career counseling

CAREER COUNSELING (Presented by: Ms. Carla Joyce B. Navarrete)

What is the Difference between Career, Job and Vocation? 

Career

It refers to what you choose to do to earn a living. It is a sequence of jobs in a similar field that ideally lead to promotion within that field. 

Job It is simply any situation where you are paid in exchange for your labor-nothing more, nothing less. 

Vocation It evokes inmost gifts, abilities, passions, dreams and broader life purpose. The Latin root word—“vocationem”— means “a calling”. Vocation is an occupation that someone feels strongly about doing, despite monetary gain or other influences. Therefore, everyone’s vocation should be what they feel compelled to do because it gives a deeper meaning to life as well as added meaning within us. A vocation is what you were born to do. It’s that point where your skills, talents, and interests intersect and you’re most able to change the world around you.

CAREER COUNSELING   

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Career counseling, career guidance and career coaching are similar in nature to other types of counseling or coaching. The focus of career counseling is generally on issues such as career exploration, career change, personal career development and other career related issues. Career counseling is about helping you expand your knowledge of self, all of the external factors that have influenced your life, and all of the barriers both real and imagined in making a career choice. This process gives you the best chance to find a career that makes you feel fulfilled. Satisfying careers usually give people a sense of satisfaction, pride, selfesteem, and self-efficacy while shielding them from mental health issues like depression and unmanageable anxiety. Career counseling or career guidance includes a wide variety of professional activities which focus on supporting people in dealing with career-related challenges. Career counselors work with people from various walks of life, such as adolescents seeking to explore career options, experienced professionals contemplating a career change, parents

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who want to return to the world of work after taking time to raise their child, or people seeking employment. A successful course of career counseling means working with a counselor who has the skill set to help you explore facets of your identity influenced by early family experiences, unfinished grief, neurotic drives and compulsive behavior, faulty thinking, how you find meaning in your life, and a whole host of other psychological factors.

What do you need to know about Career Counseling? 

It is an objective and systematic approach to determining career options for a person

It uses an objective and systematic approach to finding out which professions are suitable for an individual based on certain measurable and subjective factors. Career counseling may involve planning out long-term careers, narrowing possible career opportunities to specific job descriptions, analyzing an individual's strengths and personality, and reviewing job options. Typical activities in career counseling sessions include seminars and discussions on topics that include job hunting, how to make advantageous choices among many career options, making long-term career plans, taking skill-based examinations and learning different ways of transitioning into a workplace. 

It can help assess different individuals

Individuals with various educational backgrounds can seek help from a career counselor. Usually, universities and schools employ these professionals to help their students. Some counselors may conduct individual sessions or group sessions. Generally, a counselor serves as a guide for people who want to start working, change jobs or explore new career opportunities. 

It can help people match their skills with the right job

Career counselors provide services to help people assess their skills, educational background and knowledge, personality, interests, and strengths and to possibly discover other potential they may have. After this, the counselor will determine which career options are most suitable for the person and make recommendations. 

It may lead to a more fulfilling job experience

Ultimately, people who pursue a profession that suits their personality and expertise well are more likely to experience fulfillment and happiness on the job. On the other hand, people who end up working in a job that they know nothing about or are not even interested in will find their professional experience unsatisfying and unpleasant. Those who seek career counseling may be surprised to find out some hidden potential they did not previously know about. They may also be able to make the most out of this potential by embarking on the right career path. Your career should more than just meet your basic needs; it should be able to give you selffulfillment and enjoyment. Career counseling may help you choose which profession can best meet all these needs.

CAREER TESTING Career testing is often done online and provides insightful and relatively objective information about which jobs may be suitable for the test taker based on combination of their interests, values and skills. Career tests usually provide a list of recommended jobs that match the test takers attributes with those of people with similar personalities who enjoy/are successful at their jobs. Psychometric testing covers a wide range of skills, interests and values of people and can be of use in career counseling in different ways. Usually, psychometric testing uses multiple sets of questions relating to personality type, how the test taker would handle aspects of work and home life, what his or her goals are for the future and his or her strengths and weaknesses. If the test taker is honest and the employed tests follow scientific standards, the results should be fairly accurate and useful for career counseling activities. CAREER ASSESSMENT A career assessment is a tool that helps you determine the career you are most suited for. It is based on your innate interests and personality and is usually in multiple-choice format. A career assessment includes questions about your talents to determine whether you'd be suited for an artistic career, a science-related job or a leadership role. There are no right or wrong answers, and the test reveals the types of positions that correspond with your natural abilities. Who Takes One? High school and college students often take a career assessment before graduation so they know what to study. Professionals take the test to find out how to be more efficient in their current position. Administration A high school guidance counselor, college career advisor or HR professional is qualified to administer a career assessment test. The National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) 

Purpose of the Test

The purpose of the NCAE is to help students determine which courses they should study in college and what sort of career they are best suited for. Like many standardized tests, the NCAE measures students' general scholastic knowledge. However, the NCAE also tests vocational aptitude, occupational preferences and entrepreneurial skills. 

Importance

One of the reasons the NCAE was developed was to address the issue of unemployment due to workers getting mismatched with the wrong careers. The hope is that by determining

which careers they are ideally suited for, students can plan a course of study that will give them the skills and education they will need for their ideal careers.

HISTORY OF CAREER COUNSELING IN THE PHILIPPINES The evolution of Career counseling in the Philippines can be divided into five periods. First Period (1913-1934): Occupational Information 

The first reference to vocational guidance in the Philippines can be found in the 1913 report of the Bureau of Public Schools, which stressed the need to collect information about employment opportunities in different industries.

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From 1926 to 1930, teachers made available to pupils numerous materials for occupational and educational guidance.

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Limited and informal guidance services were then being offered by only two colleges in Manila (starting in the 1920s).

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Toward the end of this period (1932), the University of the Philippines established a psychological clinic-the first in the country (Ros, 1965).

Second Period (1935-1945): Guidance and Counseling Services in the Schools 

The second period saw the growth of guidance and counseling services in public and private high schools-first in Manila and later in the provinces. Deans of boys and deans of girls were assigned to help students with disciplinary, academic, vocational, and emotional problems (Salazar-Clemena, 1993).

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This growth of school guidance and counseling programs was not accompanied, however, by appropriate training of the designated counselors.

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Philippines regained its independence, that the first Guidance Institute was conducted by army psychologists from the United States (Ordonez, 1985). This 10-year transition period before the Philippines became a fully independent republic included the Japanese Occupation (1941-1945). With some schools being closed for part of this time, guidance services naturally were also suspended.

Third Period (1946-1969): Counselor Training and Professional Organizations 

The postwar period emphasized counselor training and ushered in the birth of organized professional associations. Seminars were conducted for teachers who had been assigned, without the requisite preparation, guidance tasks.

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At approximately the same time, teachers and school officials were being sent to the United States to take courses in guidance and observe school guidance programs (SalazarClemena, 1993).

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The guidance movement in the schools gained further impetus when a Joint Congressional Committee on Education mandated in 1951 that guidance and counseling programs should assist students with career choices, personal difficulties, school and home tasks, job placement, and initial work adjustment (Salazar-Clemena, 1993).

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Although the Guidance Association of the Philippines, the first formal organization of Filipino counselors, had been established in 1945 as an offshoot of the first Guidance Institute, and another organization, the Philippine Association of Guidance Counselors, had been formed in 1953, it was the founding of the Philippine Guidance and Personnel Association (PGPA; now known as the Philippine Guidance and Counseling Association [PGCA]) in 1965 that spurred the improvement of standards of guidance and personnel work (Salazar-Clemena,1993).

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The PGPA was born at a time when experts were observing an "imbalance of man-power training and man-power need" (Bernardino, 1965, pp. 3-4) and "a great number of unemployed with college degrees" (Limcaco, 1965, p. 8). Counselors were, therefore, challenged "to prepare students in careers that will give them satisfaction, financial security, and employment after completing their studies" (Bernardino, 1965, p. 4).

Fourth Period (1970-1986): Intensified Career Guidance Efforts 

The fourth period was marked by increased attention to career guidance, in general, and to career information and tests, in particular. The observation earlier mentioned by Bernardino (1965) was reiterated in the 1970 report of the Presidential Commission to Survey Philippine Education (PCSPE) that found a mismatch between students' college courses and the training required by the world of work (Santamaria, 1979).

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The PCSPE further reported that most high school graduates applied for admission into college degree programs, regardless of their qualifications or the job opportunities that would be later available to them. This was perceived as being a reflection of the high value Filipinos placed on a college education; a college diploma was viewed as a means to achieve social and economic mobility (Santamaria, 1979).

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The PCSPE report stimulated the growth spurt of career guidance in the country. On the basis of its recommendations, the government initiated the following steps: (a) the introduction of weekly 1-hour homeroom guidance periods, with emphasis on career development, in all elementary and secondary schools; (b) the institution of the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) as a basis for students' admission into professional degree programs in college; (c) the development and maintenance of "a responsive vocational guidance and testing system in aid of human resources allocation" (Presidential Decree 1412, as cited in Santamaria, 1979, p. 7) by the Bureau of Employment Services; and (d) the delineation of two major thrusts by the National Manpower and Youth Council (NMYC; now incorporated into the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority): skills training and vocational guidance for out-of-school youth (Santamaria, 1979).

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Another landmark in the development of career guidance and counseling during this period was the establishment in 1977 of the Philippine Vocational Guidance Association (later renamed the Philippine Association for Career Guidance and Development [PHICGUIDE], and now known as the Career Development Association of the Philippines [CDAP]). The organization sought to professionalize the practice of career guidance and counseling in the country. It also tried to involve human resource development (HRD) practitioners from the government and industrial sectors.

Fifth Period (1987--Present): Expanded Career Counseling Services 

The restoration of democracy buoyed up hopes for economic progress. Fifteen years since then, however, the problems of poverty, unemployment, underemployment, and rapid population growth remain. These conditions have led to the rising number of Filipinos working overseas to seek the proverbial greener pastures. At the same time, developments brought about by globalization and the information age have led the corporate world toward reengineering, resulting in many workers being displaced or made to opt for early retirement. These conditions have contributed to the expansion of career counseling services outside the school setting. As part of their organizational development and human resource development programs, an increasing number of companies now provide career counseling services to their personnel.

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Government run skills training centers also provide career guidance services through information dissemination, client assessment, counseling, and placement/self-employment assistance. Schools continue to offer career guidance services (counseling, testing, and information), this time aided by online career information sources.

Current Concerns and Challenges Given this historical perspective and the present sociopolitical conditions in the country, career counselors now face a number of concerns and challenges.

SalazarClemena, 1992; Santamaria, 1975 have revealed that career-related problems of Filipino students remain largely unchanged. These include concerns that may be categorized as 

sociological (no choice, uncertain choice, or unwise choice, based chiefly on sociocultural expectations)

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psychological (lack of information, low self-worth); and

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general (problems of skill, lack of interest in anything, and lack of matching between interest, on the one hand and academic performance and work opportunities, on the other hand)

1. Family ties and peso signs The matter of choosing a career in the Philippine setting is clearly a family affair. Most studies on career choice (Suba, in press) reveal the crucial role of parental influence in the career choices of Filipino adolescents. This reflects the high value Filipinos place on close family ties, to the point of making sacrifices for the family welfare (Go, 1994). For the vast majority, who pin their desire for economic improvement (another valued characteristic; Church, 1986) on a son or daughter's completion of a degree, this often means arriving at career choices for their children, regardless of the factors considered by person--environment fit theories. The primary consideration of many a parent becomes "What college education can we afford that can make you finish quickly, get a job, and start helping with family finances?" In other words, their concern is not finding guideposts in a career path, but peso signs that would lead them out of poverty. In a country in which quality education is, for the most part, inaccessible to the poor, this approach results in students getting into low-quality schools or programs that will not give them a competitive edge in the labor market. 2. Employability Studies done in different periods of career counseling in the Philippines (e.g., Agana, 1982; Cunanan, 1968; Salazar-Clemena, 1992; Tritz, de Blanco, & Pagaduan, 1965) show common reasons for the curricular choices of college and high school students: interest in the field, opportunity for employment, personal or family welfare, financial returns, and influence of role models (mostly family members). Other factors that emerged in more recent studies include prestige, admiration, status, ability, influence of media (Osdeg, Salvilla, & Sinajon, as cited in Salazar-Glemena, 1992), security, peer and family (other than parents) influence, and opportunity to go abroad (Salazar-Clemena, 1992). 3. Career development focus Despite the accepted view of career development as a lifelong process that involves not only decisions about the world of work but also other choices at every life stage, much of the research and practice in the Philippines has focused on helping individuals take steps toward a school-to-work transition. Thus, greater attention has been given to high school students who are

contemplating postsecondary education with a view toward potential careers. Not much has been done for other populations across the life span and in various circumstances, such as out-ofschool youth, child laborers, women, physically disabled individuals, employed adults, unemployed adults, overseas workers, those in midlife transitions, workers eligible to retire, and retirees. Neither has there been much interest in career aspects other than work (e.g., way or style of life, state of life, leisure activities). These gaps certainly deserve to be filled in.

CAREER COUNSELING MODELS USED BY FILIPINO COUNSELORS 1. Career Diamond Model by Andersen and Vandehey (2008)

Most people come to career counseling with the hope that they will be able to take a few tests, narrow possible career options, and be given a neat answer for the career and specific job that fits them best. In a general sense, anxiety is usually prevalent in times of uncertainty. It makes sense that a person desires a quick answer that will give him or her direction, purpose, and a balm to sooth the painful feeling of anxiety. The beginning of the diamond represents the hypothetical point at which self-awareness and external awareness about the world of work are limited. You are at the beginning of your journey. The more you are willing to learn about yourself, about how your values and beliefs are influenced by cultural and family norms, and about ways in which you and your behavior are guided by unconscious forces, the better chance you will have to find the ideal career match that leaves you feeling fulfilled. The same goes for the world of work. Many people have very little practical knowledge about what a career or a specific job within that career actually entails. They have not

interviewed employees from various industries, for example. Many of their beliefs about a job might come from a television program, or from something they have read. They have a general impression about a job's unsuitability, or how it won't fit their values or lifestyles, without knowing very much about it. The process of expansion is fun and exciting, but also scary for people in therapy. They have to gather the courage to look at themselves and their lives honestly, and allow another person into their personal spheres. This is definitely the stage where a counselor with psychological expertise in many areas gives you the most bangs for your buck.

2. Theory of Career Development by Donald Super Donald Super created a useful framework for conceptualizing the constantly evolving nature of career development. The theory presents the career process as one in which a person is confronted with various stages that he or she must undergo and complete before moving on to the next stage. a. Growth stage. It roughly coincides with the 7-14 age range. During this time children begin developing a self-concept based on many factors like actual and perceived physical and mental abilities, roles within the family, and relationships with peers. They begin to develop attitudes and beliefs about the world of work, although these are usually based on limited information. Rediscovering some of these early attitudes can be valuable for clients and uncover hidden information about how they relate to others and the world. Psychoanalysis is an excellent therapeutic approach for helping a client make the unconscious conscious, and to become more aware of how early childhood experiences have shaped his or her view of the world. b. Exploratory stage. This stage roughly coincides with the 14-25 age range. People begin to more clearly understand various occupations and start to envision themselves in different careers. They are aware of factors like prestige, levels of income, and how their interests and values will fit within a given profession. The reality in our culture is that people usually do not have much of an opportunity to fully explore their options. Many do not even consider an ideal career choice for them because it does not fit within their cultural perception, or because of a gender bias (think nursing), or because of socioeconomic factors, or pressure from parents, or worries about prestige, or a million other factors. If you went to college, think about how quickly you were forced to make a decision about your major. This is where you get your money's worth in career counseling because the process of self-discovery lets you learn a great deal about yourself. As alluded to earlier, the career counseling process needs to start from the inside and move out. c. Establishment stage. It roughly coincides with the 25-45 age range. During this phase a person selects a job and starts working. He compares his self-concept to the job he is at and either decides it is a good fit or looks for alternatives. Searching is a vital part of the human condition and needs to be fostered, not suppressed. Consider yourself lucky if you are searching. Many people who on the exterior seem to have it all together have actually

given up. They let life happen to them instead of actively trying to influence their development. There is always a healthy amount of anxiety that accompanies uncertainty and the process of searching. When you think about it, what you probably want right now is for your anxiety to go away, and you are hopeful that a quick answer about what direction you should take in your career will accomplish that. That is why a course of career counseling needs to directly address anxiety. You have to know your anxiety inside and out, how it functions in your life, what situations and events are likely to set it off, and what it is telling you about how you are living. Anxiety is a beacon telling you that some important decision needs to be made, or that some aspect of your existence has not been explored. The answer is not to suppress or ignore this beacon, but to learn to understand what it is saying. d. Maintenance stage. It roughly coincides with the 45-65 age range. During this time most people have settled upon a job or industry that fits them, and usually continue to develop skills and interests as they advance through their lives and careers. It is important to note that many people grow dissatisfied during this stage and that the stage also spans twenty years. The process of growth and searching lasts a lifetime. e. Disengagement. It occurs prior to retirement. Focus on work begins to diminish and moves to concerns about other areas of life. This step does not really fit within the realities of the 21st century or current understandings about careers, however. People who do not retire tend to have better health, live longer, and report higher levels of happiness. Also, the very real threat of social security running dry makes retirement less of an option for many. The goal has to be to find a career from which you do not want to retire because it fits you so well.

3. Theory of Social Learning by John Krumboltz John Krumboltz posits a theory of career counseling that stresses social learning as its key ingredient. He says that "People with differing genetic characteristics are exposed to infinitely varied learning opportunities (or lack therof) as a result of the social, cultural, and economic circumstances that exist at the time and place where they live. The consequences of these learning experiences are synthesized by each individual... (To) guide each person's thinking about appropriate career decisions and actions." (1996, p.60). Mitchell and Krumboltz (1996) identify four fundamental trends with which people must cope when making career choices in modern society and with which careers practitioners must help: a. People need to expand their capabilities and interests: Practitioners should assist clients to explore new activities, rather than routinely directing them on the basis of measured interests that reflect limited past experiences. b. People need to prepare for changing work tasks:

Learning new skills for the changing labor market can be very stressful for clients. Practitioners have a role to play in helping them to help them cope with stress as they learn to develop new skills on an ongoing basis. c. People need to be empowered to take action: Many issues relevant to career decisions are often overlooked in guidance practice (for example, a family’s reaction to taking a particular job). This could cause a fear of the decision making process (referred to by Krumboltz as `zeteophobia') or cause delay in making a decision. Practitioners need to be prepared to help with these issues as well as providing effective support during the exploration process. d. Career Practitioners need to play an extended role: Career and personal counseling should be integrated. Issues such as burnout, career change, peer relationships, obstacles to career development and the work role itself together with its effect on other life roles are examples of potential problems that should attract the support of the careers practitioner.

4. Trait-and-Factor Theory by Parsons, 1909; Williamson, 1939 Also known as matching or actuarial approaches a. Concept of the individual   

Possess pattern of traits These traits can be objectively identified Traits can be “profiled” to represent individual’s potential

b. Concept of work  

Occupations are composed of factors required in successful job performance Factors can be profiled according to “amounts” of individual traits required

c. Concept of career choice  

Profiles can be overlaid Probable “fit” between individual and job can be identified

Example of Career Counseling Intervention The Core of Your Being Here is an example of a career counseling intervention that you would do at the beginning of the career counseling process. It is designed to help you tap into some of your core values and beliefs, and would probably be done in conjunction with a personality profile like the RIASEC. Modern life demands a great deal from us, and forgotten in the chaos is the monumental struggle we face to keep a sense of self intact. We are swayed by advertising, public opinion, the need to fit in, the demands of our jobs, the demands of our families, and hundreds of other variables. We shift our values and beliefs as the situation demands. In psychological terms we call this process compartmentalization, and it takes a tremendous toll on the psyche. It creates unconscious conflicts when we have to act, think, and believe in opposing ways during different times of the week. There is a psychological exercise you can do that will help you begin to take back your core sense of self. It shows you existential truths about who you really are at the deepest level of your being. The game is to write down on a piece of paper the seven components that best describe who you really are. Your options are limitless for what to put on the list-it could be your job, one of your hobbies, a personality trait, or anything else that you think best describes you. Think hard before putting down your seven though-these are the seven things that describe the core of your personality. Now, cross out the one component out of the seven you wrote down that gives you the best chance of still maintaining your core personality. You get rid of the one on the list that you can most afford to lose and stay who you really are. Your task is to cross out, one by one, six components of you until you are left with only one. You will be surprised at the thoughts and emotions that arise as you make decisions about which components you can shed and which are too important for you. This game not only lets you prioritize your values and aspects of your being, but also gives you valuable insight into what you are willing to give up, what makes you your unique self, and those parts of your life that you hold most dear.