More recently, the word “careerist” was used with undisguised disdain and sarcasm. Career growth was associated in the concept of the majority with the ability to play a behind-the-scenes game, bend over backwards in front of superiors, use family connections, make flattering speeches, etc. Today, enterprises that are guided by such principles in promoting employees turn out to be uncompetitive, and the meaning of the word “career” returns to its Italian origins - carriera - run, life path, field. How not to make a mistake in choosing your path, your field? American psychologist K Glading points out that “choosing a career is more than just deciding what one is going to do for a living. The nature of activities influences a person’s lifestyle as a whole. “Professional roles are connected by many threads with other human life roles.” Thus, income level, stress, social identity, recognition, education, dressing style, hobbies, interests, choice of friends, lifestyle, permanent place of residence and even personality traits are associated with a person’s professional life. In addition, professional communities are mini-cultures where social needs are satisfied and values ​​are formed. His sense of well-being depends on the nature and goals of a person’s work. Therefore, it is extremely important for a person to take his career choice seriously.” Today in Russia, few people make a conscious choice of career, i.e. your field of life. So-called career counseling is most often carried out with high school students in order to at least somehow orient them in choosing a further place of study. This consultation is carried out, as a rule, on the basis of 2-3 tests that identify the interests of students. But interests at this age are most often associated with the quality of teaching of certain school subjects and the personality of the teacher. This is probably why it is absolutely necessary to develop career counseling today. “The process of choosing a career is unique to each person. It depends on personal characteristics, on the stage of development and on learned life roles. The choice of career can be influenced by random events, family atmosphere, gender and age. In addition, overall economic status is also a factor in career choice. Crites lists a number of important features of career counseling:1. “The need for career counseling is greater than the need for psychotherapy.” Career counseling deals with the inner and outer world of the individual, while other counseling approaches deal only with internal events.2. “Career counseling can serve therapeutic functions.” There is a positive correlation between career and personal adaptability. Clients who successfully manage a career issue can gain the skills and confidence to take on problems in other areas. They may invest more energy in solving non-career-related problems precisely because they have clarified their career goals. And while Brown offers a set of assessment methods useful for determining whether a client primarily needs personal or career counseling, Krumboltz argues that career and personality counseling are inextricably intertwined and should often be conducted together. Indeed, research findings refute the view “that those who seek career assistance are different from those who seek any other type of assistance.” For example, people who have lost their jobs and fear that they will not find another one are simultaneously faced with both a career problem and a problem of personal anxiety. Working with such people should definitely be approached from a holistic perspective, offering clients informational assistance in finding a career and supporting their determination to bravely face and overcomeemotional problems associated with finding a new job or changing direction in life.3. “Career counseling is more difficult than psychotherapy.” Crites argues that to be an effective career counselor, a person must be able to handle both personal and job variables and know how these two types of variables interact. “To be knowledgeable and proficient in career counseling, counselors must draw on a variety of theories and techniques related to both personality and career development, and continually select and offer their clients relevant information regarding the world of work.” All this is not fully present in those areas of counseling that mainly focus on the inner world of the client. Brown and Brooks give the following definition of career counseling and related concepts: Career counseling is an interpersonal process aimed at helping individuals solve the problems of their development careers. Career development includes the process of selection, mastery, adaptation and advancement in a profession. Career development is a lifelong process that interacts dynamically with other aspects of life. The range of career-related problems includes (but is not limited to) relieving uncertainty and indecision in choosing a career, increasing productivity, dealing with stress, adaptability, inconsistencies between the person and the work environment, as well as the problem of inadequate or unsatisfactory integration of professional and other life roles (for example, the roles of parent, friend, citizen). What should career counseling include? To begin with, people deciding on a career choice need to be provided with complete and high-quality information about professions. Such information will make it possible to at least correlate your abilities with the requirements and specifics of the profession and thereby help in making a decision. Today, there are several approaches to career counseling. The first of them is based on the principle of matching a person and a job that suits the abilities of this person. This approach was called trait factor. It always emphasized the uniqueness of people. The founders of this theory believed that a person's abilities and traits could be objectively measured and quantified. Holland identified six categories according to which personality types and work environments can be classified: realistic (pragmatic), investigative, artistic, social, proactive and conventional. The more an individual’s abilities coincide with the specifics of work, the higher the degree of job satisfaction will be. For example, a person of an artistic type is unlikely to be satisfied with the work of an accountant. In any case, as Holland emphasizes, in order to consciously make a decision on choosing a career, a person must have an adequate understanding of himself, as well as the requirements of the profession. The second approach can be called psychodynamic counseling. It is based on the work of Anna Rowe. They emphasize the importance of unconscious motivation and the satisfaction of emotional needs. Rowe believes that vocational interests develop through interactions between parents and their children. The choice of career reflects a desire to satisfy needs that were not met by parents in childhood. From a psychodynamic point of view, the formation of life stereotypes occurs primarily during the first few years of childhood. Rowe believes that there is an unconscious drive formed during this period that influences people's choice of careers in which these needs can be expressed and satisfied. Rowe describes three different stereotypes of parent-child relationships. The first stereotype is characterized by emotional concentration on children. A stereotype takes one of two forms.The first form is overprotection, in which parents do too much for their children and support their dependence. Another form is over-demanding, in which parents focus on their children's achievements. Children who grow up in such an environment usually develop a need for constant feedback and encouragement. They often choose careers that provide social recognition, such as the performing arts. The second stereotype of parenting is detachment. There are two extreme manifestations of this stereotype. The first is neglect of parental responsibilities, in which extremely little effort is made to meet the needs of children. The second stereotype is a refusal to parent, in which no effort is made at all to meet the child's needs. Rowe believes that children brought up in such conditions focus their lives on careers of scientific and technical interest, finding satisfaction in them. They are more likely to deal with objects and ideas. Finally, the last stereotype of parent-child relationships is the acceptance of children. Acceptance can be an unintentional or more active expression of love; In any case, children's independence is encouraged. Children from such families usually choose careers that balance the personal and non-personal aspects of life, such as a career as a teacher or consultant. This also includes a modification of the psychodynamic approach to career counseling based on the work of Murray Bowen and expanded by McGoldrick and Gerson. According to this approach, a person's uniqueness is associated with the family in which he grew up. One way to examine family stereotypes is to construct family or career genograms. Here it is very important to identify the professional choices of all family members, preferably not even in one or two generations. The third approach in career counseling is based on the theory of career development by Donald Super and Eli Ginsberg. Super believes that career development is a process of realizing one's self-concept. People's beliefs about themselves are reflected in what they do. Super suggests that professional development unfolds through five stages, characterized by a developmental task that must be accomplished. The first stage is the growth stage (from birth to 14 years). At this stage (the substages of fantasy (from 4 to 10 years), interest (age 11-12 years) and ability (13-14 years) are distinguished) children form a subjective idea of ​​themselves in relation to others. Growing up, children begin to navigate the world of professions. The second stage is research (age 15-24). It has three substages: trial (age 15-17), transitional (age 18-21) and trial (age 22-24). The main task of this stage is a general study of the world of professions and clarification of career preferences. The third stage is known as gaining position (ages 25-44). Its two substages are testing (age 25-30) and promotion (age 31-44), the main task is to become involved in a desired and suitable field of activity. Once through these stages, people can focus on advancement until they lose interest or reach their professional ceiling. The fourth stage - maintaining stability (age 45-64), has the main task of maintaining what has already been achieved. The final stage - recession (age from 65 years to death) is a time to withdraw from work and develop other sources of satisfaction. It has two substages: slowdown (age 65-70) and retirement (from 71 years to death). Today, career counseling usually uses an integrated approach, combining both the previously listed approaches and other methods of psychological counseling. First of all, consultants examine the client's career problems: what the problem is, why it arose, and how it can be solved. Conclusions reached by the client and the consultant.