Empowering high‐risk clients to attain a better quality of life: a career resiliency framework

Career counselors frequently encounter clients who are at high risk for career and life development difficulties. Research suggests there is a connection between resiliency and successful career development in high‐risk clients. Many high‐risk individuals have poor decision‐making skills and lack motivation to succeed in life and career development. This article describes a career resiliency framework in which career resiliency is best understood within the context of psychological resiliency. Specifically, this article explicates how career counseling from a resiliency theory perspective may promote successful career development for populations dealing with multiple barriers.     

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.     

Web‐Assisted Career Counseling

For the past 20 years counselors have used computer‐based career information systems to assist clients with career planning and job hunting. Much of the same this information is now available on the Internet and can be accessed without the aid of a counselor. Such developments are likely to have a major impact on employment counseling practices. This article outlines selected Web‐assisted counseling issues that are likely to affect counselors over the next few years and summarizes the career services currently available on the World Wide Web.     

Examining the degree of congruency between a traditional career instrument and an online self‐assessment exercise

This comparative study examined the degree of congruency between the results of the Self‐Directed Search Form E (J. L. Holland, 1990) and an online self‐assessment career planning exercise. A relatively high level of congruence was found between the 2 measures. Implications for career counselors and for future research studies are briefly discussed.     

The case of Pedro: a holistic life planning approach

Traditional theories of career development are inadequate due to the complexity of today's work world. As changes occur in society and the world‐of‐work employment counselors need new ways of dealing with their clients. This article introduces employment counselors to the “leisure theory of career development” (J. J. Liptak, 2000) as an alternative to traditional trait‐and‐factor counseling approaches.     

infusing systems thinking into career counseling

This study examined the role of career counselors in infusing systems thinking into occupational advising. The authors conducted a qualitative review and analysis of selected literature on systems thinking and analyzed trends for adaptation to career counseling practice. This analysis suggests that career counselors need to infuse systems approaches into professional practice, for example, use of systems language that assists the client in exploring career plans. The authors also identified various new right‐brain directed thinking approaches (Pink, 2006; Shutt, 2008) for use in career counseling sessions. Results and implications are discussed.     

Enriching the Genetic Counseling Recruitment Pipeline: A National Cross-Sectional Study of Public High School Counselors

Early awareness of careers is helpful in recruiting students into a career pipeline. School counselors are among the top resources that students turn to when seeking advice about choosing their career. Studies show that high school is the ideal time to generate interest in the genetic counseling career, especially for minorities. This novel study of 291 high school counselors working in ethnically diverse public school districts in the United States examined to what extent members of this important group discuss genetic counseling as a career option with their students. The findings indicate that the majority of school counselors in this study (83%) did not discuss genetic counseling with their students, citing a lack of resources and lack of student interest as the major barriers. Suggestions of ways to increase high school counselors’ awareness of the genetic counseling career in order to enhance the goal of enriching recruitment of ethnic minorities into the genetic counseling pipeline are presented.     

Recommendations and resources for counseling older workers

The purpose of this article is to provide employment counselors an overview of the growth in the number of older workers in the U.S. Various demographic, employment, and career development trends are presented. Specific suggestions for counseling older workers are offered. Readers are directed to a number of high‐quality online resources for older workers.     

The relationship between work and well‐being in clergywomen: implications for career counseling

This article focuses on the ministry, a profession in which 2 important characteristics intersect to pose special challenges for women in balancing their work and family responsibilities. In this qualitative study of clergywomen (N = 190), the authors examined the impact of being female in a male‐dominated occupation, particularly one that has been traditionally structured as a “2‐person career.” They argue that career counselors are in a unique position to prepare future clergywomen for the special challenges they will face in the ministry and make recommendations for ways in which career counselors may serve this distinctive population.     

Existential considerations for contemporary career counseling

This article was written to remind career counselors of the potential depth and subjective impact of both unemployment and employment transitions. An existential framework is used in discussing today's world of work, previous and contemporary career counseling models, existential theory in career counseling, and existential considerations for career counselors. Results from 3 research projects are discussed in light of I. D. Yalom's (1980, 1998) 4 existential themes. Using quotations from participants, the authors move beyond theoretical ideas and underscore the real‐life importance of including the individual's larger subjective perspective when engaging in career counseling. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Theoretical application of holland's theory to individual decision‐making styles: implications for career counselors

Career decision making is an important aspect of career choice and career development. This theoretical article explores the relationship between J. L. Holland's (1997) 6 dimensions of personality and individual decision‐making styles. Implications for career counselors are also provided.     

Making the Best of a Bad Situation: Career Counseling Young Adults in the Aftermath of the Great Recession

Because of the changes in the economy hastened by the Great Recession, recent college graduates face unprecedented challenges finding employment in the current labor market. In this new economic era, Krumboltz's (2009) happenstance learning theory provides college career counselors with a practical framework for helping students learn how to engage in proactive career behaviors, evaluate opportunities as they arise, and initiate actions to benefit from them. A 6‐component framework is provided to guide college career counselors working with this population.     

Exploring Social Justice Via Résumés

Much expert advice about résumé writing is available. Whereas some job seekers will use self‐help guides to construct their résumés, others will seek the assistance of career counselors. Career counselors have a significant opportunity to engage clients in holistic career considerations when helping them to construct résumés. Especially significant is the opportunity to identify possible client disadvantages stemming from social injustices. Résumé‐writing assistance is enhanced through the application of career microcounseling. This article examines social justice issues that may be embedded during résumé writing. A review of microcounseling skills is presented, and examples of applying them during résumé writing are provided.     

Gender Differences in STEM Students' Perfectionism,Career Search Self‐Efficacy,and Perception of Career Barriers

The purpose of this study was to explore potential gender differences in the mediating effect of career search self‐efficacy between 2 dimensions of perfectionism (adaptive and maladaptive) and the perception of career barriers. A total of 279 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics undergraduate students participated in the study. Among men, but not women, career search self‐efficacy mediated the relationships between both dimensions of perfectionism and the perception of career barriers. Implications for counselors and future research directions are discussed.     

Wellness,Professional Quality of Life,and Career‐Sustaining Behaviors: What Keeps Us Well?

A sample of 506 professional counselors who were members of the American Counseling Association completed measures of professional quality of life, career‐sustaining behaviors (CSBs), and wellness. Significant differences were found both within the sample based on caseload characteristics and between the participants and available norm groups. Counselors with high wellness scores engaged in more CSBs and reported higher positive professional quality of life factors (compassion satisfaction). Implications for counselors, counselor training, and research are discussed.     

addressing career issues online: perceptions of counselor education professionals

The Internet is the latest arena in which counseling services are available for a variety of issues. This study surveyed counselor education professionals about their perceptions regarding the use of online counseling to address various mental health issues including career counseling. It also examined their perceptions about 3 formats of online counseling: e‐mail, text‐based chat, and videoconferencing. Results indicated that counselor education professionals were open to the use of online counseling to address career issues. The implications for the practice of online career counseling and for the training of counselors are discussed.     

Counselor Ethnicity,Counselor Nonverbal Behavior,and Session Outcome With Asian American Clients: Initial Findings

Five Asian American and 5 European American female counselors each saw 3 Asian American volunteer clients for 1 session of career‐focused individual counseling. Examination of counselor nonverbal behaviors revealed that European American counselors displayed significantly greater frequency of adaptors, postural shifts, and smiles than did Asian American counselors. The frequency of smiles was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session positivity and session arousal, and the frequency of postural shifts was significantly positively correlated with client‐rated session arousal. Limitations and implications of the findings are described.     

Career Services in the Post‐COVID‐19 Era: A Paradigm for Career Counseling Unemployed Individuals

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic has caused unprecedented economic disruption and unemployment worldwide, threatening to become both a financial and a humanitarian crisis. Prolonged labor market recession and an acute rise of unemployment are expected. The main question for career counselors will be how to provide effective career counseling to unemployed people in the post‐COVID‐19 world, where they may face many other unemployment‐related problems. In this article, we suggest application of a holistic intervention model of career counseling for unemployed people that was designed to address the consequences of the acute financial recession in Greece.     

narrative‐based career counseling perspectives in times of change: an analysis of strengths and limitations

There is an ongoing movement in the career development counseling field that focuses on narrative‐based approaches. The purposes of this article are to analyze the factors that led to a turn to narrative career counseling, to examine the strengths of narrative, and to outline potential limitations. The literature review examined scholarly work in the career development field. Contributions from other disciplines (e.g., medicine) were integrated to provide complementary perspectives. The author contends that there is an appropriate place for narrative in career and employment counseling. Suggestions for addressing limitations and applications for career and employment counselors are highlighted.     

Adding Career Biographies and Career Narratives to Career Interest Inventories

This study with 20 adults explored adding career biographies and career narrative writing to the career interest assessment report process. Participants reported that biographies and narratives helped them identify themes to consider how their career plans fit their personal lifestyle, meaning making, and values. This study offers 1 way to incorporate narratives and story to explore the self and self‐in‐context to activate meaning‐making processes in career interest assessment reports. Until career interest assessment reports include career biographies and a process for writing career narratives, only career counselors can offer this type of service to clients.