The Effectiveness of a Career Guidance Program With Long-Term Unemployed Individuals

A career guidance assistance program was undertaken with 58 long-term unemployed individuals, with its effectiveness evaluated through preintervention and postintervention questionnaire. Preintervention data indicated that 83% of individuals had never experienced career guidance and that 45% lacked direction in career options. Postintervention results indicated that 67% of participants believed that the career guidance process was very effective and 91% believed that they had developed more realistic expectations about career opportunities, after the intervention. Qualitative evaluations of the Intervention clustered around positive themes such as increased knowledge of self, improved direction in career goals, confirmation of own perceptions of abilities, and improved confidence. Comparisons indicated that participants were able to generate more career options with an expanded focus after the intervention.     

A Program and Cost Analysis of a Self-Directed Career Decision-Making Program in a University Career Center

This article describes a procedure for analyzing personnel salary costs of a self-directed career decision-making program using actual client data. These data are then compared to hypothetical data for a comparable individual career counseling program. Policy and management issues related to self-directed and individual career counseling service delivery program models are discussed.     

Campus Career Guidance: Assessment and a Model

This article reports a model for assessment of the needs and resources for career guidance on the college campus and the results of one such assessment. Students' need for career guidance was assessed by opinion polls on campus. Resources available on campus were assessed by structured interviews with all department chairpersons and deans. Graduates' views of the usefulness of college education as career preparation were obtained through mailed questionnaires. Results indicate that (a) family and personal friends have the greatest influence on career choice, (b) university departments supply very limited resources for aid in career choice, and (c) most graduates view their college major as a necessary or desirable prerequisite for their current employment. Recommendations are made for action that counseling centers, college divisions, and departments can take to improve career guidance resources on campus.     

The Eureka—A Tool for Career Counseling

This article discusses the use of the Eureka for those seeking employment during the current economic trends affecting the labor market. Clients using this approach will be exposed to a wider variety of occupational options, thus expanding their range of realistic choices. The Eureka offers direction and current reliable information about the labor market in a short period of time.     

Toward a Community Career System Program Evaluation Framework

This article presents a framework to guide evaluation activities for school and community programs that attempt to improve career development outcomes for students K‐16. Three essential components to this framework are discussed: (a) a comprehensive career development model for students K‐16, (b) a framework to identify post‐high school outcomes for students, and (c) a program evaluation strategy to address the diverse needs of local communities. The authors hope to engage counselors, career development researchers, and policymakers in a collaborative effort to implement practices and policies that effectively meet the post‐high school transition needs of all students.     

Career Counseling for High School Students,Grades 10–12

The author describes the general characteristics of the secondary school student and suggests pragmatic activities and strategies counselors can use to assist students with occupational decision making.     

Initial Review of the Psychometric Properties of a Computerised Career Preference Test for Career Guidance Assessment

Psychometric proprties of the Career Preference Computerised Adaptive Test (CPCAT) (De Beer & Marais, 2010; De Beer, Marais, Maree, & Skrzypczak, 2008) are reported. Participants were high school students (n=343; males=279, females=164)at Grade 9 and Grade 11 level from a South African school district. Reliability and construct validity indices suggest the CPCAT could be of utility in the career counseling of high school students.     

Developing a Career Counseling Intervention Program for Foster Youth

Former foster youth often experience difficulty finding and maintaining employment as they emancipate from state care. Research highlights this fact by consistently reporting on the bleak employment outcomes of former foster youth; however, virtually no studies have given practical guidance to practitioners on how to develop interventions. This article addresses this gap in the literature by providing practitioners with a detailed outline of a career counseling group intervention program for foster youth. A brief review of the literature informing this intervention program is also presented.     

Mental Health Research in K–12 Schools: Translating a Systems Approach to University–School Partnerships

The authors discuss the challenges that researchers from university and community systems face in gaining access to and partnering with K–12 school systems to conduct research. Borrowing from Szapocznik, Hervis, and Schwartz's (2003) brief strategic family theory and therapy and Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1986) ecological systems theory, the authors outline a model for diverse research communities in the United States that can be used by counselors and other mental health services researchers who plan to conduct research in K–12 schools.     

Career,Marriage, and Family: Values in Adult Roles and Guidance

Use of occupational, marriage, and parenthood values may help young women to distinguish values that can be satisfied in major adult roles and assist in the earlier formation of a vocational identity.     

Feeling rules: Testing a model of appraisal—affect relations

The aim of this study was to test a model specifying the relations between appraisals and affects. A theory of the appraisal—affect relation is proposed in terms of general feeling rules differentiating between affects. A taxonomy of ten appraisals is presented, each defined by a specific profile of scores on four appraisal variables: desirability, controllability, responsibility, and the kind of value being at stake in an event. The appraisals are related to nine affect dimensions, resulting from earlier taxonomic research on the structure of affect (Hoekstra, 1986). All predictions following from the theory were tested in two independent samples by structural analysis. The model showed a good fit in both data sets.     

Suicide Intervention Training for K–12 Schools: A Quasi‐Experimental Study on ASIST

This quasi‐experimental study investigated differences between 104 school personnel who received a standardized suicide awareness and prevention training (i.e., Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and 45 control group participants. Pre‐ and posttraining data included experimental and control group participants' (a) suicide intervention skills; (b) attitudes toward suicide; (c) knowledge of suicide; and (d) comfort, competence, and confidence in responding to individuals at risk of suicide. Results indicated a significant positive effect for training on all measures. Implications for training of school personnel and future research are discussed.