Week 2 Post

Before discussing this week’s readings, I’d like to take time to share my reactions from last week’s class discussion. Many of the findings and data presented in Chapter 1 of the text were remarkable, but at the same time, not all that surprising. I found that the majority of the members in my group regarded themselves as part of the 7 in 10 workers that would get more information about jobs if they were starting over (Brown, 2012). Looking back, I think our intentions were good, as everyone seemed to have developed a general idea and plan of what path they wanted to follow; however, it is evident that career development services were underutilized although they were readily available and easily accessible in most cases at the college level. Unfortunately, this brought up the lack of availability of such services at the elementary, middle, and high schools. We found that career development services ceased to exist until high school, where teachers, counselors, and courses made a push for getting into college rather than what major you wanted to pursue once you were there. When asked why career development services weren’t pursued and utilized at the college level, the consensus appeared to be an overwhelming pressure to decide on a major and stick with it, along with the time and money that had already been invested up to that point. This leads me to one of the assigned readings for this week which I think corresponded well with our class discussion.

                Gibson’s (2005) article titled “The Use of Genograms in Career Counseling with Elementary, Middle, and High School Students” emphasized the importance of career counseling at all levels, not just at the high school and college level as many of have experienced firsthand. The part of the article I found most fascinating was the use of career counseling at the elementary level. It is extremely beneficial to be proactive and target this population early on. These career counseling strategies go beyond simply educating the individual by allowing the individual to be part of the process. They raise awareness of the self, family, and choices which the individual may continue to build on throughout his or her development. Additionally, it provides young children with a visual representation of where their family has been and how their decision-making and career choices may affect it in the future.

References

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

Gibson, D. M. (2005). The use of genograms in career counseling with elementary, middle, and high school students. The Career Development Quarterly, 53, 353-362.