The Preservation of Counseling in an Era of Cutback Management

This article identifies several unique problems and survival strategies to enable counselors to preserve the level and quality of counseling services under conditions of declining resources.     

the counselor and armed forces recruitment

Young people considering enlistment in the armed forces often need objective assistance in the decision-making process. Recruiters themselves are under too much pressure to be able to provide that objectivity. The authors discuss how counselors are in a unique position to help: by increasing the scope of information available, by safeguarding the rights of potential enlistees, and by working to eliminate recruitment abuses.     

The Noncustodial Parent: Dilemmas and Interventions

This article focuses on the often overlooked group of people, usually men, who are noncustodial parents. The authors discuss 10 common dilemmas of parents in this position and delineate what can be done by individual and family counselors to enhance the ability of these parents to maintain parenting relationships with their children.     

EFFECT OF SITUATIONAL INTERVIEWS, CONVENTIONAL STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS, AND TRAINING ON INTERVIEW RATING AGREEMENT: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

The present study examines the degree to which agreement in interviewer ratings may be influenced by training, use of structured conventional interviews, or situational interviews. Results of an experimental study conducted among 42 managers who were experienced as interviewers revealed no training effect on rating agreement, but the impact of the situational format on consistency in assessments of applicant suitability was significant. Implications of these findings for usefulness of situational employment interviews and future research investigating the reliability of situational interview formats are discussed.     

EVALUATION OF AN INTERVIEWEE SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM IN A NATURAL FIELD EXPERIMENT

The purpose of this study was to provide an evaluation of an interviewee skills training program in a field setting using a broad sample of interviewers, jobs, and candidates. The training program ( n = 158) derived its content from previous literature and used multiple instructional techniques. An experimental design was employed with a self-study (placebo control) group ( n = 140), random assignment, and many levels of evaluation criteria. Measures exhibited acceptable reliability, and statistical power was high for all analyses. Results indicated that class members responded positively to the program and demonstrated substantial learning. Interviewer evaluations of behavior failed to distinguish between experimental groups, however, and no differences were observed in job offers. Furthermore, no differences were observed between study participants and nonparticipants ( n = 174) in terms of interview behavior and job offers. This study illustrates the danger of relying solely on reaction or learning criteria in the evaluation of training programs. Several explanations are offered for the findings.     

Computer-Assisted Career Guidance: A National Perspective on the Use of DISCOVER and SIGI

The authors describe the institutional use of DISCOVER and SIGI, two computer-assisted career guidance systems, in terms of services provided, staffing, management, and implementation.     

Understanding Dual Career Couples

The increasing number of clients seeking to maintain a dual career life-style has increased the need for counselors to educate themselves to the unqiue set of concerns, needs, and characteristics particular to dual career partners and their families. This article presents an overview of the published literature delineating the variables associated with this life-style, including the numerous benefits or incentives, the common conflicts and stressors, and the personality dynamics shared by these men and women. In addition, the article will describe dysfunctional coping strategies as well as adaptive strategies employed by individuals attempting to manage the coupling of both career and family.     

DEVELOPMENT OF A BEHAVIORALLY BASED PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM

This paper describes the development of a behaviorally based performance appraisal system. Blanz and Ghiselli's Mixed Standard Scale was used as the basis for developing the performance appraisal system for assessing the performance of highway patrol personnel. However, the particular developmental procedures described here differ in some respects from those reported in the literature. Rather than developing rating items describing general traits such as "diligence,""initiative," or "enthusiasm" in behavioral terms, the items in the present scale were developed to describe proficiency levels of specific job tasks. This characteristic is expected to enhance the objectivity of the evaluation system for both appraisal and job counseling purposes. The appraisal instrument was subjected to a series of reliability and validity tests that demonstrated its high reliability and validity. Although the content of the appraisal sytem desribed here included highway patrol tasks, a similar system could be developed using the procedures described for a wide variety and level of jobs.