Choosing
How to choose a career counselor: a counselor's guide
I'm a career counselor, and the way most people pick a counselor is wrong. Here's the actual checklist I'd use if I were a seeker rather than a practitioner.
4 min read · By Aaron Good, MS, CRC, LPC, CCC · 2026-05-20
Most people pick a career counselor the same way they pick a contractor: ask one friend, look at one website, book the first one whose office isn't too far away. The result is a coin flip on whether the relationship works.
You can do better than a coin flip with about thirty minutes of upfront work. Here's the checklist I'd actually use.
Step 1: Decide what you need them for
The honest version of this question: what changes in your life if this counseling works?
- "I land a specific job I'm aiming at" → you want a tactical career coach with hiring-process expertise
- "I finally figure out what I actually want to do" → you want a counselor who works in identity and meaning
- "I stop feeling so paralyzed every time I look at job postings" → you want a counselor who can work with anxiety, not just decisions
- "I get back into a career after my time off" → you want a returner specialist
- "I make a transition out of academia / military / a chronic illness" → you want someone with experience in that specific transition
These different jobs require different practitioners. Skip this step and you'll end up with someone who's perfectly qualified — for a problem you don't have.
Step 2: Filter by credentials, not bios
Bios are marketing. Credentials are accountable claims.
The ones that mean something for career work:
- NCDA-MCDP (Master Career Development Professional) — highest NCDA credential, hard to fake
- NCDA-CCC (Certified Career Counselor) — career-specific, requires master's in counseling
- NCDA-CCSP (Certified Career Services Provider) — career-specific, for non-counseling-degree practitioners
- CRC (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor) — career counseling for people navigating disability, injury, or major life transition
- ICF-MCC/PCC — top tiers of coaching credential
- State license (LPC, LCPC, LMHC, LCMHC, LCSW, LMFT) — confirms clinical training when paired with a career focus
A great career counselor doesn't need all of these. Most have one or two. Practitioners with zero of these listed are not necessarily bad — but it puts the burden on them to demonstrate competence in some other observable way (decades of practice, published book, board roles, named in major media).
Step 3: Verify the credentials
Five-minute task that almost nobody does:
- NCDA credentials: search the NCDA Find a Career Practitioner directory
- ICF credentials: search the ICF Credentialed Coach Finder
- LPC / LCSW / LMFT / etc.: search your state board's license lookup
- CRC: search the CRCC verification page
If they claim a credential and the registry doesn't show it, that's a red flag. Either the credential lapsed (which they should disclose), or it was never real.
Step 4: Read their site for fit, not polish
What I look for on a practitioner's website:
- A specific description of who they work with. "Mid-career professionals in tech who are weighing entrepreneurship" beats "Anyone navigating career change."
- A described process. What does a first session look like? What's the second look like? What does the engagement end up being?
- Honesty about scope. Counselors who name what they don't do are more trustworthy than ones who imply they do everything.
- At least one piece of original writing. A blog post, a podcast episode, a guide. Not a stock-photo "About us" page.
What I don't weight heavily:
- Years in practice. Some excellent counselors have been practicing five years. Some mediocre ones have been around for thirty.
- Office aesthetics. Comforting design doesn't predict competence.
- Whether they have a Calendly. A working phone or email is fine.
Step 5: Do a consultation call
Most counselors offer a free 15-20 minute consult. Use it. Ask:
- "What does your typical engagement look like with someone in my situation?"
- "When have you decided someone wasn't a good fit, and what did you do?"
- "What's something you're not good at?"
The third question is the tell. Practitioners who can answer it specifically tend to be better practitioners. Ones who deflect ("I think I'm a good fit for most career questions") tend not to be.
Step 6: After two sessions, decide
Most counselors will tell you to commit to six or twelve sessions before judging. I disagree. After two sessions you should be able to answer:
- Do I feel like this person heard me accurately?
- Did they say at least one thing I hadn't already thought of?
- Do I trust them to push back when I'm wrong?
- Is the process they described actually what's happening?
If two or more are "no," try a different practitioner. The relationship is the intervention. If it's not working, more sessions won't fix it.
What to skip
- Personality assessments as the whole intervention. MBTI and similar tools can be useful inputs. They are not therapy or career planning. Be wary of practices that center them.
- Counselors who position their job as telling you what your career should be. No one outside you has that information.
- Engagements you can't end. Month-to-month is the minimum. Anything longer-commit is the practitioner's risk-aversion, not your need.
What this looks like in practice
Aim for ~30 minutes of research, 1-2 consult calls, and 2-3 actual sessions before you decide whether you've found the right practitioner. That's a lot less than the average. It's also dramatically more than what most people do, which is why most people end up unhappy with their counselor.
The directory you're reading this on was built specifically to make Step 2 (filter by credentials) and Step 4 (read for fit) faster. Browse verified counselors when you're ready.