Chapter 8 Blog

This chapter provided some very useful information about online resources for career guidance as well as provided a review for other types of occupational information. I was quite intrigued because of my work in the Career Services office here at Millersville and our use of O*NET to assist students in their job search. Because I just started working there in September, I've barely been introduced to the database and found this chapter very helpful in further developing my understanding of the material found in O*NET. 

One thing that really surprised me in this chapter was the statistic presented by Brown (2012) that only 22 percent of jobs today require a bachelor’s degree. This was the most surprising fact I found in this chapter because of the strong emphasis placed on college education as an absolute requirement for most jobs. It seems to me that now-a-days a Bachelor's degree does not even suffice. After reading through the chapter I realized that it is important to realize that a lot of jobs require a different type of education, such as technical school, which I believe is often seen as lower quality and attributed to lower socioeconomic status. This is a belief that needs to be combatted. It is important to note, according to other studies I have read, the United States is a country in which most students do not finish college. I think one of the reasons why is because students are not educated about what job requirements are and are unaware that a technical degree or apprenticeship is enough for their desired profession. I had a friend in college who spent two years switching majors to later find out she wanted to be a cosmetologist, wasting a lot of time and money in school she didn’t need. This is why tools like O*NET and other sources of occupational information are extremely important for students, beginning as early as middle school when the student really starts to develop their self-concept, so students can understand their options and education required for any given occupation. 

Even though I never had any personal experience with O*NET prior to this reading and exploration, I did have a lot of experience with the “other sources” Brown (2012) described. In my career exploration, informational interviews, shadowing and direct observation were extremely beneficial for choosing my career. During my junior year of college, when I was a broadcast journalism major, I did an internship at a TV station. This direct observation experience showed me that It was definitely not the right career choice for me. After this experience, with encouragement from mentors I conducted many informational interviews with counselors, realizing it was the right path for me and then had another opportunity for an internship before applying to Graduate school. Although I know that O*NET is a great resource, I would suggest that direct interaction with the career of choice is extremely important, since it especially was for me. 

Brown, D. (2012).  Career information, career counseling, and career development

 (10th ed.). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.