The Career Counseling Process-Intake
and Assessment
First of all, I would like to take a
moment to preface my remarks. I have chosen to write a series of
one-page articles on a topic that has often taken entire textbooks.
By necessity, this will be a brief overview of the Career Counseling
process.
The first step is generally termed
'Intake' or 'Orientation'. Here, your Career Counselor should
explain their qualifications, program, and available services. In
turn, they will want to know about you. Common questions will relate
to your interests, skills, resources, plans, and supports. When they
ask these questions, your Career Counselor is not being nosy,
gossipy, or intrusive. They are trying to learn what they need to
know so that they can provide good guidance and support to you. Most
intake session require 1-2 hours, and should result in some sort of
definitive 'Next Step”.
That next step will likely involve some
type of assessment. For those with no previously-defined career
goal, assessment may mean the administration of testing instruments,
either formal or informal. Examples of these are the Self Directed
Search, the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory, or any number of
on-line and hard copy exercises. Activities such as these are not
tests that you can pas or fail, but rather a snapshot of you, your
preferences, and values. These are not qualities that you can
'fail'. Generally, assessment processes will begin with your
interests, values and passions in comparison to your needs,
capacities, and resources.
For those with well-defined career
goals, assessment may mean gaining an understanding of where you are
in terms of reaching those goals. Sometimes, you may have a goal,
and lack the knowledge or a plan to effectively work toward that
goal.
Another part of career assessment is to
understand the labor market of your prospective profession. Beyond
understanding yourself, it is vital that the client know the
realities of their goal. You could have all of the ideal
characteristics of the perfect....Elevator Operator. Perhaps you are
polite, able to stand for long periods, and realize that every job
has 'Ups and Downs' (My apologies, I couldn't resist). The point
is that interest, talent, ability and preparation have to be guided
by the realities of what is needed in actuality. Helping you through
that process is a part of what your Career Counselor provides.
As you can see, there is a very wide
variety in assessment processes for each individual. Depending on
the work that needs to be done, assessment can take from one day to
several months. I strongly believe that the key point here is to
begin, and make regular, consistent efforts to move forward.
In the interest of space, I have
skipped major components of the assessment process. These
'neglected' elements include physical ability, academic potential,
motivation, cognitive ability, and more. Which elements should be
ignored, and which focused upon is a vital part of the service that
your Career Counselor should offer to you.
Good luck and best wishes,
Chris
Links to my
work, “Beyond a Career Crisis”:
Kindle Edition
Paperback Edition
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