The
beginning of Chapter 13 in Brown’s textbook has some very relative and
interesting notions about college education and its use in the career
world. “Underemployed workers include
workers who are in jobs, either full- or part-time, that do not allow them to
use the skills and knowledge gained in their education” (Brown 2010). Reading this, I think about how often I hear
young adults and college students saying that there really is no point in
getting a degree because it won’t get you any further than someone without a
degree. So does a college degree really
prepare you to excel in a certain job?
The term of being underemployed is quite interesting because it goes
past the idea of being able to get a job.
Instead it points out how we need to find jobs that can actually utilize
what we have learned throughout our education.
Another
point Brown makes that I find interesting is how, “The choice of a major is by
default a career choice” (Brown 2010).
This reminds me of Savickas and career indecision. People often enter college with no idea of
what they want to do, nonetheless what major they want to choose. Career services need to place more emphasis
on choosing a major wisely, if indeed it will lead to your occupation. It seems as if career development services
need to be modified for each and every student.
This is difficult to find the resources and time necessary to account
for every student in the world. “The
necessity to make an early decision leads to mistakes” (Brown 2010). I feel like instead of SAT scores being
required to gain entry into a college university, a Holland Code assessment
should be required. From there, students
would be more easily directed towards a certain major or university to
attend.
I am
definitely an advocate of hands-on experience as opposed to reading about a
career online or being counseled about it.
One of the most helpful experiences in my career decision-making process
was an externship course offered at my undergraduate university. I earned credits for taking this course, and
I was introduced to a wealth of information. I was able to create a career profile packet,
learning how to write the perfect resume, practice networking skills, and learn
all the ethics of the workplace. The course
required each student to go out into the world and find a desirable place to
work in the field of psychology. I think
internships and externships at the high school level are not as useful as at
the college level. If I had this
opportunity to do this at the high school level, I am sure I would not have
gained as much from it. At the college
level, I was a lot more knowledgeable about my field of study and could apply
that information confidently on the job.
Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and
career development (10th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment