This struck me the most before entering this class: “who goes to career counseling unless you are a student”? I guess I knew people also go to career counseling when they are unemployed. Beyond that, I never knew a professional that went to see a career counselor. Chapter 1 revealed some of the need for career counselors.
The world market truly affects everyone’s job. Brown (2012) pointed out that jobs no longer have borders which protect them. I saw this on a small scale when my brother-in-laws company moved his site to another state. The owner of the company lived in Tennessee, had an office in Reno, Nevada and an office in Virginia due to a merger years ago. The owner worked for years to change the laws in Tennessee to allow for his company (which makes slot machines for casinos) to have a headquarters in Tennessee. Once the law changed, the owner finally told his company of his plans. Within 8 months he closed the office in Virginia. My cousin had an offer to go work in Reno; however, he had a baby on the way, a condo they bought right before the housing market crashed, and a wife who was moving up in her company. This micro example of what happens between states happens worldwide. Corporations know the desired end goal of negotiations, policy change, and research; however, they don’t always tell their employees until the company move happens. Right now the biggest areas of outsourcing occurs in three areas, logistics, information technology, and call centers (Brown, 2012). Some people see another wave coming.
Seeing a lot of information about the changing job market struck me with a sense of awe at how we A) anticipate the changes in the job market and careers and B) how to disseminate this information to the general population to make appropriate career choices. Brown (2012) referenced Blustein et. al’s proposition that career development practices need to balance individuals and the systems. The focus on the system includes a focus on social justice of the wage divided and the faces of poverty.
I struggled with some of the points in the section “The Future of Work” (Brown, 2012, p. 20). I saw how the points about new areas of growth in the job market affect career counselors; however, the points about the need for more education reform related to providing support for lifelong learning sometimes seems out of my control. I see time after time how sometimes no programs exist for the industry which wants to grow around it.
References
Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10th ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: Pearson.
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