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"MJ, thank you for helping me find myself. The career testing was wonderful. It helped confirm my gut feelings that I truly was in the wrong occupation all these years. Deep down, I knew there had to be a better career for me, but it took the counseling to give me the guts. I enrolled in the certificate program at C.W. Post and believe I can complete it in about a year. As you said, when I'm finished I'll have a good credential for my resume. I'll be calling you to write it!"
T.R.
former Dental Assistant,
aspiring Interior Designer
"I learned so much about myself from our counseling sessions. You were right that some of the things I was doing at work were sabotaging my ability to get promoted. Everyone else in my life commiserated with me when I complained about my boss but you confronted me and held me accountable for some of the problems. That was tough, but necessary! I know it took me a while but I finally did take your advice. I summoned up my courage and had that chat with [boss' name]. Now, there's a mutual respect between us and things are so much better."
C.N.
Assistant Store Manager
I offer both career counseling and career coaching. There is a good deal of overlap, but there are distinctions. Read the career counseling section if you are either (A) a young person interested in identifying a career direction
(B) a person of any age thinking about a career change (new occupation).
Refer to the career coaching section if you (A) believe you are basically in the right occupation but are unhappy in your present situation (B) have identified a new direction you want to pursue but need professional advice for making the transition.
Career counseling is about defining the parameters of what are you looking for in a job and then matching those parameters to the known attributes of existing occupations.
Here's what we need to know:
What do you like to do? What are you naturally good at? What kinds of tasks annoy or bore you? What kinds of projects excite and motivate you? Do you see yourself in an office environment? In front of a computer? Directing the work of others? Making big decisions? Making small decisions? Creating something artsy? Giving presentations? Helping those in need? Running your own business? Making tons of money? Do you see yourself wearing a business suit? A uniform? Working behind the scenes? Working in a boardroom? Working from your spare bedroom? Strategizing? Calculating? Writing? Debating? Advising? Improvising? Instructing? What do you like to do?
These are some of the many things I discuss with my clients. Our first
goal is to identify these desires along with your unique talents
(everybody's got some) and create a picture of what your fantasy job might
look like. The next step is for me to use my knowledge of careers and give
you some real concrete alternatives, some actual job titles that are close
fits to the constellation of features you hunger for in a career.
The Process
The counseling process involves one-on-one private counseling
sessions in my Huntington, Long Island office. In those sessions, I get to
know you and understand your needs, desires, interests, and personality. We
discuss your educational and work-related background as well as your skills.
Once all of that information is out there on the table, so to speak, I use
that knowledge about you and combine it with my knowledge of careers, to
present options that I feel have strong merit for you. Then we fully discuss
those options to reach a good career decision. Finally, we create a plan to
get you from where you are now to where you want to be.
As part of the process, a small subset of my clients do career testing in conjunction
with counseling. Testing helps me gather a great deal of pertinent information
about you and that information is then evaluated against the know attributes
of various careers.
A first career counseling session is typically 1.5 hours long and the fee is $225. Sometimes we hit "pay dirt" before the hour-and-a-half mark, and if that is the case, I will pro-rate the session fee downward to reflect the actual time spent. Additional sessions, which may or may not be necessary, are typically only one hour long, with a fee of $150/hour. Although I understand and sympathize with my clients' desires to minimize the cost associated with counseling, I also know, from fourteen years of experience, that most job seekers need much more help than they realize.
Career testing is NOT mandatory in order to work with me but for a small subset of my clients it is highly beneficial and I will recommend testing when I feel it is appropriate. I make this determination at the end of our first session when I have a better sense of your particular situation. There is a fee of $375 for career testing. That fee covers:
- the cost of the eight tests you will be given
- my administrative time in scoring those tests and producing a 5-6 page summary of the results
- A follow up session (1.5 hours), during which time we review the results of the testing.
Things are not so great at your job these days. Maybe you've been passed over for a promotion...maybe you're not part of the inner circle...maybe you've been handed some undesirable projects…maybe you're being underpaid...maybe you're getting buried in extra work that someone else is supposed to be doing...
If your present situation is causing you on-going stress, a professional evaluation can help enormously. My first goal is to help you determine whether your problems at work are fixable or whether you should move on.
If your job is worth saving, career coaching can help you improve the status quo and give you some concrete approaches to turn things around. These interventions may involve coaching you through a dialog you will then have with your boss. Or, we may decide to work on your prioritizing, time management, or delegating abilities, have you take on a high-profile project, or work on interpersonal strategies to restore relationships with key colleagues.
Alternatively, if it is indeed time to find a new work
environment, I can assist you with many transitional issues including the
identification of employers to pursue as well as additional training or
education that might be warranted.
Career coaching is similar to career counseling in that it involves
one-on-one sessions, usually face-to-face in my Huntington, Long Island
office. Session time is based on the rate of $150 per hour. Sessions are
usually one hour long.
Career decisions are considered to be one of the most important decisions a person ever makes because of the life-long implications related to income, personal fulfillment, and emotional happiness. Such an important decision deserves careful consideration and judgment. The money you spend on good career counseling or coaching is an investment you make in yourself and in your future.
For more information, or if you are ready to get started, contact MJ Feld at (631)673-5432.
205 East Main Street, Suite 2-4, Huntington, NY 11743
voice (631) 673-5432 fax (631) 673-5824
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