators should always engage in asking these questions:

• What did you expect?

• What happened?

• What energised you?

• What surprised you?

• What did you dislike?

• What would you like to investigate next?

The student’s answer becomes new career evidence.

5. Recalibrate

The outcome does not have to be “yes” or "no."

The student might:

Continue — the hypothesis becomes stronger.

Modify—part of the hypothesis was right, but another aspect is more interesting.

Reject—the experience provides evidence that this pathway may not suit them.

And this distinction is crucial. A rejected career hypothesis is not a failed experiment but a successful career exploration.

Impact in a Changing Labour Market

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 estimates that 22% of today’s jobs could be disrupted by 2030, while employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change. Analytical thinking, or what we call critical thinking analysis, remains highly valued, alongside creative thinking, resilience, technological literacy, curiosity and lifelong learning. Our goal as educators is not just to solve this quest for now; it's about making them lifelong learners even when they step out into the real world.

This does not mean students should chase every emerging job title. It means we should help them develop the ability to learn about themselves and adapt through evidence, knowing that this is a continuous process.

From Subject to Evidence-Informed Choice

Every parent, student, and educator face hurdles as the options continue to mount: How do we make the correct choice? What do we pursue?

Instead of asking, ‘Which subjects do I need to become a psychologist?’ we might ask, ‘What have I learned about myself that should inform my subject choices?’

A student may love researching human behaviour but dislike clinical interaction. Another may discover that their interest in sustainability lies less in environmental science and more in economics, policy, engineering, or design.

The subject choice then becomes the consequence of exploration, rather than the beginning of it. Hence, it’s prudent to utilise their annual breaks in reading, researching, modular learning courses, and other exploratory activities.

The Counsellor as Experience Designer

This may be the next evolution of the school counsellor or the stakeholders of a school: Not simply an assessor or an information provider. Not simply the person who recommends courses but an experience designer.

For every emerging career interest, ask, what is the smallest meaningful experience we can create that will help this student learn something new about themselves?

This could be a professional conversation, university visit, workplace observation, project, short course, volunteering experience, research task, or interaction with someone already working in the field.

The aim is not to fill a student’s calendar with activities but to create better evidence for better decisions.

Finding a Starting Point

We often treat a student’s uncertainty as a problem, but perhaps ‘I don’t know’ simply means ‘I don’t have enough evidence yet.’ The educator can help the student move from ‘I don’t know ' to ‘This is what I’m curious about and this is what I tested’ to ‘This is what I learned', which eventually leads to ‘This is the next decision I am ready to make.’

We cannot guarantee that a 15-year-old will choose the “right” career. Nor should that be the measure of successful counselling. What we can do is teach students how to test assumptions, seek experiences, reflect on evidence, and change direction without seeing change as failure.

The future of career counselling is not about giving students better answers. It is about helping them design better experiments.