weekly blog

After reading the chapter this week, I found it to be very interesting that they recommend corporations to include career counseling for their current employees. Many times we think that once you obtain a position in a company there is not a need to seek career counseling within the company. Working for a larger company currently, I have seen some things mentioned in the chapter that are implemented at my site. They do offer job postings on a consistent basis for internal employees’ only. When applying for these jobs one must have a resume. I have never heard of the human resource department offering assistance in completing a resume. That was one suggestion Brown made in the text. I think for this reason, some candidates are discouraged to apply because they do not have a resume and are unsure of how to create one. The company does offer tuition assistance to employees who are seeking to further their education and become a better asset to the company. I think this is another intervention that can coincide with career counseling. I think that there may be a lack of more hands on counseling because of the cost that goes along with it. I never imagined that the budget for a company to implement a career counseling would cost $400,000 or more (Brown, 2007). I can see how that may be a discouraging factor when trying to decide how important it is to incorporate some kind of career program in a company. I thought that the program GSK incorporated into their company is somewhat unrealistic for companies who are not as large as they are. The cost alone I’m sure is a major determining factor in any case.

The company I work for does rely on supervisors and managers to counsel employees on their career path. But as the text says, many are not sure of the proper way to do so. Usually this counseling takes place after one completes a year at the company I am employed by. They give what they call a review to assess how well the individual has done for the year and to help determine if that person will receive an annual raise and what the amount will be. At this time supervisors discuss what the person’s goal is in the company and what they would like to get out of their job. Because supervisors are not specialized in the field of career development they are not able to give the employee the kind of advice that may be necessary. I think it would be beneficial for companies to train their supervisors on different ways to help guide employees in their goals and career paths within a company. This may help to reduce some costs but still allow employees to get the help they may need.

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