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.