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Sheila is a claims processor at a major automotive company. Due to recent declines in the economy, she has recently been given notice that her position will terminate in two weeks. A despondent Sheila makes an appointment with the career consultant employed to assist with terminated workers. Upon hearing Sheila's story it might not surprise you to hear that the counselor plans to consult various websites during her work with Sheila. As professional career counselors, we are practiced at using career-based websites to assist clients with finding resources for taking interest inventories, engaging in job searches, finding occupational information, and creating resumes. However, Sheila's counselor is not looking at these types of websites. There are other beneficial websites that may not be as apparent or as frequently used. There are many websites that have information on career development theories that may be useful to counselors who are working to resolve the dilemmas of their clients. Below are several websites on the theories of cognitive, sociological, trait-factor, and on diversity issues that Sheila's counselor, and many of you, may find useful.

When I was training to be a professional counselor (1969-1971), the vast majority of my professors (and my colleagues) stressed that the "ideal" counselor would strive to view all clients with 'unconditional positive regard' and conduct their counseling sessions in a 'client centered' and 'client directed' approach taught by Carl Rogers, the most prominent and respected counselor educator of the era. While my natural personality is to be very extroverted, assertive, and directive, I learned and practiced the Rogerian techniques as I began to provide career counseling and train other counselors.

When I was training to be a professional counselor (1969-1971), the vast majority of my professors (and my colleagues) stressed that the "ideal" counselor would strive to view all clients with 'unconditional positive regard' and conduct their counseling sessions in a 'client centered' and 'client directed' approach taught by Carl Rogers, the most prominent and respected counselor educator of the era. While my natural personality is to be very extroverted, assertive, and directive, I learned and practiced the Rogerian techniques as I began to provide career counseling and train other counselors.

"Working collaboratively with other teachers, school counselors can contribute to the development of an optimum learning environment while collecting information to assist with career counseling. Having been a former school counselor competing for classroom time, I found that working together with teachers on previously established assignments can create a new opportunity in the classroom for career counselors who are looking for strategy to help students without impinging on teachers' classroom time. Getting into the classrooms for counseling sessions need not be so challenging when using activities already in place that can serve dual purposes."

"Book Review: A Job Search Manual for Counselors and Counselor Educators"

"The passage by NCDA of the Minimum Competencies for Multicultural Career Counseling and Development confirms the long known reality that the work of career counselors is impacted by the complexity of culture as much as psychotherapy and other forms of counseling. As career services professionals, the Competencies provide us with a useful framework for engaging our increasingly diverse client population. The Competencies challenge us to shift our counseling paradigms, improve our techniques, modify our theoretical approaches, and to be aware of our own cultural blind spots as we attempt to meet the unique needs of our clients and to better understand how culture impacts career development. While the Competencies provide basic guidance about the skills and knowledge needed to be a culturally competent career practitioner, it is still a challenge for career experts to understand how they can integrate multicultural competence into their everyday practice. This article seeks to examine some factors to consider when developing one's multicultural competence as it pertains to career counseling."

"In 2003, Career Development Alliance (CDA) was challenged to provide quality career services to the diverse, geographically dispersed workforce of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA)-and to do so on-demand and at a reasonable cost. We met this challenge by designing a dynamic system of telephone and Internet services provided by over 30 career counselors across the U.S., supported by a state-of-the-art website, streaming video, podcasts-tech tools. At the seven-year mark, we have provided career counseling, training, and executive and management coaching to thousands of clients and have worked within budget while garnering consistently strong feedback."

"Regardless of your title, career advisor, career navigator, career counselor, work workforce development professional, etc., you are likely to employ some career assessments from your tool kit to help individuals move forward in their career choice and development. There are so many assessments now available, both in paper-pencil and online formats, that it is easy to forget to take proper care to use quality assessments with your students, customers, and clients. Using a poor quality instrument, one without strong technical characteristics or using an instrument in which you are not trained, can cause harm to your clients despite your genuine intent to do otherwise."

I am driven, hard working and smart, but I lack the self-discipline to look for a job. I have hired a career counselor, but I still can't muster the motivation I need and am always procrastinating. Do you have any advice for being a more effective job seeker?

Information and advice for students and adults returning to school, as well as parents, counselors, faculty advisors, and education policymakers.

"In 2003, Career Development Alliance (CDA) was challenged to provide quality career services to the diverse, geographically dispersed workforce of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA)-and to do so on-demand and at a reasonable cost. We met this challenge by designing a dynamic system of telephone and Internet services provided by over 30 career counselors across the U.S., supported by a state-of-the-art website, streaming video, podcasts-tech tools. At the seven-year mark, we have provided career counseling, training, and executive and management coaching to thousands of clients and have worked within budget while garnering consistently strong feedback."

Traditionally, career counseling has focused on career exploration, career redirection, assessment, education/ training, job search skills and placement. Little consideration has been given to the complex emotional dynamics of grief associated with job loss. Understanding grief in the context of job loss and lifestyle adjustment is particularly important when clients are confronting a major life change. Oftentimes, an overwhelming sense of loss distracts or impedes a person's readiness to conduct a job search or effectively move forward with a positive career-life change. Career Counselors working with clients who are experiencing a job or career loss compounded by the need to adjust lifestyle expectations need to comprehend the grief process if they are to empower their clients to succeed.

Many creative children are taught from a very young age that there is no real place for them to shine. From a young age, these children are trying to learn skills to which their talents are not applicable. As a result, these adolescents are frequently unable to create a satisfying future career. Career counselors are in a position to effect significant change in the lives of creative adolescents but often lack the understanding of this population that would make their interventions more effective.

Introverts bring many unique strengths to organizations, including a focus on depth, an ability to listen, and a calm, reflective nature. If career counselors and coaches can deepen their understanding of how introverts are "wired," they can help create more wins for introverted clients and their organizations.

"I'm passionate about "career management," a phrase I use to talk about taking personal responsibility for our individual careers. Long gone are the days when a company had loyalty towards employees, specifically keeping them on-board for decades and providing a healthy pension after retirement. How many companies are offering a lifetime job with nice benefits after retirement? Not many. "

Whether to inform a case management process, to assist with career life decision-making, or to measure outcomes of counseling interventions, effective assessment is an essential counseling competency. The following ten questions will help you keep your assessments on track.

"Weeks after Rosalyn Ray was laid off from her job as a medical health clerk last year, she decided to hire someone to revamp her résumé. "

"Have you ever received a call from a reporter looking for a career development professional? Such calls could be triggered by a number of different events. If you advertise your services or events such as career or job fairs, reporters may follow up. If the economy is in a downturn, with major employers eliminating jobs and millions of people re-thinking their career futures, reporters may come to you as an expert source of comment and analysis. If the economy is expanding and people are exploring new work options, reporters may seek observations about the resulting trends. If your organization issues a press release, you should be prepared to field any inquiries that result."

Strong Interest Inventory and Myers-Briggs Type Sample Profile