Career Counseling and Guidance

The course presents an in-depth study of career counseling and guidance services that focuses on occupational, educational, and personal/social issues for general and specific populations.  Emphasis is on understanding and applying career counseling and guidance theories in school and non-school settings.  A primary focus includes planning, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating a career counseling and guidance program in schools and mental health settings.

UPON COMPLETION OF THE COURSE, THE STUDENT WILL BE COMPETENT IN:

• Examining the history of career development and guidance.
• Identifying general professional/occupational areas of competence.
• Identifying theories of career counseling and guidance.
• Discussing the importance of an individual skills inventory to career development.
• Using a variety of self-assessment methods in career planning and development.
• Evaluating the role of career development management and the administration of career development interventions in both school and organizational settings.
• Identifying the different career stages and their relationship to development and career development theories.
• Discussing the use of lifelong learning as a proactive approach to career development and guidance.
• Explaining the importance of identifying functional or transferable skills and their relationship to career change and development.
• Discussing the evolving array of career development resources.
• Critically analyzing the utility of each career counseling and guidance theory.
• Organizing life experiences into an overall view for career planning.
• Identifying the major demographic, technological, and organizational trends that will affect future career planning and development.
• Presenting diverse complex perspectives on work and on the labor market.
• Understanding various types of assessments of individual career competence.
• Developing effective communication strategies for use in fostering career development in the classroom, mental health or organizational setting.