Chapter 1 Post

           The first chapter really put the job market in perspective. It isn’t simply Americans fighting for jobs against Americans, it is a global battle. This battle can only be won with more training and practice. This training and practice can be attained with the help of career development.

            I found that the many statistics that Brown laid out for us in his first chapter were quite astonishing. Maybe it is because I am not one who watches or for that matter, reads anything about our economy.  This is the one that stuck out to me the most: With the combination of the involuntarily employed part-time and the unemployed group, it is possible that more than 25 million unemployed are suffering from some form of job-loss angst (Brown 2012). Really? First of all, 25 million is a huge number, and yes, I know that there are some 310,000,000 people in the US.  I am assuming that out of the total number of people about half of them are able to work. So, that is about 17% of our population are either out of work or completely or working involuntarily (without a choice to = unhappily working) part-time.

            What scares me is that I think this is bad now, but what about the future. Outsourcing in the US and insourcing from other countries will continue to impact workers throughout the world (Brown 2012).  The unemployed and/or the unskilled will take an even harder hit. Workers from other countries will work for cheaper here in the US (Brown 2012).

            Knowing just these few statistics and predictions can make anyone a little uneasy. At the same time, the role of career development is crucial to the success of our country. The more readily career development can be accessed the better it is for our job market. It is important not only to provide a foundation for adolescents and adults, but for children. If children are well equipped to know what and who they want to be in the future, then they are already many steps ahead.

            After reading this chapter, it has helped me see how “foolish” I was about choosing a career. I am glad everything worked out for me (I have a job. I have money. Etc…), but I never really took the time to research or even ask about what it was like to be an elementary school teacher. There are many opportunities to do this, but it was never advertised to me. I use the word advertised because I feel that it should be! Career intervention, career counseling, career guidance, career education, and career coaching were all listed in the first chapter (Brown 2012). As I was coming up through elementary school, junior high school, and high school I have only heard of a guidance counselor. To be honest, I thought they were for my emotions. Obviously, since I plan to become a guidance counselor, I see the many roles that I will play in the lives of my students and their parents.

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