Careers Services -Information and Support

Introduction

It is every career development practitioner's goal and ideal to be competent and effective in the services they provide. To achieve this, an effective career development service must ensure that it delivers relevant and appropriate information in individual and group settings, and ensures that the career information has been tailored to a specific client's needs. This is just a few of the many things a career development practitioner can do to assist their clients effectively.

Case study

Brian is a first-year student at a local university. Brian was unsure about what he wanted to study, as he was interested in two different fields. Brian took the initiative to try to source career information about the two fields himself. Using various online sources, he was able to find ample information about both fields. Now armed with some knowledge of the respective fields, Brian still needed to speak with a career development practitioner. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown regulations in South Africa, Brian was unable to talk to a practitioner face-to-face. In his search for information, Brian had come across the National Career Advice Portal and the South African Career Advice Helpline. The advice portal serves as an online tool aimed at assisting students in making informed career and study choices and decisions. The advice helpline was also a fantastic resource, as Brian was able to chat with a career practitioner. Brian was glad that he had been able to find these online resources and was able to gain clarity and direction for his career path.

How can career development practitioners help impart career information?

A career development practitioner needs to be able to recognise the client's needs, align and deliver the required information, and evaluate whether that career information session was effective. Career practitioners can provide further assistance to clients by guiding and directing them to career-related websites, bursary websites, and other career, job or internship-related websites.

Career practitioners also play a significant role in career coaching. This can be done by providing coaching and tips for learners in areas such as interview preparation. Career practitioners can also help students understand how to research jobs advertised online, which are the safest sites when applying for jobs, and how to identify possible recruitment scams. This is an invaluable service, given the high amount of online fraud and job scam adverts currently in circulation.

But what would happen if a career practitioner fails to share correct information or delivers a poor career information session?

It is an unfortunate situation for students when a career practitioner is ill-prepared. Such a scenario could lead to extremely limited access to information, more often resulting in students trying to source information themselves, which may not always be correct. Students often lack the knowledge or understanding of subject choices and often choose incorrect combinations, thereby affecting their admission into universities and the programmes they can study afterwards. This ultimately affects, and possibly delays, the completion of their tertiary education.

Benefits of career development services

Students throughout their schooling years will require career education, information, coaching and counselling. These services continue to have value through to retirement. Some of the benefits of career development services include:

1. Identify strengths and weaknesses. Career development services help a person determine their own strengths and weaknesses. There are many tools that a person can use for this purpose. These tools can assist with general career skills, as well as skills relating to specific occupations.

2. Set objectives to achieve greater results. An extremely important aspect of a career development practitioner's role is to guide and direct clients through the process of setting goals for their careers. A dedicated career practitioner can help students understand what is needed to achieve their goals and identify possible alternative routes to achieve them.

3. Proper career guidance can help eliminate or reduce confusion. Career guidance can significantly decrease confusion and enable students to choose appropriate subjects and areas of interest. Ultimately, proper career guidance enables students to make better choices and helps create a clear focus on their goals.

4. Assists in learning what is available. Proper career education, information, coaching and counselling enables learners to widen their career options. It also helps students learn what is available, including which tertiary institutions offer the desired courses, funding and bursary information, and admission requirements.

5. Job search support. Career development practitioners can assist people looking for a new job, or those who wish to change careers. Their role is to encourage and support clients through the process, and to assist with aspects such as cover letters, CVs and interview skills. Career development practitioners are also able to provide feedback. In recent years, South Africa has seen a rise in the number of available resources for people seeking career development services.

Conclusion

The evolution of technology has provided a means to empower and enable people. Career development services have also been made available through these mediums, helping a vast number of students and individuals access vital information. As we have seen, technology is crucial to providing and maintaining the population's access to career information. While technology has a pivotal role, its potential is limited without ethical and competent career development practitioners. In general, a person's career path is not straightforward and predictable, and cannot be managed through artificial intelligence alone. The role of a career development practitioner is therefore also of pivotal importance in the provision of career education, information, coaching and counselling.