Abstract
Context: In the Indian education system, most students choose a career stream after passing secondary school certification. This period is marked by significant developmental changes and the need to make crucial career decisions. The effectiveness of career guidance largely depends on the competencies of career advisors, which are influenced by their ability to assess students’ personality factors, employability quotient, and career aptitude.
Approach: A team of Career Advisors has been trained using standardized tools and techniques for identifying competencies based on the practice of a model of the “7-Point Career Aptitude Test” over the past three decades in rural Maharashtra. Building rapport with students and parents and understanding their perspectives requires empathy, active listening skills, and counselling strategies to suggest guidelines for decision-making when choosing a career option by designing career maps.
Findings: Advisors should be skilled in selecting and administering appropriate tests based on individual, customized student needs. Integrated Practical career guidance with personality factors, employability quotients, and career aptitude assessments to support students. The key competencies include Analytical Skills, Personalized Approach and Guidance, Continuous Learning, and Ethical Practices, which provide practical advice suited to the contextual aspects of career aspirants. New applied theory approaches are helpful for impactful counselling on future careers. More personalized career mapping and counselling are required for rural youth.
Conclusions: Continuous professional development, knowledge enhancement, updating knowledge about industrial revolutionary trends, and adherence to ethical practices are essential competencies required for career advisors to maintain their effectiveness and support students' holistic development. The assessment processes must also be upgraded to include changing scenarios when choosing career options, thus reskilling advisors' competencies with various behavioural theories for transformational applications.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr. Dipak Tatpuje , Dr. Yogeshwari Giri, Dr. Avinash Kakade (Author)