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be the captain of your ship

“When asked the question: ‘What should I do?’, I sometimes use a metaphor:
‘Be the captain of your ship, you are the responsible person, in charge of the compass
and the navigation equipment. I could possibly help you read the maps, but this
demands that you know where you want to go’. The career and guidance counsellor
can help the client add lines and colours to the map, making it more in line with
reality, with a clearer career goal, but he or she does not take over the process.”

fitting tHe stay abroad to your
overall goals
“the most important aspect of going abroad
for studies, in my point of view, is to have a
holistic view of the journey, which means to
foresee what your steps can be after the period
abroad. Do you plan to stay abroad or return
home, and in what context will the period
abroad fit into your study plan at your home
university? in some cases, people do not seem
to be very clear about what it is that they want
or where they want to go. that perspective, in
itself, can be adventurous, and there’s nothing
wrong with a good adventure, but it is always
good to have a backup plan. counsellors can
assist students to form a clearer picture of what
could possibly await them. there needs to be a
“The most important aspect of going abroad for certain goal with studying abroad; it could be
studies, in my point of view, is to have a holistic view
of the journey” says Jónína Kárdal, career and guid- that the studies in question are not available
ance counsellor at the University of Iceland. here, that the student wants to broaden his or
her horizon, or that he or she sees it as a valu-
Jónína Kárdal is part of a group of seven career able part of the planned career. studies abroad
and guidance counsellors who serve the 14,000 are not a good way to run away from one’s
students at the university of iceland, along with problems, whatever they may be.”
four other members of staff, one of them a psy-
chologist. annually they conduct around 6,800 for icelanders, access to studying abroad has
sessions, including booked interviews, walk-in changed in the last decades. More exchange
hours, workshops, and other services. agreements have been made with foreign

Young people who study or train abroad are half as likely to
face long-term unemployment; 5 years after graduation, the
unemployment rate of Erasmus students is 23 % lower.
erasmus impact study, 2014

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