Modern trends in Counselling & Vocational Guidance

We should bear in mind that human development and growth is taking place in a world filled with unrest, where the global market is overwhelmed by social, political and technological changes and diversifications - the effects of economic globalisation. Information about anything or knowledge and skills that are presently considered current may change overnight. Consequently, such concepts as life-long learning, development of basic skills, mobility, multiculturalism, career & vocational development were adopted in an effort to help individuals adapt to the changing demands of the global market through education and training not constrained by space and time, excepting biological considerations.
In particular, both the unemployed and employed, young and adult individuals have to exert themselves for on-going adjustments to new environments, particularly with respect to education/training and the labour market. In the face of globalisation, individuals are required to develop new skills to catch up with the flow of changes taking place worldwide.

Career Development

The term career development incorporates evolutionary dynamics which prescribe an individual’s choices with respect to his/her future employment towards the desired or targeted profession. Career development, involving also advancement, is determined by numerous factors, or a combination thereof, having to do with personal interests, knowledge and skills, value systems and, particularly, work or professional ethics. Counselling & Vocational Guidance place particular emphasis on career development in that the professional life of an individual is not confined only to the period of employment, but incorporates prior phases of decision-making and preparation that lead to employment. The term also incorporates changes in and movement from one professional environment to another. In other words, entrance into a particular profession is not the result of a “blitzkrieg” decision, but the product of an evolutionary process coinciding with the larger part of a person’s life-span.

Multiculturalism

The globalisation of the labour market, as well as other factors (e.g. political and social) that fire immigration, gives rise to the relocation of workers (labour mobility) from their country of origin to other countries. Consequently, socialization and other forms of interaction among this multicultural milieu are inevitable. This implies the creation of a multicultural and multi-linguistic environment where the Guidance Counsellor is called upon to develop his/her personal skills to help him/her perform his/her tasks which are not other than the adaptation of this milieu to their new environment. To this end, the Guidance Counsellor must entertain personal values, be aware of his/her cultural heritage, biases (if any) and respectful of the beliefs, values and needs of people from different cultural backgrounds. These qualities will help the Guidance Counsellor design and implement techniques specific to the profile of targeted groups.

Development of Basic Skills

Today it is all the more clear that individuals need to develop a series of skills - basic skills or career skills - that will help them towards a smooth and successful adaptation to the changing demands of the labour market. Basic skills range widely incorporating communication skills (oral, written, or electronic), computer hands-on experience, etc. Other basic skills relate more to professionals and may include on- and off-line information research, updating of field knowledge (e.g. physics, mathematics, and history). Basic skills may also refer to such vocations as hairdressing, car-repair, etc. Other skills have to do with cognition, as for example the sharpening of one’s analytic faculties, problem solving capabilities, etc. In addition there are skills with reference to talents or aptitudes (e.g. taking initiatives, creativity, sense of taste, empathy, decision-making capabilities, etc.). Furthermore, basic skills may refer to capabilities for independent work (e.g. spare time management, prioritisation, knowledge and aptitudes, adaptation to diverse environments, etc.).

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