The Fully Functioning Employment Service Counselor

Fully functioning employment service counselors are individuals who feel personally and professionally significant and who use personal and professional competencies to foster an accurate image of themselves with clients and other professionals within the employment service. They are aware of the changing demands and the expanding scope and goals of employment counseling occurring over the past 10 years, although many others in the employment service, including training and supervising counselors, are not. These counselors must take the responsibility for bringing others into their scope of awareness: They must define, through their own actions, their developing identity.     

Occupational Movement: Employment Counselor Perceptions of Job Change

Missouri Employment Service counselors were surveyed to determine why they had changed jobs and why, in their opinion, other people change jobs. The counselors reported that they had changed occupations because of job interest and financial reasons, and that they had entered counseling because of a real interest in the field. Most of them who anticipated making a future change said it was because of dissatisfaction with working conditions, and they planned to continue counseling in another setting. The counselors' experiences led them to believe that other people change jobs primarily because of lack of satisfaction, but they noted that financial considerations are also important.     

Employment Counselor Training and Professional Issues in the United States

Employment counseling as practiced during the past 30 years in the United States Employment Service (now Job Service) is discussed, including (a) the historical forces that affected employment counseling, (b) their consequences over this period of time, and (c) employment counseling training initiatives. The Competency-Based Employment Counselor Training Model is described, and more recent training initiatives are identified. The counselor credentialing process (particularly certification and licensure) is examined.     

A Theory,Philosophy, and Practice for the Employment Counselor

Employment counselors have many pressures brought on them by various publics. Many of these forces make it difficult for them to engage in counseling with their clients. Although there are varying definitions of counseling, many focus on dynamic problems such as defining roles and making decisions. There is a need for theory in the practice of counseling, and a specific approach described is based on existential philosophy. Directing attention in counseling to the meaning of life and to what each person may do to provide answers to this question is the main point in this existential approach.     

The Employment Interviewer,the Vocational Counselor,and the Dream Weaver

The author elaborates his experiences with three different career counselors at a branch of an employment service. Although all three counselors worked toward the same goal, their methods were different, and the unique approach of one counselor, the “dream weaver,” left a lasting impression in the author's mind.     

Test Preparation Activities and Employment Test Performance

This study examined the relation among motivational factors, test preparation activities (metacognition and learning strategies), and employment test scores using data from 493 actual job applicants to a state law enforcement agency. Results showed that motivational factors are related to metacognition and the learning strategies in which applicants engage. Use of these activities was in turn associated with higher test performance.     

The Role of the Employment Counselor in Promoting Sex Equity and Nontraditional Careers

In this article, the author provides practical suggestions for employment counselors concerned with the advancement of women in nontraditional career fields.     

Counselor Predictive Skill and Rated Counselor Effectiveness

Prediction is a fundamental part of counseling. Although counselors differ in their ability to predict accurately, there is no evidence that those who predict most accurately do the best job of counseling. Using 3 different sets of case data, 14 counselors predicted whether students would graduate and whether they would keep the “major” program selected at the time of admission. 3 supervisors agreed on the counselors rated “most” or “least” effective in their work with students. Although the amount of case data available to the counselors was unrelated to predictive accuracy, the counselors rated “most” effective predicted significantly better than those rated “moderately” or “least” effective.     

Counselor Accountability

With increasing competition for the tax dollar, it seems that the public demand for counselor accountability may persist. Therefore it may be in the best interest of the profession to seize the initiative by demonstrating collective worth via some accountability strategy, thus obviating the need for external monitoring and control. This professional initiative may protect the freedom of counselors to assume their appropriate roles and attend to the individual needs and aspirations of their clients.     

Counselor Signals

A humorous comparison of athletic and counselor signals is made, and the authors note unique aspects of counseling that make it more than a sport.     

Counselor Self-Disclosure

Self-disclosure in the counseling-therapy relationship has been an important area of research and study, with considerable emphasis placed on counselor self-disclosure. This study was initiated to explore further the phenomenon of counselor-therapist disclosure through direct assessment of potential clients' desires for disclosure and through development of a measure of counselor disclosure. Implications for counselor disclosure and for the counselor-client therapy relationship are discussed.