Unit 9: Integrating Career Development Resources into Career Planning Processes

Overview

This course has emphasized that career resources are tools for career practitioners and clients to support and enhance career-related services. It has also stated that resources are not meant to replace the work that is done together in the professional relationship with clients. Career-related resources can, however, augment and complement the direct services provided by career practitioners, and this occurs in several ways.

First, career-related resources offer access to a tremendous amount of information. It is virtually impossible for professionals to know all the information available on career development. The pace at which career information is published and the rate at which information changes adds to the demands on those who provide career services. Career resources offer sources of information that can assist clients with a wide range of career needs. Therefore, career practitioners need to be able to manage the information that is available through resources in ways that support the processes of career planning.

Second, career-related resources can complement career services by providing opportunities for clients to work more independently in meeting their own career needs. Again, that is not to say that resources replace the role(s) of practitioner but, given appropriate direction by a practitioner, clients are in a better position to access resources and to exercise their abilities to acquire the information they need.

One of the hallmark characteristics of career development practice is empowering clients to take charge of their career-related needs. It is useful to revisit the conceptions of career development and work outlined by Dave Redekopp in the Foreward to this course: “The role of the career development specialist [is] enabling individuals to manage their paths through paid work, knowing that this path also involves managing unpaid activities” (p. 3). The concept of managing careers in the changing world of work is an important one: it implies that people need to take charge of their careers. For example, in the book JobShift (see the supplementary materials list in Unit 2), Billbridges (1994) emphasizes the need for people to consider their relationship with work, whether working for a company or through self-employment, as contingent on the capacity for self-management. He encourages people to develop a mindset of “Creating You and Company,” which is the title of his subsequent book that elaborates on the ways in which the changing world of work demands career self-management.

How do we prepare our clients for the changing world of work? A useful tool we can give clients is a framework for understanding their career-related needs, a method for accessing information, and support for developing the skills needed to implement solutions. Thus, the overriding goal of career development practice is to teach clients skills for managing current and future career-related needs. This task includes helping clients to learn about the kinds of career resources available, how to access those resources, and how those resources can be used to address their career- related issues. In these ways, skills for accessing career development resources help clients to be adaptable in the changing world of work. Knowing how to access and use career development resources can assist clients to manage both their current and future career planning needs.

Unit 9 will help you locate career resources within a framework of career development practices. It emphasizes using career resources as tools within a career planning process. Through understanding client needs as representing one or more stages within a career planning process, practitioners can be better informed about the kinds of resources that will best address client needs. Therefore, this unit integrates the materials presented in earlier units and helps you to connect resources to client needs. Common stages of career planning are reviewed. Two examples of client scenarios are illustrated to consider how a variety of resources can be combined to help clients in the changing world of work.

From time to time as you work through this unit, take a few moments to revisit the messages given in earlier units about the purpose and functions of career development resources. In your role as a career practitioner, you will require a framework for organizing career development resources that work for you and your clients. This means that you should be able to provide a rationale for the types of resources you are recommending to clients. Included in that rationale would be an explanation of what the resource is about, how the resource is connected to a career planning process, and how it can potentially address client needs.

Learning Objective

When you have completed Unit 9, you should be able to achieve the following learning objective.

1. Define a framework for integrating career resources into career planning processes that does each of the following tasks:

1. Identifies the central client concerns of core stages in career development processes.

2. Recognizes the relationships and connecting themes between core stages.

3. Considers what kinds of resources may address client needs in each stage.

4. Matches career resources to the needs of clients in each stage.

Reading Assignment

Unit 9 Commentary in this Study Guide.

Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development. (1995). Radical change in the world of work: A counsellor's guide. Edmonton, AB: Learning Resources Distributing Centre.

Study Questions

As you work through the commentary for this unit, keep the following study questions in mind. These questions are intended to direct your reading toward key ideas and to help you analyse and understand the course content.

1. a. Briefly describe the advantages of integrating career resources into a framework of career planning.

   b. Outline the potential hazards of assigning resources to clients without a framework.

2. a. Name each stage of a career development process.

   b. What are the central goals for each stage?

   c. What client concerns might surface that are linked to each stage?

3. For each stage of the career planning process, research resources that could be used with clients. Be sure to include a rationale for selecting the resource, including its purpose, content, and evaluation of the resource, and how you believe it could be used to address client needs.

4. Consider the following scenario: Beth is a 25-year-old woman who approaches you for job search assistance. She focuses on her need to find employment. However, during your conversations, you see other issues that suggest she might benefit from self-exploration.

1. How would you proceed with this client?

2. What boundaries do you place around the expertise you can offer versus suggesting a referral to other professionals who provide career services?

3. If Beth is willing to devote time on her own to self-assessment, what resources would you recommend?

Commentary

This course has introduced three models, or frameworks, to help you understand the link between career development resources and meeting clients' needs. One framework was outlined in Unit 3 by organizing career development resources according to the work world, the client, and the client's world. This framework was expanded in Units 4 through 7. In Unit 8, the steps involved in a career decision-making model were outlined to demonstrate how Web-based information could be used with clients. However, the decision-making model is not limited to use with Web- based resources. This model can be used to consider client needs at each stage of decision-making and to match the best type and source of career-related resources. Also in Unit 8, stages of a career planning process were introduced to illustrate the application of Web-based career resources.

Unit 9 expands on a framework for career planning, and begins by describing the common stages of career planning. Note, however, that the purpose of career planning is not for every client to progress through each of the stages in a step-by-step manner. Although they are presented here as discrete stages, clients' needs often overlap stages. Keep in mind that stage models of career planning processes offer a general framework from which to consider the unique needs of clients. First, an overview is given, and then an explanation is offered for each stage. Following the stages of career planning, two client scenarios are presented, illustrating how different types of career development resources can be combined to address client needs.

Career Planning Framework

1. Personal Exploration

2. Exploration of the World of Work

1. Educational Exploration

2. Labour Market Research

3. Career Decision-Making

4. Implementation of Career Choices

1. Job Search

2. Other Actions

5. Workplace Success

Personal exploration. One of the most difficult questions for people to answer is “Who are you?” or “Tell me about yourself.” Apart from cultural values related to modesty about self-expression, people often feel unprepared to identify their personal assets. This stage of career planning focuses on helping individuals gain an understanding of who they are in relationship to the world of work. Common areas of personal exploration are interests, values, skills, and abilities. Numerous self-assessment and standardized assessment tools target the various areas of personality. Beyond reflection about “who” people are, the stage of personal exploration also focuses on “what” is important. Exploration of values, beliefs, and clarification of personal meaning related to career development are instrumental activities. Beyond determining what is meaningful to people, exploration also focuses on how that meaning is expressed. Avenues for expression of personal meaning include various activities and relationships related to the worker role but not limited to only that role.

Exploration of the world of work. Once clients gain an understanding of their personal attributes, they are in a better position to consider ways of expressing themselves through the world of work. Of course, this requires that they gain an understanding of occupational profiles and the many options available to them. Clients frequently present two common issues when seeking career planning services. First, they often do not see possibilities beyond their personal experience. Some clients experience considerable stress if faced with the possibility that familiar occupational roles many no longer be available. One of the key planning activities in this stage of exploration is to help clients expand their scope of occupational possibilities. This requires that they become aware of alternatives they may not have considered previously, due to lack of information or experience. Second, clients may experience the dilemma of perceiving that there are too many choices in the world of work. This situation can be particularly stressful for younger adults who struggle to determine how to narrow the range of possibilities.

The issues presented in both of these examples illustrate the need for a systematic way to help clients explore the world of work. This includes exploring occupational clusters and options within those areas, the skills and abilities needed to be successful in occupations, and current labour market information. Occupations are not static and must be considered in light of educational requirements, access to education and training, and the economic conditions that impact the demand for workers in specific occupational sectors. The overriding goal of exploration is to help clients gain a better understanding of self and occupations in the changing world of work.

Career decision-making. The processes of exploration provide clients with information that enhances their understanding of themselves and of occupations. For some clients, that information helps to confirm career choices, and this affirmation may be the step needed to feel confident about implementing choices. Alternatively, through the process of exploration many people confirm that they are in an educational program or occupational role that remains viable. However, many clients require assistance to help them process the information researched into meaningful options.

Decision-making is an integral component of career planning, and the main goal of decision-making is to help clients make the most appropriate choices from the range of options explored during exploration. One model of decision-making in a career planning process was outlined in Unit 8. In reality, decision-making is rarely a separate stage from exploration and implementation, but is an ongoing process throughout career planning in which people expand upon and refine the options they believe are available to them.

Clients may benefit from understanding the steps of a formal decision- making process or from exploration of a simple cost/benefit analysis or discussing the pros and cons of each option. Regardless of the method used, the major goals of decision-making are to reduce uncertainty and to crystallize choices. It is also important for career practitioners to help clients review real or perceived barriers for each option considered. Career practitioners may be in a position to clarify information or to link clients with resources that would otherwise leave options unconsidered. Once options have been clarified, clients are in a position to develop an action plan toward implementing their choices.

Implementation of career choices. During this stage of career planning, options are translated from ideas to concrete actions, which requires clients to plan the specific steps needed to implement options selected during the decision-making stage. In other words, this stage of career planning involves the actions needed for clients to implement their choices. One of the keys to successful implementation is defining what actions are needed in specific and manageable steps. Clients can benefit from support to identify the parts of each step, the resources needed, and the timeframe for completing each step.

Two other components of the implementation stage support clients in implementing their choices successfully. Anticipating obstacles along the way can help clients to generate alternative plans and ways of coping. Anticipatory coping can prepare clients with the means and confidence to persist in implementing steps of their action plan. Another strategy is that of determining the criteria for evaluating how successful their actions were toward realizing their career goals. This also helps clients to persist if faced with minor setbacks when they are clear about “what counts” in determining their success. Depending on their experience of implementing specific steps, clients may feel that they are prepared to continue with full implementation of their choices. Alternatively, steps taken during the implementation stage may provide experiences that lead clients to decide that their choices are not realistic. In this case, it may be necessary to revisit an earlier stage of the career planning process.

Most models of career planning end at either the stage of implementation or evaluation. It appears that once a career decision has been made and a client has been assisted to implement that decision, career planning is finished. However, a client may also seek the career planning services of a career practitioner for assistance in two other domains: job search and workplace success.

Job search. Job search may overlap with the state of implementation if it is part of a career-planning process in which the goal is to enter or re-enter a particular occupational role. It may also be the point of entry for clients who seek career services. Many clients are clear about their occupational goals, but require assistance with planning and implementing an effective job search. For younger workers, the focus of career services may be on entering the labour market, while many adults now face periods of their lives that are characterized by intermittent periods of employment and unemployment. This situation may be due to labour market conditions or the increasing trend toward contract-based employment. Regardless of the cause, people need to learn a systematic way to approach a job search so that they feel better equipped to manage periods of employment instability in the changing world of work.

Workplace success. Workplace success is among the least represented stages of career planning. Given the attention paid to assisting clients in assessing their strengths and capabilities, researching occupational choices, considering options, implementing decisions, and evaluating the effectiveness of that decision, it is somewhat surprising that so little attention is given to workplace success. Here, the focus is on the interface between organizations and employees. It may refer to the transition stage of entering a new job or new organization. It may also focus on the career development needs of employees who have worked for the same employer, or who have worked in the same occupational field, for several years. At this point, the focus is no longer on decision-making, but on the adjustment of workers to organizational demands. Career planning services can be especially helpful for the new employee or for helping the long-term employee chart a course of professional development and career enhancement. Given the emphasis on change within organizations (see the supplementary materials list in Unit 2), the mandate of career development services needs to expand to workplace success.

Underlying career planning processes support personal exploration, exploration of the world of work, reviewing options, clarification of goals, and implementation of career choices. The description of career planning provided here is intended to introduce you to a general framework and to help you consider the relevance of career development resources at each stage. It is hoped that the content of this unit will encourage you to examine career planning in more depth. You may even wish to enroll in Athabasca University's other Career Development courses that focus on the processes of career planning and designing effective career interventions.

Scenario 1: Career Development Resources for Youth

John is 16 years old and in grade 11. He is feeling a lot of pressure to decide on his plans after high school. Everybody seems to be asking him, “What are you going to do?” and he is uncomfortable not having an answer. He contacted his Guidance counsellor to talk about his job options for summer employment and to plan which post-secondary institution he will attend. The following career development resources were identified as tools for assisting John in each stage of a career planning process. Please note that the specific titles and links used below were current at the time of printing and may now be changed or nonexistent. Consider this as an example of how resources and clients' needs can be integrated.

Personal Exploration

• Self-Directed Search: A Guide to Educational and Career Planning (4th ed.) (1994) This popular self-assessment inventory helps individuals to explore personal interests and occupational preferences.

• Skills Plus Handbook (1999) This well-designed workbook helps individuals to explore personal career assets. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• NextSteps.org (http://www.nextsteps.org/) Calgary's Youth Employment Centre Web site is designed for career planning for youth and is free of charge.

Exploration of the World of Work

• Alberta Learning Information Service (www.alis.gov.ab.ca/career/) This resource contains excellent profiles of more than 500 occupations and is free of charge.

Note: As most occupational information is now available on the Internet or in CD-Rom format, print resources are not included for this section.

Educational Exploration

• It's About Time . . . to Choose a Post-Secondary Education Program (1999) This resource is packed with excellent information on choosing a post-secondary institution in Alberta. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information

• SchoolFinder.com (http://www.schoolfinder.com/career/index.htm) This well-designed Canadian site includes information on Canadian educational institutions.

Labour Market Research

• Career Moves (1994) This easy-to-understand resource is a visually appealing series of booklets on various work sectors. The resource is available free of charge from Human Resources Development Canada.

• Job Futures (http://www.jobfutures.ca/) This easy-to-use Web site contains information on future outlooks of various careers.

Career Decision-Making

• Lasting Gifts: Parents, Teens and the Career Journey (1995) This resource book is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information. It is designed for parents of teens and can be used to encourage dialogue about career decisions.

Job Search

• Youth Link 1999-2000 This information booklet is a guide to work experience opportunities in Canada and other countries and is packed with useful information for Canadian youth. The resource is available free of charge from Human Resources Development Canada.

• JobSearch: The Product is You (1998) This excellent workbook is easy to use and contains extensive information and tips for job search. The resource is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

Workplace Success

• Positive Works (1992) This workbook is designed to help people to adapt to their jobs and to achieve success. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

Scenario 2: Career-Development Resources for Adults in Transition

Mary is 42 and has recently lost her job due to downsizing in the company. She is feeling stressed about unemployment because she needs to work to support her children financially. Mary also recognizes that she had not been feeling satisfied in her line of work for several years, and she is wondering if this might be a good time to consider a new career direction.

Personal Exploration

• Changing Course Mainstream (1998) This workbook offers self-exploration exercises and information for adults in transition. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• Self-Directed Career Planning Guide (1994) This workbook is designed for self-exploration and to begin the career planning process. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• Campbell Interest and Skill Survey This standardized assessment inventory helps clients explore self- reported interests and self-reported skills. Results are compared with people in general and with happily employed people in a variety of occupations. Career practitioners should be trained in the use and interpretation of this inventory.

Exploration of the World of Work

• Alberta Learning Information Service (www.alis.gov.ab.ca/career/) This Web site resource contains profiles of more than 500 occupations and is free of charge.

Note: As most occupational information is now available on the Internet or in CD-Rom format, print resources are not suggested for this section.

Educational Exploration

• The Adult Back-to-School Book (1994) This excellent workbook contains information and exercises to help adults who are planning to go back to school. The resource is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• SchoolFinder.com (http://www.schoolfinder.com/career/index.htm) This well-designed Web site includes excellent information about Canadian educational institutions.

Labour Market Research

• Alberta Careers Beyond 2000 (Industry sector profiles, Occupational profiles, 1996) These booklets are easy to understand and the content is packed with current trends in Alberta's labour market. They are available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• Canada Prospects (1999-2000) This annual newspaper contains up-to-date labour market trends in Canada. The resource is available free of charge from Human Resources Development Canada.

Career Decision Making

• Multiple Choices (1999) This useful workbook contains a section with information about setting career goals and making your dreams become reality. It is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

Job Search

• Creating a New Future: The Job-Loss Workbook (1999) This excellent workbook is for people who have lost their jobs. It provides information about how to cope, how to develop a support network, and how to find other work or directions. The resource is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

• Job Seeker's Handbook (1998) This workbook contains useful information and exercises for the job search process. The resource is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

Workplace Success

• Hard at Work.com (http://www.hardatwork.com/) This entertaining Web site offers quality articles on various workplace issues.

• Positive Works (1992) This workbook is designed to help people adapt to the workplace and to achieve success in it. The resource is available free of charge from Alberta Career and Labour Market Information.

Concluding Comments

The world of work is changing. Consequently, career practitioners must also change their approaches to the delivery of client services. The burgeoning amount of information available to career practitioners poses both challenges and opportunities. Perhaps the biggest challenge posed by the information age is how to keep up with current and reliable information. Another challenge is posed by the variety of formats through which career-related information is now available. These challenges require career practitioners to gain basic competencies for accessing and using information. A systematic approach is needed to understand client needs and to select appropriate resources. Career practitioners can no longer practice effectively without competencies for using career development resources.

The changing world of work also demands that we rethink our approaches to career development and the best ways to meet the needs of clients who seek career development services. Those who view challenges as learning opportunities will be better prepared for career development practice in the twenty-first century. Career practitioners who view their role as information managers, who gain knowledge about career development resources, and who develop skills for accessing and evaluating those resources will be better prepared to assist their clients.

Throughout this course, you have explored the purpose of career development resources, the kinds of resources available, and how they can be integrated into frameworks for understanding and responding to people's career-related needs. Let the information in this course be your guide and you will know what to select and what to leave behind. A systematic approach to career development resources will support your role as a career practitioner.

Supplementary Materials List

You may wish to pursue additional reading resources if you would like to learn more about the processes of career planning and decision-making.

Magnusson, K. (1992). Career counseling techniques. Edmonton, AB: Life-Role Development Group. Note: This resource provides a summary of six systematic models used in career counselling and elaborates on the author's approach to career counselling.

Harris-Bowlsbey, J., Dikel, M. R., & Sampson, J. P. (1998). The Internet: A tool for career planning. Columbus, OH: National Career Development Association. Note: This resource outlines how Web-based career resources are central to a career decision-making process. Case examples are illustrated.