About Career Guidance Counselors

Today's schoolchildren will have several different careers during their lifetimes, rather than spending their whole adulthood with one occupation as with previous generations. Plus, the world continues to change so rapidly that it is difficult to keep up with all the changes in the types of jobs.
Career counselors offer students information and insights on the type of work they can pursue after high school or college graduation.

History of

School guidance programs started in many U.S. public schools and colleges at the end of the 1930s. The George-Dean Vocational Education Act in 1938 encouraged establishment of the Occupational Information and Guidance Branch in the Bureau of Vocational Education of the U.S. Office of Education. States received funds to employ guidance supervisors. After World War II, the state guidance supervisors formed the National Association of Guidance Supervisors, which later became the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.
The National Defense Education Act in 1958 significantly increased the number of counselors from 80 to over 400 in 1962, but most were at the graduate level with a strong emphasis on helping students gain admission to higher education rather than career counseling. It was not until the late twentieth century that a greater emphasis was placed on occupations because of the increased need for qualified graduates and expanding globalization.

Function

Career guidance counselors help students make intelligent choices about the occupations that best meet their interests and abilities. They often give aptitude tests to determine strengths and interests. Once a career field is narrowed, the counselors can assist the students in selecting the education or training needed to meet their goals. Some counselors provide additional services, such as instruction in interviewing, writing resumes, writing college essays and filling out applications. Others may plan for guest speakers, field trips and college or job fairs.
Career counselors find jobs in high school and college guidance and career planning offices, vocational rehabilitation agencies, private counseling firms and state education offices.

Significance

Surveys of parents indicate that helping their children choose a career is a major concern. For the public at large, one of the most important goals of education is for youth to better understand the employment world and make constructive plans for high school graduation. More than ever, students are requesting help with choosing a career and deciding how to best pursue this goal.
The role of career education evolves throughout a person's life. The first stage, up to the age of 11, is awareness. Children believe they are able to do whatever they want by transferring their interests into career preferences. In the exploration stage from 11 to 17, children make possible choices based on their needs, abilities and personal norms; and from 17 to young adulthood, the students enter the preparation stage when they make final choices to find a balance between individual aptitudes and other factors, such as educational attainment and job requirements and openings.

The Facts

The U.S. Department of Labor reports that until 2016 the need for vocational or career counselors should increase as it becomes more common to switch careers and people of all ages consult with counselors for work advice. Further, state and local governments will hire more counselors to help welfare program recipients look for work. Career counselors will continue to be needed at job-training centers that provide support to laid-off employees and those who want to establish new skills. By 2015, about 10,000 men and women will turn 65 every day. A large number of these baby-boomers will not want to retire or be able to afford to stop their work. Some will stay in their same jobs, but many others will be looking for new career opportunities that can most benefit from their experience. Career counselors will help fill this role.

Identification

College students who want to become a guidance counselor should have at least a bachelor's degree in counseling or psychology. Some states require that high school counselors have a master's degree, too, and others require a license. In a college, counselors are often experts in their teaching area. Some of these specialists are called academic advisers. In a middle school, junior high or elementary school, the term "counselor" is more often used than career or guidance counselor. These staff members have a wide variety of responsibilities, including testing and acquainting younger students with career options.

Resources

• Association of Counselor Education and Services