Employment Resources

To help youth workers understand the difficult task of choosing a career so that they may help young people through the process of selecting a career path.

OVERVIEW

The "Career Beginnings" program was designed for helping disadvantaged youth choose and prepare for a career. Developed by directors of The Human Resource Center at Brandeis University, the program enlists the cooperative support of members of the education and business communities. Other career guidance programs follow this same type of structure but are smaller in both duration and scope. This type of career guidance is generally designed for middle- to upper-class children, and usually takes the form of a "Career Day." At this type of event, various professionals discuss career opportunities, employable skills, preparation for college, and job placement.

PROGRAM GOALS

• To help students gain a more accurate understanding of their abilities and interests in relation to various careers.
• To provide them with information as to how they might best pursue their interests.
• To facilitate their meeting and interacting with members of the community working in particular fields, establishing a mentor relationship.
• To familiarize students with the types of future assistance available for them.

This program may be accomplished in approximately three seventy-five minute sessions. When working with disadvantaged youth the duration, intensity, and scope of the program needs modification.

PROGRAM METHODS

The first segment of the program involves administering the Harrington-O’Shea Career Decision-Making System (CDM). Upon completion of the survey, group leaders help participants interpret the results indicating their interests and their abilities. In order to better facilitate discussion, the one large group divides into smaller groups of five. Group leaders help the students process their interests and abilities in order to give them a better understanding of themselves. This includes helping students interpret their extracurricular activities or talents that are unaccounted for on the survey. The participants are encouraged to share their positive perceptions of themselves and others in their groups. Following the discussion, the group leaders gather a portfolio on each student that includes their CDM results and any other information regarding their individual abilities and interests.

The second segment involves brief (one-minute) presentations by adults in various careers. Ideally, there are seventeen different occupations representing the corresponding seventeen "career clusters" listed in the CDM. During their presentation, the professionals simply state their occupational title and main responsibilities. After the presentations, the students who scored highest in particular career clusters are matched with the corresponding adult of that cluster. These small groups exchange views for thirty minutes. Next, the workshop leader calls for the students to meet with the corresponding adult of their second-highest "career cluster."

Finally, students are given the name or names of the adults with which they previously met. In addition, group leaders assist the participants in putting together a detailed resume in which their particular interests, abilities, and pertinent experiences are reflected. Finally, the workshop leader will help the students with any immediate questions or plans regarding their particular career pursuits.

PROGRAM OPERATIONS

There should be one copy of the CDM provided for each student. In addition, there should be one CDM made into a transparency, to be used on an overhead projector. Also needed is a room large enough to accommodate the students, group leaders, and adults representing their careers. Ideally, there should be one group leader per five kids, and a single workshop leader to facilitate the overall program. As previously stated, the ideal each adult represents each one of the seventeen "career clusters" represented in the CDM.

PROGRAM TESTIMONY

One participant states:

I remember having benefitted [sic] greatly as a student on the receiving end of a program like this. It did not, unfortunately, measure our interests and abilities through anything like the CDM system and therefore left me wondering about where to go from there. Nevertheless, programs which follow this pattern (the coming together of adults from the business world, youth interested in careers and counselors who attempt to aid the youth in the career decision-making process) generally have great success.

This is also the case with programs designed specifically for disadvantaged youth. Of course, for disadvantaged youth, a more comprehensive model should be implemented (such as the "Career Beginnings" program developed by Brandeis University). Career Beginnings has been successful. In its first three years, 98% of its students received their high school diploma, and approximately 65% of them continued to college. Furthermore, those who did not go to college found meaningful employment in which they were both satisfied and acquired opportunities to advance.

IMPLICATIONS

1. A young person who is helped with career decision making is usually appreciative of guidance, gaining self-esteem and self-knowledge.
2. Career programs—especially ones designed for disadvantaged youth—have significant success in reducing high school dropout rates, increasing the number of students entering college, and matching young people with sound jobs in which they are more fulfilled.
3. Career guidance programs help young people get good career starts in life.
4. Career guidance programs are the industrialized world’s version of teenagers learning a trade from a parent or village elder.

Miller, M.J. & McDougle, K.O. (1986, October). Factors high school students consider in making career plans. Psychological Journal, Special issue(part one), 598.

OVERVIEW

This important study gauges the opinions of high school students regarding the significance of specific forms of career guidance. It also ranks methods of career guidance according to what was found to be most helpful.

DESIGN

A survey was administered to ninety urban high school seniors (36 boys and 54 girls) to learn which factors they considered most important in helping them decide upon their post-graduate career plans.

FINDINGS

The students indicated that work experience, family, and, school counselors were very helpful in helping them with career decisions. An interesting difference was that girls considered work experience and grades to be most important regarding career plans; boys believed that extracurricular activities and guidance counselors were most helpful.

CONCLUSION

Guidance counselors are key in assisting young people in their career decision process. Furthermore, successful career development programs include an opportunity for parents and members of the community to describe their work responsibilities to students. Also valuable is the placement of young people in volunteer and community service roles so that they may gain valuable experience and the opportunity to discern their career interests.

CRITIQUE AND EVALUATION

Though very short and simple, this study supports the notion that young people greatly appreciate adults, especially guidance counselors, in the career decision-making process.

IMPLICATIONS

1. Career guidance is an excellent way for youth and adults to work together.
2. Boys and girls have slightly different needs regarding career planning. Girls seem to find their career interests through actual work experience and academics; boys depend more on guidance counselors and extracurricular activities.
3. Youth leaders need to provide opportunities for kids to discover their potential in areas such as leadership, organization, and presentation.

 

CAREER PLANNING RESOURCES

 

ORGANIZATIONS

Career Planner.com

One of the first online career-testing sites. Also has many links, job descriptions and other useful information.

Career Planning - from about.com

Comprehensive listing of all kinds of information relating to career planning such as an online quiz, related articles and links.

LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

 

Local high school/secondary school guidance counselors (for enrolled students)

 

College/university career guidance services (for enrolled students)

 

Look in the YellowPages for local career service firms. Often, they involve a fee, but pay off.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 

Bloomfield, W.M. (1989). Career beginnings: Helping disadvantaged youth achieve their potential. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.

 

Bridges, J.S. (1989, February). Sex differences in occupational values. Sex Roles, 20(3/4), 30.

 

Charner, I. (1988, Fall). Employability credentials: A key to successful youth transition to work. Journal of Career Development, 15(1), 30.

 

Drier, H.N. & Ciccone, J.K. (1988, Fall). Career guidance: The missing link in educational excellence and work transition. Journal of Career Development, 15(l), 3.

 

Eigen, C.A. et al. (1987, February). Relations between family interaction patterns and career indecision. Psychological Reports, 60, 90.

 

Miller, M.J. & McDougle, K.O. (1986, October). Factors high school students important in making career plans. Psychological Reports, Special issue (part one), 598.

 

Mitchell, C.E. (1988, Summer). Preparing for vocational choice. Adolescence, 23(90), 331-334.

 

Reardon, R. & Mundy, J. (1984, December). Career education and leisure education: Toward a k-12 life/development synthesis. Journal of Career Development, 11(2), 110.

 

Rosenthal, N.H. & Pilot, M. (1988, Fall). Informational needs for initial and ongoing work transition. Journal of Career Development, 15 (l), 20.

 

Slayton-Mitchell, J. (1990). The college board guide to jobs and career planning. New York: College Board Publications.

 

Stewart, J. (1985, March). Vocational indecision: How do we understand and deal with it? The School Guidance Worker, 40(4), 35.

MEDIA MATERIALS AND TEACHING AIDS

 

Flavian, D.J. Careers: how to get a job [Video]. Business Week. New York City: McGraw-Hill Productions.

 

Harrington, T.F. & O’Shea, A.J. (1982). Career decision making system [Survey]. Circle Pines, MI: American Guidance Service - The career abilities and interests survey and corresponding profile give students an accurate indication of what career interests he or she may have and should pursue. (Dr. Harrington is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at Northeastern University, and Dr. O’Shea is a Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.)

 

Radler, B. Successful interviewing [Video]. Business Week. New York City: McGraw-Hill Productions.