Chapter 17 Blog

I wanted to thank the class for their active participation in our Middle School work shop last week. I enjoyed the assignment and thought it was very beneficial for me as a future school counselor and extremely applicable.

This chapter would be beneficial for anyone to read, as our lives are often centered around what we do and how we will make money in our society. The variety of factors that affect the job market today were unbeknownst to me prior to reading this chapter. Some of the factors discussed surprised me, while others did not.

First of all, it is a known fact that technology is changing our world as we know is significantly, especially the job market. The jobs listed in the table Brown (2012) provides in this chapter about the occupations with the projected greatest percentage of decline were not surprising to me.  I was surprised to not see members of the print media job market on this list. Furthermore, Brown (2012) notes that technology is changing the face of many jobs, which is something that I wish was discussed further. 

The information provided about the global economy and other economic factors was not easily understood because I am not a business or economics savvy person. However, one of the most astonishing things I read was that the national debt of the United States translate to over $30,400 for every man, woman, and child (Brown, 2012). I knew that our national debt was scary, but I did not realize it was that bad and Brown (2012) notes a way to combat the debt is to stimulate the economy and create more jobs.  However, Brown (2012) also states that the current debt is unsustainable without having a dramatic negative impact on job creation. I can’t understand the debate on whether or not this is a high level of debt because obviously it is.

There is good news that many jobs will be increasing in growth, especially ones that require less training, such as: retail sales, cashiers, and wait staff. This goes back to our “Is college for everyone?” debate, it may not necessarily be needed as these jobs increase. Although it seems that these jobs are often low paying and cannot provide enough in our society to live comfortably. Brown (2012), notes the importance of knowing the status of the labor marketing for career counseling. Obviously these trends are applicable, but I don’t know how applicable they are in working with elementary or middle school students.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

                 

Chapter 17 / end of semester

     Chapter 17 looked at the future trends of the career development field. Not surprisingly, several jobs expected to drastically decline involve the post office. Technology is changing our world and it is safe to say that electronic communications are not a fad, but will continue to be the norm in business communication as well as personal correspondence. Interestingly though, retail jobs are expected to rise, however, I feel as if many people prefer to do their shopping online as opposed to in a store. Not only is online shopping more convenient, but the prices are often considerably better. Another job expected to grow is the registered nurse. I know a lot of people who were unable to find jobs in their field and subsequently returned to school for nursing because of the availability of the jobs. The book indicates that the level of training is an associate’s degree, however, my mom is a registered nurse and she indicated that hospitals today are really only interested in nurses who have a bachelor’s degree. Counselors should be aware of this trend so they can provide the proper guidance to clients interested in nursing. I found it interesting to read about the children of illegal workers and how they often do not go to college for fear of exposing their parents’ work status. Additionally, the question arises as to whether they will be charged in-state or out-of-state tuition if they decide to pursue a post-secondary education. Counselors should be aware of this issue so they can be prepared to handle it if it arises. The important thing for career counselors to know is that the job market is not static. It is constantly changing due to advances in technology, changing populations, and even certain world events (i.e. natural disasters, wars, etc.) that change the demand of certain jobs. Therefore, counselors themselves must be dynamic and continually keep up with the ever changing world.

     I quite enjoyed the presentation by Dr. Hill last Wednesday. I had not heard of him prior to last week, but I was impressed with his knowledge and wish I would have had the opportunity to be one of his students. I am looking forward to tonight’s presentations as we head towards the end of the semester. I think overall this has been an interesting and relevant course. I certainly learned a lot and feel like I have a much more sound understanding of career development now than I did sixteen weeks ago. Thanks for a good semester!

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Final Blog

  In Brown's (2012) text, he describes how change in the labor market is inevitable which often leads to economic changes that can leave people out of work and change global economic conditions for the worst. Looking at the causes of long-term trends, technology seems to be a major factor of change in industries of agriculture. Despite its elimination of jobs, technology appears to have helped in big businesses such as John Deere due its manufacturing profits. Its easy to look at the negative economic change that technology has had in different industries, but it has lead to growth in others. Due to the increase in the demands of technological goods, there may be an increase in jobs in its production/manufacturing. Also, there may be more jobs that become available on the business/administration side of the company, outside of the labor jobs. As career counselors, setting up people to be more well rounded in their skills sets outside of having just specific trade/skill, will help individuals adjust to the change in labor market.   By having clients monitor their jobs and anticipate changes that occur, individuals will be even more capable of surviving economic changes. 

  As career counselors, we can give access to clients about occupations that are declining because of advances in technology, off-shoring, or other factors, that could  lead to more thought out decisions for career decisions. Familiarity with the current and future status of the labor market can be of great value to counselors who want to maximize the potential in clients success in the workforce. 

 

I am really nervous about the workshop that my group and I are presenting which is geared toward student athletes and their career development. My group and I are looking to target a wide range of selected audiences such as high school student athletes, college athletes and parents/coaches. Informing student athletes about job trends will definitely be beneficial in deciding their major or field of study. If student athletes are informed of the occupational trends in a particular field, then they may be dissuaded or reluctant to choose a field of study due to the low availability job achievement. However, it is our job to also help students realize that choosing a field of study based on one's interest is important too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed). New York : Pearson Education, Inc.

Finals Week Blog

A quick note on last week’s class, I enjoyed listening to Dr. Hill speak as I always do.  This is the fourth class I have been able to hear him speak in and wish I had the opportunity to have him as a professor.  I would have enjoyed hearing him go more in depth on topics and cover all the topics he intended to discuss. 

Brown’s Chapter 17 discussed trends in the labor market and what affects them (2012).  I found the list of occupations projected to have the greatest decline interesting, but would expect this decline from many due to increases in moving production off shoes and new advancements in technology.  Some jobs I did not previously think about being in decline, specifically clerical or office positions.  This may be because I have previously held positions in this field but upon thinking about the advances in technology such as electronic medical records, computer transcription programs, and other software that enables clients/patients to check themselves in for appointments, the projections made sense.  After thinking about this for a moment, I recalled my chiropractor having a touch screen computer at the front desk instead of a person for patients to click through and sign themselves in.  My University Health Services as an undergraduate had a similar check-in system for appointments.  I think it improves the privacy of patients which may be positive, but see a negative in terms of wait time for those who have difficulty operating a computer system. 

Brown discussed the increase of service-providing jobs opposed to product-providing jobs in the United States.  I believe a lot of this is due to the lower cost of production off-shores.  I also think the generational shift regarding going to college has something to do with this.  I was talking about this shift with a sixty-year old coworker who graduated high school in the 1970’s.  I believe my generation was taught that you can’t get a good job without going to college, pushing more individuals to go to college.  He discussed how he wishes that he learned a trade instead, because there were many jobs he could have had that paid well without a college degree.  I think because of the push for my generation and younger generations to go to college, more people are over-educated for many o the jobs that produce products.  Some of the projections of occupations that will grow I think are related to generations living longer and the increase of older people in our populations.  These trends need to be incorporated in career development programs due to workers working longer and more older workers staying in the work force.

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter 17 and Middle School Career Workshop

I was disappointed that we did not get through more of what Dr. Hill planned on presenting, it seemed like very interesting work.  I am appreciative for the questions that school counselors asked, because that helped me connect the materials he shared to school counseling in a relevant way. It reminds me of the foundation of a ideas Dr. Garner also promotes: we need to be teaching children about their brains!

I learned a lot from the middle school presentation. I appreciate how they applied the career development lessons to several different traditional subjects.  At the PSCA conference I attended a session by a school counseling coordinator who spoke of just that concept. One thing she advocated for was developing a school counseling curriculum that the school board could approve and adopt. This insures more job security because school counseling is in the curriculum. In her school, she aligned the career readiness standards with other standards to show the teachers and administration how her lessons overlap.

I was surprised by the list of projected job openings in regards to teachers and professors. What if the “supervisors” job growth? There are supervisors in every field and so it is hard to guide a student into a career as a “supervisor” if you don’t know the field of supervision that will occur it.  Technology, global economy, and population factors all play a role in the changing job market (Brown, 2012). It is interesting to see where things are going, but a little overwhelming at the same time. I think the overall point of Chapter 17 is ‘That all employees need to be flexible to keep on top of a changing economy’.  I think flexibility and creative thinking is not taught in our public schools very well. I think that we live in an American Culture which fears the unknown and the change. We want to know that we will have job security and a reliable future. I wonder if a school counselor can aid in creating a school environment where children are excited about the unknown of the future and the idea of a changing economy is  exciting because you could end up in something new and better? I guess that might seem a little idealistic, but it is all about the attitude you approach change with.

I think overall this class is very important for Clinical and School Counselors; however, it is easier for the school counselors to imagine relating the materials in their future employment whereas clinical counselors will need it in a more nuanced way depending on their clients need.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.

weekly blog

In this chapter, Brown discusses the trends in occupations that have shown a decrease in openings due to technology and occupations that have shown an increase over the past few years. It appears the new trend is in the service industry. These jobs are expected to continue to increase up to year 2018 (Brown, 2007). I thought it was very interesting to see that out of the 20 projected jobs with he most openings only four jobs needed a degree of some sort. This is interesting because there is so much stress to go to college and further your education but the real job needs that are growing simply need on the job training. I am curious to see if these results will impact the enrollment of students into post-secondary education programs. If there are all these jobs available to people without any type of schooling besides a high school diploma it may be easy and more practical for people to exclude college as an option and go straight to work especially the way the economy is today. As a career counselor this information could be very useful when working with clients. It can give them an idea of where the job needs are and the realistic expectations of obtaining a job in a specific field they may be interested in.

As counselors I am curious to see what happens to the available jobs in the future. With talk of states mandating counselors I think that may happen which would definitely create job security and positions available for new first time counselors. I think that this chapter also helped shed light on some of the reasons why unemployment is at an all-time high. Even though the amount of people who are unemployed is slowly declining, it’s easy to see how jobs sent overseas to save money have greatly effected people here in America. I am curious to see what will happen with jobs and our economy in the next 10-20 years. Will we be pushing students to further their education or will we send them directly to work and receive basic on the job training. We have been given his thought that by earning a degree you will make a higher income. But in the world today we cannot say that is true all the way around. In some instance yes you will have a higher income, but in many manufacturing jobs that require little skill one still has the ability to make a decent living salary much like the college graduate if not more.

Altogether, this course has been very enlightening in regards to the career world. I never knew how many resources were out there to help assist others in the career process. I am hopeful that I will be able to use this knowledge and pass it along to the many people who are also unaware of their options and resources available.

Brown, D. (2007).  Career information, career counseling, and career development  (9h ed.).  New York: Pearson Education, Inc.