Final post - Chapter 18

12/12/12

It was definitely interesting reading about the trends and predictions in career information, job searching, career development and development programming, although I have to agree with Amanda that not many of the trends Brown (2012) mentioned were very surprising or new material; it all made sense based on what we had learned and discussed throughout the semester.

One aspect of this chapter that I did enjoy was at the end of each “trends” section there was a broad issue stated in the form of a question; as I was reading through the chapter I kept finding myself returning to a few of those issues in my thoughts, so I’ll focus the rest of this blog post on a few of those questions.

Will online job-hunts and other strategies such as virtual job interviews replace traditional search techniques for most jobs? In my opinion, online job-hunts have already taken over as one of the primary ways to search for a job; as I’ve been searching for internships, I’ve been searching for everything online as the primary search mode, complemented by minor networking attempts. In terms of virtual job interviews, I think that there is definitely the potential for that sort of process to become increasingly popular, but I think it also depends on what type of job you’re interviewing for.

Will the three-sessions-and-a-cloud-of-dust approach to career counseling (Crites, 1981) that has characterized much of career counseling give way in the future to a more holistic approach, as has been suggested by Super and others for several decades? As we’ve discussed in class on numerous occasions, I think that career counseling should be a process that starts well before high school graduation, and should occur continuously over the years. Three whirlwind sessions hardly seems like enough time to really dig deep enough into the causes and patterns of one’s career decisions.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Last blog ever

When reading about the trends described in Chapter 18, it was comforting to know that many of the trends predicted in the 1997 edition of the book have come to fruition. Because of this, I approached the trends described in the new edition with confidence that they will be impacting my future work as a school counselor. According to Brown, there will be a continuing effort to improve the availability of career information. We experienced this first-hand during our class exercises working with O*Net and the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Brown also mentions the CareerOneStop website which I am not familiar with, but plan to explore as a resource. There will also be increased efforts to meet the occupational needs of adults, especially those who have never used any sort of occupational information in the past. I referenced this issue in my last blog as I described my mom's experience with entering the workforce again after 30 years of working for the same company. Many adults are now in similar positions and will require intensive assistance in order to reenter the workforce successfully. Related to the job search, job hunters will increasingly seek assistance from career development experts. At the same time this assistance is needed, funding for such programs is at an all-time low, so efforts must be made to strike a balance between demand and supply for such services. The demand for internet-based assessments is also likely to grow. Unfortunately, many of these assessments are also fee-based. This is unfortunate because job-seekers may need these assessments the most during a time when they have the least amount of money to contribute towards such resources. With respect to career counseling, it will increasingly be recognized as a specialty requiring expert knowledge and training in career development needs as well as personal counseling techniques. This aligns with many of our discussions this semester reiterating how a career impacts one's entire life path and vice-versa. Often, this career question is the first question asked when meeting someone new, so it often serves as the focal point of an identity for many individuals. Meeting the needs of a diverse range of individuals will also be important, and we've explored various techniques for meeting the needs of different groups in the text and in class. A trend that disappointed me related to trends in career development programming. According to Brown, such programming will be secondary to other areas of the school reform movement like high-stakes testing. I think a comprehensive career development program should be part of the reform movement because college and career readiness is the ultimate goal of K-12 education. I was even considering studying best practices in career development programming for my school counselor competency project, so I hope that I can find some good models in the Lancaster area. Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Final Blog - Chapter 18

            Unsurprisingly, Chapter 18 begins by discussing the trends and upcoming changes in occupations and the job market caused by technology.  As we know and have discussed numerous times throughout this semester, technology is a driving force for the economy and careers.  Advances in technology determine what jobs will no longer be needed, and which jobs may require more training to become more knowledgeable and technologically advanced.  I think it is interesting that the author is even attempting to guess the trends in jobs and careers in the next 20 to 25 years since things in the economy have been unpredictable lately.  It caused me to want to understand the reasoning behind his predictions, so I read on.

            Despite my interest, I wasn’t impressed by the trends listed such as an increase in information to help job searching, assessing your interests, and career counseling (Brown, 2012).  Those seem like “no-brainers” with the information we have learned thus far in the textbook and throughout class.  It seemed to summarize the core concepts learned in this course where I was expecting to gain new information. 

The only piece of information that I found to be slightly new or not touched upon as heavily in previous chapters was the piece regarding counseling minority individuals.  As stated in the text, research shows that Asian Americans prefer dependent decision making which means they do not typically have an independent focus orientation (Brown, 2012, p. 378).  This jives with the notion that they are collectivistic and place high importance on their family and relationships with kin by including them in their decision making.  This needs to be considered when offering career counseling services to these individuals because interventions may need to be done at a familial level rather than an individual level. 

Also the text stated that Native Americans learn better from visual information (Brown, 2012, p. 378).  This is very important information to consider when providing career counseling services to this population.  Talking with them and discussing information may not be the most helpful.  Providing a visual tool such as O*NET or including a handout with figures or information may make a huge difference.  A counselor in any field must tailor their sessions and interventions to the client’s needs rather than provide the same interventions for every client.  A one-size-fits all approach is not helpful or appropriate in the field of counseling. 

In summary of this chapter and the class in general, I have learned some valuable resources for the field of career counseling.  Holland’s research and assessments for vocational interest are very helpful in the process of determining an appropriate career, and also O*NET provides a lot of useful information as well.  Technology will always be a driving force in the job field today, tomorrow, and in the future which should also be considered when thinking of career counseling. 

References

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Final Blog - Chapter 18

Blog 14 – Chapter 18

                After reading Chapter 18, I found the majority of Brown’s (2012) predictions about the trends associated with career information, career assessment, and career counseling to be reasonable; however, when looking back at previous predictions by Herr and Gysbers’, it seems likely that many of these trends may not hold true in the foreseeable future. In regard to career counseling, I found it interesting that some current career counseling books continue to discuss the issue of gender simultaneously, rather than addressing the needs of women separately. It is clear that women face vastly different issues in the realm of career counseling than men, thus leading me to support Brown’s (2012) prediction that there will be a divergence in thinking about career counseling practices for men and women in the future. Similarly, I think it is absolutely crucial for career counselors to direct much of their attention on the career counseling needs of culturally diverse populations as they will constitute the majority of the U.S. population by the year 2050. According to Brown (2012), career counselors will need to adopt different strategies and be sensitive to the values and needs of their culturally diverse clients to be effective. 

In order better handle the vast career counseling needs of our ever-changing society, I feel as though it would absolutely be beneficial for individuals to receive certification in career counseling. Throughout this entire course and reiterated in the last chapter of Brown’s (2012) text, it has become obvious that career development is a highly specialized field that should require more than one course of material in graduate school to learn the knowledge and skills necessary to work effectively with others as a career counselor. Although this is not the type of specialized work I plan on doing in the future, I have gained an immense amount of appreciation for the work being done by researchers and counselors in the field of career development. Given the importance and demonstrated of career counseling, I found it interesting that the majority of schools do not make programs such as the ASCA models mandatory in schools (Brown, 2012). If career counseling is to be aimed at prevention rather than remediation, it makes most sense to implement a program beginning in elementary school that allows students the opportunity to plan for their future. My hope is that career counseling and career development programs will become a regular part of students’ experience in schools so as adults, they are not left to question why no one had exposed them to these resources sooner.

References

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 18, Final Blog

It is very difficult to predict what the future of the job market is going to be. It has changed so much since I attended high school and I know that it is going to keep changing. Jobs are pushing more heavily on going to college and attaining a 4+ year degree. Chapter 17 of Brown’s text showed that there is could be a shift in availabilities of jobs that do not require a college degree and require on the job training. But like the previous statement it is hard to say what exactly the future of jobs is going to hold.

            The importance of looking to the future for career development programs, assessments, career information and job searches is to be as informed as you can. Career information is essential, even for those not old enough to get a job. Understanding what jobs are and what they require of an individual is important to know. With the boom of the internet and everything going viral, accessibility to individuals has increased dramatically and Browns’ text states that in will continue to increase and online sources will completely replace print resource, (2012, pg 376). The only problem I see with this is if individuals do not have access to a computer, however they can look to others for help such as a counselor.

            I was a little shocked to see that graduate courses will continue to decrease their emphasis on occupational information as well as a basic understanding of how to select a career using career information. O*NET is a very useful source and understanding how to use is it so important. Before this class I did not even know what O*NET was and when we first started using it I was a little confused about it. I can see how counselors need to have a good understanding of its usefulness and how to help others with their career search.

            As far as trends in career counseling goes, I feel it is important that counselors pull from a variety of theorists. Holland’s theory is used widely today in assessments of interests, but we are social creatures and others can also influence our decisions, especially ones that we hold high opinions of. A counselor needs to understand their client and where they are at in their career search, and what methods will be most useful and beneficial to their clients. The saying in out with the old and in with the new doesn’t really apply with career counseling because the world is always shifting. I hope that Browns Statement, “we are many years away from a time when career development practices will be driven by research” (2012, pg 380), is not true because career development practices are so important, and you can not rely solely on career specialists. Everyone needs to play a role from the schools to the employers and everyone in between.

 

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development. (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Final Blog

As this course comes to a close, I have thought about the amount of useful information that I gained in regard to career counseling and development.   Honestly, if it wasn’t for this course, I would be included in the high number of people that never use the internet for occupational information.   In Chapter 18, Trends and Issues in Career Information, Brown (2012) discussed predictions about issues surrounding career information.  Brown (2012) discussed that there will be an improvement with the delivery of occupational information to individuals.  Counselors will develop strategic objectives to engage people who lack a high school education with career oriented information.  The wealth of information on the internet about career development will continue to surge and it is essential that this information is extended to racial and ethnic groups that are at risk for loss of work.

     Trends in career counseling, as mentioned in the text, focused on career counseling as a specialty and the importance of each counselor knowing information about career development for each client they serve.  I remember in the beginning of this semester, I asked a peer who works in an outpatient setting if she had to counsel people about career.  She said that it was surprising to her how often the topic of career comes up in her counseling sessions.  She recognized the importance of her gaining knowledge about career because in this economy, more and more people are unemployed and facing economic stressors.  Brown (2012) also discussed the importance of career counseling for minorities.  Increased rates of high school drop outs by Hispanic youth are a major social concern.  The largest minority group of people is of Hispanic descent and with high drop out rates, information about career would be difficult to obtain unless there is adequate knowledge about career information on the internet. 

Finally, Brown (2012) discussed career development programming.  Brown (2012) suggested that there is much needed improvement between the interaction of technology (computer systems) and humans.  As I have stated in previous posts, I did not know about the O’Net or other internet sites that provide career information.  Somewhere there seems to be a disconnect in their area and maybe with last weeks workshop on Career Day with Fifth Grader’s one of the first steps is to begin talking about career sooner than later in life.  Maybe career development could be part of a student’s curriculum beginning in elementary school.  Kids seem to have regular access to computers in schools.  Maybe a part of the curriculum could be to incorporate getting familiar with some of these career sites during computer class.  It would make it fun and educational for the youngsters.

Brown, D. (2012). Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development.  (10^th edition). New York: Pearson, Inc.

Final blog :)

           The final blog post is so exciting. Also, some of the trends found in Chapter 18 are also uplifting. It is refreshing to see that the trends in career information are towards making people more aware of the information. One of my first comments on the O*NET was that I never knew it existed and according to the book, I am not the only one. A large number of adults have never used any type of occupational information as well as one-fifth of graduate students (Brown, 2012, p. 375). It is important that people know about this information especially in our economic time where jobs are becoming harder and harder to find.

            An overall trend that I noticed throughout the chapter is how much the Internet is being utilized for career development. Career information, job opening, salary, job hunting tips, and career assessment are all becoming more accessible via the Internet. This is important because it make the information more accessible to a wide variety of people. However, like we discussed in class, technology is a difficult topic to discuss. There are positive aspects of the increasing amount of reliance on technology, but there are also concerns for the loss of jobs because of it.  I guess we will see what the future holds in response to the economic downturn of these past years.

            In regards to this class in particular, Brown states that most counselors are only required to take one course that deals with career development so career counselors are having to rely on their own study and in-service training (2012, p. 376). I find this to be very true. Upon taking this class, I really didn’t know what to expect, but after taking the class I realize how much actually goes into career counseling. I am blown away by the amount of information, services, and theories that are available. I can understand now how one class in career development is just not enough.

Reference

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.