CAREER GUIDANCE

What is career guidance?


                               It is a comprehensive, developmental program designed to assist individuals in making and implementing informed educational and occupational choices. A career guidance and counseling program develops an individual's competencies in self-knowledge, educational and occupational exploration, and career planning.




Importance of career guidance

                           The decisions that young people make at school have a big impact on their lives – affecting not just their further education, training or employment, but also their social lives, finances and health outcomes. A key function of secondary schools is to prepare students to transition successfully toward a future career path. This involves providing curriculum opportunities to build students’ general capabilities, support students’ interests and aspirations, and support them to make informed decisions about their subject choices and pathways. Students are more engaged in education and highly motivated about their future when they have a clear understanding of themselves and how they might live and work when they leave school. High quality career education and guidance is an essential part of schooling in preparing young Australians for their future. Careers are now increasingly seen not as being ‘chosen’ but as being constructed through the series of choices about learning and work that people make throughout their lives. Career education in this sense need not be confined to the few, it can, and must, be made accessible to all.

                             The two key components of career education and career guidance are:  career education developing knowledge, skills and attitudes through a planned program of learning experiences in education and training settings which will assist all students to make informed decisions about their study and/or work options and enable effective participation in their working life. career guidance – assisting individuals to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers and move from a general understanding of life and work to a specific understanding of the realistic learning and work options that are open to them. Supporting students in making well informed choices about subjects can lead them to have a more optimistic outlook on life, sense of purpose and greater level of contribution that they make to their families and society. There are economic and social benefits when students are supported to make effective transitions from secondary school to further education, training or employment. Career education and guidance play an important role in curriculum that supports:  students’ interests, strengths and aspirations, students’ achievements  students at risk of poor outcomes  students making informed decisions about their subject choices and pathways.

                              

Give all students information on all routes

Half of young people can be expected to go to university, which means that half will not. Students now have the opportunity to leave school and go to college, to apprenticeships, to university or to work and training. But it can be all too easy for students to assume that university is the only option, when in fact other paths also offer good opportunities.

Our research finds that schools with sixth forms are more likely than other schools to advise a student to go on into their own sixth from than into college or other vocational routes. We would like to see all young people getting high-quality advice on all routes wherever they go to school.

Why is Career Guidance and Counseling Key to the Delivery of Vocational-Technical Education?

Career guidance and counseling programs help individuals acquire the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to identify options, explore alternatives and succeed in society. These programs better prepare individuals for the changing workplace of the 21st century by:

• teaching labor market changes and complexity of the workplace
• broadening knowledge, skills, and abilities
• improving decision making skills
• increasing self-esteem and motivation
• building interpersonal effectiveness
• maximizing career opportunities
• improving employment marketability and opportunities
• promoting effective job placement
• strengthening employer relations

Who Benefits from Career Guidance and Counseling Programs?

Everyone benefits--youth and adults, male and female, disabled, disadvantaged, minorities, limited English proficient, incarcerated, dropouts, single parents, displaced homemakers, teachers, administrators, parents and employers.

Where are Career Guidance and Counseling Programs offered?

Everywhere elementary, junior and senior high schools, community colleges, technical institutes, universities, career resource centers, correctional facilities, community-based organizations, human services agencies, community and business organizations, skill clinics, employment and placement services.

What are the Key Components of Successful Career Guidance and Counseling Programs?

• A planned sequence of activities and experiences to achieve specific competencies such as self-appraisal, decision making, goal setting, and career planning
• Accountability (outcome oriented) and program improvement (based on results of process/outcome evaluations)
• Qualified leadership
• Effective management needed to support comprehensive career guidance programs
• A team approach where certified counselors are central to the program
• Adequate facilities, materials, resources
• Strong professional development activities so counselors can regularly update their professional knowledge and skills
• Different approaches to deliver the program such as outreach, assessment, counseling, curriculum, program and job placement, follow-up, consultation, referral

What are some Opportunities for Career Guidance Counselors under the Perkins Act?

Counselors have opportunities to participate in an education and training system that integrates academic and vocational education, to encourage individuals' greater participation in further education by articulating secondary and post-secondary education, to renew their commitment to servicing the most at-risk or disadvantaged of our society, to promote program outcomes and performance measures, and to respond to business and economic development.