Counselling activity: the Career Storyboard exercise

One of the most effective counselling activities I have developed over the past year is what I call the Career Storyboard exercise.

Although many students are accustomed to discussing careers in terms of subjects, university courses or job titles, I have found that they often struggle to connect these choices to their personal strengths, interests, values and experiences. The Career Storyboard helps bridge this gap by encouraging students to view their future as a developing story rather than a single decision.

I began using this activity with students in grades 9 to 12 (years 11 to 13) after noticing that many students approached career planning with anxiety. They frequently asked questions such as: “What career should I choose?” or “Which university should I apply to?” without first understanding themselves.

Through my counselling experience, I learned that students make more informed and confident decisions when they start with self-awareness, rather than career options.

The Career Storyboard: how it works

The Career Storyboard is usually conducted in a small-group setting or during individual counselling sessions. Students are given a worksheet divided into four sections:

1. My experiences

Students identify experiences that have been meaningful to them. These might include academic projects, extracurricular activities, leadership roles, volunteering, internships, competitions or personal achievements.

The goal is not to identify accomplishments but to help students recognise moments when they felt engaged, motivated or proud.

2. My strengths

Students reflect on the skills they demonstrated during these experiences. Some examples are:

• Communication
• Problem-solving
• Creativity
• Leadership
• Collaboration
• Research
• Time management

This helps students begin connecting experiences to transferrable skills.

3. My interests and values

Students identify themes that repeatedly appear across their experiences. For example:

• Helping others
• Technology
• Design
• Business
• Scientific research
• Social impact

This stage often leads to meaningful discussions about motivation, purpose and long-term goals.

4. Possible future pathways

Only after completing the first three sections do students begin exploring possible career pathways, university majors and future opportunities.

By this stage, students are making decisions based on evidence about themselves, rather than existing assumptions or external pressure.

A practical example

One student I worked with believed he wanted to pursue engineering, because several family members worked in technical fields. During the Career Storyboard exercise, however, he repeatedly highlighted experiences involving event planning, public speaking and organising student initiatives.

As we reviewed the storyboard together, a clear pattern emerged. His strongest skills were leadership and communication, and his interests lay with people and project coordination.

This reflection led him to explore business management and marketing-related pathways. More importantly, he felt ownership over the decision because it emerged from his own experiences rather than external expectations.

This experience reinforced for me the importance of facilitating self-discovery before discussing universities or careers.

Involving stakeholders

I encourage students to share parts of their storyboard with parents and teachers. Parents often provide valuable insight into strengths they have observed over time, while teachers can highlight skills demonstrated in the classroom.

This collaborative approach creates a more holistic understanding of the student and encourages alignment between home, school and counselling support.

Advice for counsellors

For counsellors wanting to implement this activity, my recommendation is to focus on the conversation rather than the worksheet itself. The value comes from the reflection and discussion that follows.

Avoid rushing students toward career recommendations. Instead, spend time helping them identify patterns in their experiences, strengths and interests.

The Career Storyboard can be adapted for different age groups and can be incorporated into career exploration programmes, subject selection discussions, profile-building conversations and university planning meetings.

Most importantly, it reminds students that career planning is not about finding a perfect answer. It is about understanding themselves, exploring possibilities and creating a thought-out action plan for the future.

In my experience, this simple activity has consistently helped students become more confident, reflective and engaged in their decision-making process, making it one of the most valuable tools in my counselling practice.