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.

Blog #14 Chapter 18

            Chapter 18 reports statements that are germane to activities we conducted in class. Personally, I have never heard of O*NET or the Occupational outlook Handbook. But thanks to the in-class activity, I have a better understanding of what’s out there as a resource. They came in handy for my interview and the presentation. I agree with Brown when he commented on the delivery of occupational information being through the Internet in the next 20 to 25 years. It isn’t very difficult to see that it’s already here and possibly on Smartphone’s already (I’m not sure if there’s an app for that or not). The only problem that stands in the way of utilizing these resources is ignorance. It took me 26 years before I found out this information was not only available, but that now it’s available online.

            I also think that resumes will become part of an online database that describes a person in greater detail. I am aware that Millersville has a FOCUS database in which you can upload more information than just a resume. I think this is a great idea, but we must not forget the purpose of a resume: to get an interview. An individual can create a link on the resume to the FOCUS database, but it will be all for not if the prospective employer doesn’t like your resume or it’s difficult to understand. I think that the focus should remain on the resume and once the interview is scheduled, then you can refer to your FOCUS database to show yourself off.

            Finally, career counseling will become a more specialized field and will require expertise in various avenues (Brown, 2012). I agree with this concept 100%. There will be an increase in the need for career counselors and a need for specialized degrees/certifications.  According to Brown, the profession of psychology has been rather lenient on the requirements of being certified in the area of career counseling. I see this aspect changing as it fills a desperate need. Someone else’s career and future cannot hang in the balance of an undertrained and under qualified individual. That is doing a disservice to both the client and the field of psychology in general.  This should be considered both ethically and morally on the behalf of the counselor. Also, proper training is paramount on behalf of the counselor when helping another individual decide his career for the future.

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

Blog Finale

Blog Finale

Having blogged on all of the chapters, I am going to focus on what stood out to me in our workshops. I was very impressed by the hard work and creativity that went into each workshop. I would like to extend a thank you to my classmates for such enjoyable learning experiences. I have not been to any career development workshops, so in the beginning of the year, I was not sure what to expect. I experienced the workshops as helpful and would attend a career workshop in the future because of it. I must admit, I am grateful that I am not currently in need of those services.

Several things stood out to me in the workshops – interviewing, resumes, internships, and learning the skills applicable to certain jobs. I have had many interviews. I always try to remember that I am interviewing the job as much as the potential employer is interviewing me. I learned this idea very early in my work life. I was 19 and looking for an office job after high school. I will never forget the interview I had with the office supervisor at a local business. She made prejudice comments about Jewish people during my interview. I knew I would never agree to work for her in one million trillion years (as my daughter says).

It was interesting to me that “teamwork” was the most desirable soft skill. I always think this term is so vague. A person must possess a variety of social and interpersonal skills to be a good team player. We have a “commitment to my co-worker” initiative at my job currently. It is meant to improve teamwork and overall morale. There have been a lot of improvements and I think the program will be successful. I noticed that the people who don’t want to “get on board with it” have or are leaving.

I agree that internships are not only helpful experiences, but probably essential. I did not have any “real life experience” when I embarked on my undergraduate internship. That experience did not lead to my first job, but it did contribute to a later one. I think there is a strange unwritten commandment that all psych grads must work as a TSS at some point in their careers. Anyway, of course TSS was my first job after college. I am about to enter an internship again at the graduate level. This one has a different feel – but I am not sure I can put words to it. I was definitely more active in choosing the environment for my internship this time, and I have a great deal more to balance. I no longer work flexible waitress hours and I am responsible to make sure a child has health care benefits. I don’t want to compromise the job I already have and worked so hard for. I don’t feel the luxury of working my life around my internship. Instead it has to somehow fit into an existing life. I really do believe that these graduate struggles are somehow part of the overall experience and a benefit. I think I am looking forward to a hindsight perspective.

I hope everyone has happy holidays and an excellent winter break. I enjoyed being in class with you all.

Blog #14: Chapter 18

                 I felt like this final chapter in the book was very fitting.  It is so beneficial for us to have an idea of not only the job market for our clients, but also for ourselves.  It was interesting to see what some of the predictions were years ago and how they relate to what we are going through now.  Overall it seems like technology is having the largest impact on career development practices.  The internet and online databases have changed the nature of the position entirely.  Career counselors are no longer just focusing on their counseling on the career aspect, but they also need to counsel individuals on the personal level as well (Brown, 2012). This holistic approach is becoming more common as counselors tend to move towards a more modern approach to counseling (Brown, 2012).

One of the trends that Brown identified was the decline of print materials (2012).  I absolutely agree with this and I am familiar with it in my work.  As an Admissions Representative, I am responsible for going out to high school guidance offices and updating our school’s file.  In this file we put information about our programs, program costs, applications, etc.  Each year I simply take out the old information and put in new information because no students are taking any of this information.  These files are useless because students are going online to look at information and they will fill out applications online as well.  Additionally instead of mailing out information about a school, individuals can just visit their website.  Although I do believe this is a positive trend in general, it makes it really hard to get information to these students. 

With all of the changes coming to the job market, more people are relying on the internet for their information rather than going to get help from a counselor (Brown, 2012).  This is not only bad for the career counselors, but it is unfortunate for the job hunters as well because there is so much information out there and sometimes it can be confusing.  Job hunters are now on their own to interpret this information, apply for, and negotiate potential jobs.  In addition to adults, this also affects high school students that are seeking information on colleges.  They are relying solely on the internet rather than seeking advice or help from their school counselors.  This is unfortunate for them because there are so many options out there that I am certain they are unaware of.

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

Chapter 18

As I was reading the chapter for this week, I kept thinking “there needs to be a more holistic approach to career counseling” only to come upon the trend of career counseling section and the issue posed at the end of having a more holistic approach to career counseling in the future (Brown, 2012). I know that the only experience I had pertaining to career development prior to this class was taking an assessment of my interests and the potential careers I may be interested in pursuing. I also agree with Brown (2012) that career counseling should be seen as a specialty. The only coursework I have done thus far pertaining to career counseling is taking this class. How would I possibly be able to help individuals with both personal and career issues unless career development is an important component of my education spanning more than just a semester long course?

In addition, Brown (2012) brings up the need for career counselors to be aware of potential values expressed by particular cultural and racial identity groups. It definitely made me think how helpful a career counselor would be to me: a female, biracial, and LGBT client. This was also something I thought about a lot as my group will be presenting a career workshop for the LGBT community, and I have also taken multicultural counseling this semester. I realized that even though I bring a lot of factors from my own life to the table I still need to be knowledgeable of the multitude of racial and cultural backgrounds present in this world today.

I appreciate that more career information will be provided to individuals through online resources (Brown, 2012). The only concern I have about this is whether or not individuals will understand the importance of these resources without the aid of a career counselor. The creation of websites that are easily accessible should also provide information as to why the resource is beneficial to the user, and how it can be applied directly to the user’s own need of information for career development issues. Just as Brown (2012) writes that graduate career counseling courses put more emphasis on counseling than providing counselors an opportunity to orient themselves to career information, I think the opposite for online resources for individuals. It would be incredibly helpful to combine both factors stemming from an individual’s personal history and career information in both online and counselor/client interactions.

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

Blog #14

          Brown’s chapter “Trends and Issues in Career Information, The Job Search, Career Development, and Career Development Programming” gave a very thorough description of changes that may develop over the years.  In this chapter, Brown states, “technology will continue to drive much of the innovation in career development” (2012, p. 373). I absolutely agree with Brown’s statement because so much that we do today (not only things relating to careers) revolves around recent technological advances.  Just think about the job search itself.  We no longer rely on newspapers to find job postings, but mainly focus on the Internet in order to find job openings.  Today, there are numerous resources on the Internet to help individuals find information about jobs.  According to Brown, the use of the Internet will improve the availability of career information and simultaneously decrease the use of print materials available (2012, p. 375). Finding career information is now easier than ever with resources such as O*NET and the Occupational Outlook Handbook.  With just a few clicks on the computer, individuals can easily find information about various jobs.  Even Internet job search sites such as Monster, Careerbuilder, and Linkedin, have made great changes in how individuals search for jobs today.
            It was interesting for me to see how the different theories we discussed in class were associated with future trends in career development.  According to the text, “John Holland’s theory will continue to dominate the assessment of interest and research on variables such as occupational satisfaction” (Brown, 2012, p. 378).  Since the beginning of the semester when I learned about Holland’s theory, I identified with his ideas more than any of the other theorists we learned about.  It just makes sense to me that individuals would seek out careers that matched their interest and abilities.  I believe that it will be important for career counselors in the future to continue using John Holland’s theory (as well as other theories when necessary) in helping individuals make career decisions that are appropriate for them. 
            Overall, this course has really taught me a lot about career development.  When I first began the course, I honestly knew very little about what was involved in career counseling and how to help someone that was unsure of their career path.  I believe that through this course, I will able to take what I have learned and use it to counsel individuals on different career options that are available.

Reference

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

Chapter 18

            In chapter 18, Brown notes the trends specific to career development and the like. One thing that I did notice is the increased use of technology in the future. Online job information, services, assessments, and openings will continue to increase. This makes sense because of the development of technology over the past 10 years. Also, it was interesting to see that the many theories that we learned will still be of interest in the future. Holland’s theory will continue to dominate, Super’s, Krumboltz’s, and postmodern theories will continue to have an impact in career counseling. It seems that using an eclectic method of career counseling (depending on the client) will be the best method going forward.

            I was glad to see that Brown recognizes that career development programming will be secondary to the school reform movement that grips many of this country’s public schools (Brown 2012, page 380). I am not glad because as a teacher I will not have to worry about it, I am glad because Brown understands the state that we are in right now with school reform. Like we have discussed in class, implementing a career development program in schools would be beneficial, but it is very difficult to do. This does not mean that it is impossible to do. I feel that a teacher could choose to teach his or her students about career development during social studies, but of course, the teacher would have to run it by the administration. The teacher could do this by showing any research based studies that have shown student growth due to the program.

            Lastly, I would like to comment on the way Brown set up this chapter. I like the list format on his predictions for the future. Also, I liked how he listed one issue at the end of each list. It made me stop and think about it. I do think career counselors will rely on free online information issued by the government. We have been moving towards a paperless society, and I think that will continue to grow. I also think that many more people will use the internet to search for jobs. I do think virtual job interviews will increase (especially if it is an interview that is in another state or country). At the same time, I think face to face interviews will still be prevalent. I think that quantitative and qualitative research strategies for assessment will continue to be used in the future. One will not limit the other because both types of research are important to finding out which assessments are best. I do think that there is a need for a more holistic approach to career counseling. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, it seems that career counselors are trying to be more eclectic to help meet the needs of their clients. I think that the emphasis on career development programs will stay the same (neither grow nor contract) due to the 2007 – 2010 recession. Now, if the government takes control of the current educational situation by pushing for career development programs, obviously, I would change my answer to grow. But, until that happens, career development programs will continue to be ignored in most states, districts, and schools.

           

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

Chapter 18 Blog Post

 

I found the information on trends in career information to be the most interesting part of this chapter. We have spent a lot of time throughout this class looking back on both theories of career development and trends of the past. I enjoy looking forward to what is to come for the field of career development. Even if we do not become “Career Counselors” we will still be able to affect some amount of change on either clients or students. Careers are such a huge part of people’s lives and a necessary piece to explore when you are counseling someone, even if it seems you are helping through an unrelated problem. I was pleased to read that “there will be a continuing effort to improve the delivery of occupational information” (Brown, 2012, p. 375) (i.e. O*NET and Career One Stop, among various other online sources). Staying familiar with the resources available to our clients will only serve us in a positive way in the future. 

I also feel very strongly about the future of our adult workforce; those who are far from their graduation days yet not nearly close enough to start thinking about a life after their full-time jobs. These are the people who tend to be affected the most by a down economy because this is the population that has young children, mortgages, many bills to pay and are looking toward paying for their children’s college educations, weddings, cars, etc. Helping adults to use the occupational information out there could have a huge effect on their future planning. “The current economic downturn and the human misery it has created will, at least in the short-term, prompt people to engage in information-based decision making” (Brown, 2012, p. 376).

Another segment of this section on trends in career development that I was happy to read is that “The reduction in time spent on career information is partially because of the recognition of the need to pay more attention to career counseling, which is a healthy sign” (Brown, 2012, p. 376). The more we cultivate the idea of “careers” into our young students, the more informed they will be when they are thrust into the workforce. We need to keep working with our students so that their college and career moves are thoughtful and well-planned out decisions. The down side of this is that “career counselors and career development specialists will increasingly have to rely on their own study and in-service training for their knowledge of career information” (Brown, 2012, p. 376). You could also look at this as a positive thing. Since most career counselors will have little built-in support, the field will most likely only attract people who are highly motivated to be in the field and want to do a lot of self-education to stay well-informed.

 

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