After sitting in the first class of Career Development with Dr. Baker, I was unaware of how individual characteristics specific to a person, can really play a role in the type of career field one may choose. The ice breaker that was conducted in class, where individuals discussed what they wanted to be when they grew up as a young child, exemplified how children may typically choose career fields on the basis of people he/she may idolize as a hero or by the fascination of a particular interest, such as sports, animals, etc..For example, my ideal career was to become a professional basketball player because of my idolization of Lisa Leslie, who was a WNBA all-star. It appears as though a lot of the careers young children choose seem somewhat outlandish, without the reality of how competitive or difficult it is to attain a job in those areas. Sometimes I wonder how career counselors motivate clients whose aspirations in entering a certain profession may not be a good match based on their credentials or by their lack of resources or opportunities one may have. These setbacks could be due to a low socioeconomic status, a single parent household, or the affects of discrimination based on one's race/gender/ethnicity. How do counselors empower individuals to pursuit their interests if uncontrollable setbacks prevent them from being able to achieve their goals?
Out of the career development models that were described by Brown (2012), the empowerment model would be most useful for counselors who have clients that may be limited in opportunities/resources or are young children that aren't developmentally able to understand some of the realities of social injustice. In the empowerment model, philosophers suggest that all people should have equal access and equal chances of receiving the benefits of society (Brown, 2012). I viewed this model as one that emphasizes an optimistic approach to counseling, that may be subjective in nature due to the outlook that success is likely for all people in all professions, without focusing on how hard it is to get a job, or the chances of becoming a superstar athlete/model.
From Brown's brief discussion of development models, there is a definite need for career development services. Due to the unemployment rate being significantly high in the United States, career counseling seems more important than ever, and it appears that if young children can be realistically directed into careers that are attainable and would provide them with economic stability, then maybe in the long run our unemployment rate would decrease due to better decision making. Based on my own experience, career counseling would have been beneficial to my career development, which would have helped me save a lot of time and money. However, I due believe that in any career that one chooses, people must also still keep in mind their interests, because a lack of compassion for a career/job can lead to unhappiness and a lack of job satisfaction.
References
Brown, D. (2012). Career Information, Career Counseling, and Career Development. Chapel Hill, NC: Pearson.
No comments:
Post a Comment