1. Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach
Chapter 13: Job Loss and Transitions
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2. Career Transitions and Job Loss
Job Loss Concerns
Personal and career problems associated with job loss
Counseling interventions for adults in transition
There is a growing need for programs and strategies to assist adults in career transition
Some individuals decide to make career changes and some are forced into it
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Adults in Transition
Job loss concern: clients who have lost their jobs due to a recession and remain unemployed are likely to experience some psychological effects of job loss and the stress that is associated with the job search
Reevaluation of skills and job goals follows
Psychological effects can be very pervasive
There are differences associated with age and gender
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Adults in Transition
Manage to keep a healthy sense of urgency
Carefully review career options
Recognize that you must accept the necessity of change as soon as possible
Stopgap employment should be approached with caution
Focus on realistic goals and make plans to achieve them
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5. Interventions for Adults in Career Transition
There are enough distinct differences and factors involved in career transition to merit the development of specific programs
Identifying developed skills, interests, work experiences and reformulated goals are examples of program strategies for the adult in career transition
Counselors must focus on individual needs
Workers must be flexible and willing to accept new work environments
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Job Loss Concerns
Job loss and subsequent job searches can be psychologically stressful
Individuals must reevaluate their skills and goals
Middle-aged men tend to react more negatively to unemployment than do older and younger men
Women who lose their jobs report a greater decline in general health than men do
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Why Do We Need to Work?
A daily time structure that is devoted to working
Shared experiences and interactions with cohorts and others outside the nuclear family
The opportunity to express purpose and life goals
Reinforcement of personal status and identity
Participation in activities associated with work that is viewed as a necessity in the give and take of daily life
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8. Interest Identification
Measured interests have been used primarily in predicting job satisfaction in career counseling programs
We must also be concerned with interests and their relationship to potential occupational choices
Interest Identification can broaden and stimulate adults’ exploratory career options
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9. Skills Identification and Development
Identifying skills based on previous experiences in work, hobbies, social activities, community volunteer work and other leisure experiences
Self estimates of ability
List specific work tasks
Identify functional, adaptive and technical skills for each work task
Relate each to personal styles
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10. Value and Needs Clarification
Must incorporate the client’s total lifestyle
This intervention focuses on the individual adult’s values and needs
Individualized values and needs are considered in relation to multiple life roles of work, leisure and family
Values clarification exercises are suggested
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11. Education and Training
Education or training is a high priority among adults in career transition
Exposure to education/training opportunities should enhance the opportunities and options in career decision making
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Other Interventions
Occupational Planning
Focus on providing information to assist the adult in making the most effective use of occupational information
Life Learning Plan
Self directed
Decision making techniques and life planning exercises provide two methods of developing effective planning
Retraining Workers
Industrial organizations have a long history of training workers as a vital part of their career development
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