Ever seen a five-minute online quiz that claims to determine which career path is best for you? Perhaps you’ve experienced a family member’s constant encouragement to pursue a career in accounting even though numbers aren’t your thing. How about an aptitude test that revealed that you are most suited to an industry that bores you? Bad career advice is everywhere and it’s usually not hard to spot.

However, there are scenarios where career advice may appear to be good counsel but just doesn’t seem to work. Professional career advice that is provided by experienced counsellors with the right approach can be extremely insightful and helpful for people seeking guidance around their career path. Unfortunately, in some cases,even when career advice comes from credible, well-intentioned or professional places, it isn’t effective for the person intended.

If you are considering seeking out some guidance, or have followed ineffective guidance before, here are some potential reasons why some types of career advice may not work for you.

When the advice isn’t centred around authenticity

Authenticity is key when it comes to your career success and finding fulfilment in your working life. We’ve written before about the importance of authenticity in your career and how it can impact your happiness and satisfaction in your job, your confidence as a professional, your relationships with people in your working environment as well as your overall success. Simply put, if your career is not aligned with your authentic self,you may struggle along the path and find it tough to find fulfilment.

If career advice isn’t centred around the specific individual’s authentic self, there’s a good chance that the advice won’t be relevant to that individual and won’t work for them.Some approaches to career guidance lack authenticity, and although the advice may be excellent and work for some people who resonate with the advised path,it might not work for everyone. Career advice works best when it has been intentionally centred around the unique individual, focusing on their true self and what drives them.

When the advice doesn’t start with self-awareness

Following on from the above, authenticity requires a high level of self-awareness. To follow a path that is aligned with your authentic self, you need to really know and understand yourself.

Some approaches to career guidance skip this important starting point. When advice is formulated from a place that lacks understanding of who the advice seeker truly is, it is likely to be inauthentic and unsuccessful.

When the advice focuses on your strengths only

This kind of advice is common - often coming from family members, teachers as well as career advisors. If you have a strength in a particular subject or have a talent in a specific area, many people may advise you to pursue this career path. Although this may seem like logical and valid advice, it is not guaranteed to work for everyone.

Subjects that you have excelled in up until this point might not be what you are passionate about.Perhaps some of your strengths do not drive or energise you. Career guidance approaches that focus only on your strengths without considering the connection they have with your inner-self may not always offer the most appropriate advice.

When the advice implies a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choice

Making choices around your career are major decisions and can be overwhelming, leaving you feeling nervous about taking the wrong path. Sometimes when we seek career advice, we are looking for the answer – and many approaches to career guidance try to offer exactly that.

The truth is that the answer doesn’t exist – many answers do. There are many different paths, opportunities and possibilities when it comes to your career, each of them with equal potential for success and fulfilment. Career advice that implies a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ choice may not work for you as the working world now offers endless potential paths, with never-ending opportunities to change your mind too along the way.

There are many different approaches to career guidance – some that work and some that may not always be effective for everyone. At Careers in Depth, our approach is centred around self-awareness and authenticity and aims not to be prescriptive but rather empowering – helping individuals understand themselves and their options better. Our four-step approach runs through phases of exploration, connection,resolution and action and is focused upon aligning your work self with your‘true’ self. Using this bespoke approach, our career advice is always tailored specifically to the individual.

If you’re looking for some sound career advice or would like to find out more about our approach and how we can help you, book a free phone consultation with one of our experienced career counsellors.