Something Positive for a Change

On my last placement I sat in on interviews done by a Careers Adviser who admitted that he didn't follow the Career Planning Journey structure. His interviews however were so enlightening in their reasoning and content, coupled with a calm and simple manner that I could not help but be impressed. He didn't think that he had managed to "move the students forward" but as far as I could tell they walked out with a clear head and with a far better idea of where they were going than when they came in. Admittedly the last theory that he had seen was Roger's Seven Point Plan, but seeing this individual in action makes me think that some people have a gift when dealing with others. I will be lucky if I manage to make his level but I now know what to aim for.

A StepToo Far,,,

The contemporary approaches to career guidance have in my opinion gone a step too far. Why should a counsellor need to understand another person's view of reality in order to help them? Why should we use a narrative technique to in order to reach an understanding? I know most of the class have become very enthused with these new techniques, but I am questioning why we should be looking so closely at a person's thought processes. Surely it is sufficient to look into their behaviour and go from there. Also since when did thinking about it ever get anyone anywhere? To add to that reasoning, where is the proof that narrative and metaphor techniques actually achieve anything for clients? I could see why Jennifer Kidd writes that they, "resonate with the individual", but what do they do beyond that?
Maybe this accounts for the failure of these techniques to catch on, and the tendency for career practitioners to stick with what they know i.e. direct interviewing.
Why should we have to act like psychologists if we are career advisers?
Like most things new, it pays to be weary of them. Look for example at house-building nowadays: not so much bricks and mortar as skimpy panels and plastic components. Or food, we have burgers and chicken nuggets instead of steaks. I say, "Let's have solidity and positivity, not minced up junk that plays havoc with your digestive system!" And the same goes for career guidance. We could give career guidance without processing the thoughts of clients. We could help them evaluate what they did before without being intrusive and getting so close too them. The kind of closeness advocated by narrative technique could scare some individuals. The counsellor has to remain at a certain distance just as they do physically.

As for Key Workers in the career service I am sceptical about this too. This is a step too far into social work for it to be a career guidance responsiblity. I know that there is a lot of worthwhile work being done, but once a career adviser becomes a Key Worker they have chosen a niche or what may be an opening to more work of the same kind.

Why should we become sociologists if we are career advisers?

I am hoping that the cognitive approach will provide the ideal answer, and I think Pete will be covering that this week.

Skills Development Advisors and the Job Centre

Careers Advisors in Careers Scotland are now going to be called Skills Development Advisors. From my placement I have learned that careers advisors are now spending part of their working time in Job Centres, which is also a recent development.

On top of this, the new literature of the Job Centre is significant in its wording. Customers can now undergo a "Diagnosis" and be given a "skills health-check". So now careers advisors have become the doctors of the job market.

Careers Advisors are generally unhappy with this new title. They are objecting to it as they think being called a Skills Development Advisor does not adequately reflect what they do and breaks association with the idea of the profession. The new title carries as much weight as that of 'Energy Advisor' or 'Customer Service Advisor'. It just does not reflect the vocational role.

Careers Scotland is now working closer than ever with the Job Centre. It seems reasonable to assume that the Job Centre will at some point start to recruit "Employment Advisors" to carry out guidance work full-time on site.

The termination of the job title is however worrying. Could this be the end of career guidance? Surely anyone could be recruited as a "Skills Development Advisor"? The Advisors themselves have begun a petition against it, so the concern is obviously apparent.

Career Management

Having been in conversation with an advisor I found that we were in agreement. She had worked in HR for a while, and told me about watching people being interviewed for work. As she did this she realised that the people who were getting the jobs were not necessarily the ones who should have: all too often an experienced, well qualified person would not perform well in interview. She came to the conclusion that they just did not know "how to play the game". And I added "So you are here to help coach people how to do just that-play the game!" "Yes" was the reply.

I now think that the subject of Career Management should be put on the school curriculum. Pupils should have the opportunity to connect what they are doing to the outside world, and learn that they might have to do a bit of 'acting ' in the interview situation. This could be taught by a Drama Teacher! For some this would help with the moments when they wonder why they have to go to school. A career path these days is turning into one of many transitions for a lot of people, so it makes sense to educate everyone in how to deal with that. They should be prepared for moving from job to job, keeping their skills up to date, and realising that they may need to keep learning in order to be employable by other employers. I know this all ties in with the idea of the 'boundaryless' career' and Michael Arthur's findings in New Zealand. The reality is that for many of us there is no such thing as a 'job for life' and we should be prepared for that.

A little drama in careers guidance.

I liked the following when I read it. This is why careers advisers should do their job properly:

"Klapp (1969) likened the social system to a play or theatrical performance, asking: What if we are defective in role casting? Then the social system becomes a disenchanting play in which "most of the actors are dissatisfied with their parts; or, worse, extras standing around with no parts at all".

All My Hard Work

More and more I am realising how subjective the measuring of our work is. I really value the practicality of this course, as we have so many opportunities to practice. However I am frustrated with the differing ideas that assessors have. I know that they are only human so these differences are inevitable. Some of the good things that I have done as a result of true industriousness and hard mental labour have went unnoticed, as it is just not possible for assessors to grasp everything that we are doing or why we are doing it, just as it is not possible for me to be the perfect student. I guess we are all only human...so on that basis I forgive everybody. Where does this lead me in reflective practice? Well, if the outcome of our efforts is not what we were hoping for, then we should be satisfied that it could not have been otherwise as it was not due to a lack of effort on our part. Just as Anne of Confident Futures told us!

Social constructivism

As I understand it, social constructivism means that we all start from zero at birth taking on constructs as we develop. Our constructs are the formation of our belief systems, values, and general way of seeing the world which implies that someone from a different culture will probably have a totally different set of constructs.