SCHOOL COUNSELORS HELP OUT THE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE

For several years the Employment Service has been hiring school counselors to augment counseling staff in local offices during the summer months when school was not in session. The program has grown each year, and the results have more than exceeded expectations.     

PROFILE OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE COUNSELORS

As a guide to program planning, the United States Employment Service makes periodic surveys of the numbers and characteristics of counseling staff employed by the various State Employment Services. The information obtained from these studies helps to provide answers to many administrative questions regarding recruitment, staffing, training, and utilization of counselors as well as their physical facilities. The most recent survey indicates that overall substantial progress has been made in staffing to meet increasing responsibilities and in upgrading the professional qualifications of counselors, although there are still some problem areas.     

COUNSELEES' RATINGS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICE COUNSELORS AND PROSPECTIVE HIGH SCHOOL COUNSELORS

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist between Employment Service counselors and prospective high school counselors in the following areas: perceptions of counselor as a person, perceptions of assistance received by the counselees in educational planning, vocational guidance, personal and social matters, and the use of tests in counseling. This study was designed also to find out whether NYC and HS background, sex of the counselees, and number of sessions attended by the counseled affected their ratings of counselor effectiveness.     

EFFECTIVENESS OF A THREE-WEEK INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT SERVICE COUNSELORS

Forty-three employment service counselors participated in a three-week institute designed to improve their understanding of the conditions of poverty and of counseling theory and techniques. At the end of the institute, participants evaluated their experence favorably with substantial minority group criticisms, however, that (1) institute faculty were not sufficiently informed about Employment Service techniques and experiences and, that (2) not enough counseling practicum experiences were provided. Significant shifts in attitudes toward the poor were found at the end of the institute for 14 of 35 items of an attitude scale. For 6 of these 14 items, shifts in attitude were in the same direction and intensified after four and one-half months of field experience.     

SUPERVISING PROFESSIONAL COUNSELORS

Practical problems in supervision of counselors stem from personality differences and differences in theoretical viewpoints. A survey of current literature on counselor supervision together with personal experiences as a supervisor of counselors, lead to certain conclusions for handling the situations which may arise.