Career counselors and other career professionals adhere to professional ethical principles. Ethical standards are designed to serve the best interests of the clients. These standards govern topics such as professional practices, counselor-client relationships, the provision of services and the use of assessment and evaluation in counseling.
Your career professional will discuss his or her qualifications, training and areas of expertise.
You can expect that he/she will provide information about the services and fees, including the purposes, goals and benefits of the counseling services that you will receive.
Your career professional will discuss with you guidelines regarding confidentiality, privacy and disclosure of information for the counseling process.
Find out to which professional association guidelines your prospective career professional adheres. Review those ethical standards of the professional with whom you are considering working. You may find the guidelines on the web or ask him/her for a copy. The following professional organizations provide information regarding their respective ethical codes and standards:
National Career Development Association: http://www.ncda.org
American Counseling Association http://www.counseling.org
American Psychological Association http://www.apa.org
Association for Assessment in Counseling and Education http://aace.org