Blog 12

I feel as though since Brown’s textbook has been so recently edited that it is extremely relevant to today’s job market as well as to the realism of client interaction. In chapter 11 when he discusses the steps one needs to take in order to be best prepared for a job, I saw something that I did not see in the last chapter: realistic and feasible ways to attract people to the active job search. In my last post I felt that Brown was too optimistic about having high-schoolers take on some independent work when searching for a job or college, while in this chapter Brown proposed the idea of “job clubs” (2012, pg. 236) which seemed like a brilliant idea. I recently did research regarding college students and their views on drinking, and the implication of the article was that the only way to truly police students’ pressure to drink is to enact peer groups on campus in order to promote camaraderie and comfort. I see the same thing, here. Brown explains that people involved in a social organization dedicated to searching and being prepared for jobs will allow them to tackle problems together instead of feeling overwhelmed (2012). I could see this being used in a high school for college searches as well so that students could have the feeling that they are all taking steps together (as well as motivate them to work as hard as the others in the club).

                I also found it poignant that Brown discussed the use of social networks to promote the job search. A lot of times students and job-searchers are fearful that future employees will see an inappropriate picture on their Facebook and it will jeopardize the chances of being hired, but here Brown posits that we can use these online hang-out spots to our advantage by finding connections in our field (2012). An interesting statistic Brown mentioned, however, is that people with social and artistic dominant Holland codes were less likely than people with Conventional, Enterprising, and Realistic to find jobs through social networking (Brown, 2012, pg. 238). I thought that was so interesting because it seems counterintuitive that the more creative and social people would be looking at newspaper ads instead of learning about job opportunities through friends.

                In chapter 16, Brown discussed something that I felt was very appropriate for many of the discussions we have had in class. A lot of times, when sharing our experience with school counselors, I feel that most people either do not remember their high school counselor or only went to him or her when they needed help picking classes. I like how Brown laid out the questionnaire for the Community College students that asked about their relationship with their advisor (2012, pg. 354-5), because I feel that it addressed a lot of the issues of a counselor/advisor’s presence in a student’s life.

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