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

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Career-Crisis-Find-ebook/dp/B0058TTCG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329102151&sr=8-1

Paperback Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Career-Crisis-Choose-Love/dp/1463683537/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329102151&sr=8-2

The Jobs Process

The Jobs 'Steps'

One aspect of Career Counseling that I find personally fascinating is the process involved. Regardless of the perceived status, income or training of the job, from Janitors to Jewelers, the broad process is the same.

That process is simply this: Assess yourself; Research potential careers; Acquire needed skills (could be learned on the job); Seek employment; Get the job; Grow further.

For self-assessment, you should know your passions, interests and skills. You will also want to consider your priorities. Sometimes, you just need a job to pay the bills. At other points in life, you may have freedom to pursue your passions.

Potential careers should be researched from several different perspectives. First of all, there is published information. A great starting point is the Occupational Outlook Handbook, available free at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/ There you can find out about the labor market, skills and training needed, what people in that field do, and more. After the initial research, you may want to do a job shadow or an informational interview. This process provided 'real world' information. You may also want to consider working as an intern or as a volunteer in your prospective area.

Acquiring needed skills is a topic too broad to address in this post, but I would like to note that I know a young man who made applying for scholarships a full time job. In 180 days, he found enough scholarships and grants to more than pay for his college degree.

Seeking employment, like other parts of the process, is a large topic. In general, you have to have target-a specific job goal. You need tools such as an effective cover letter and resume. You need to understand how to apply on-line. And you need to know how to sell yourself to employers. The most important part of seeking employment? Often it is to have a written plan, with tasks, goals and dates to reach them.

Getting the job seems easy after all of the above. However, here again, developing a 'Core Message' or 'Selling What they are Buying' is important. These approaches help when you are in an interview.

And the last step in my jobs process is to Grow Further'. What I mean by this is really two things. On one hand, it is important that you grow in your job. Learn new things, meet new people, expand your skills. Beyond that, it also means to prepare for your next job search. In the past, a worker could count on his or her ability to 'move up the ladder' rung by rung. That is largely gone. Now, you have to be prepared to change ladders.

This article was intended to talk about the overall processes involved in careers. If you would like to look in detail at any given step, please see other articles on this blog, or you could purchase 'Beyond A Career Crisis'.

Good luck and Best Wishes,

Chris

Links to my work, “Beyond a Career Crisis”:

Kindle Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Career-Crisis-Find-ebook/dp/B0058TTCG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329102151&sr=8-1

Paperback Edition

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Career-Crisis-Choose-Love/dp/1463683537/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329102151&sr=8-2