Search

We examine the role of counselors and other practitioners in delivering career interventions using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Current benefits and limitations of ICT use provide the basis for recommendations. Potential benefits of increased ICT engagement include cost-effectiveness and improved access to resources and support. Potential limitations include poor assessment and information quality, limited practitioner support when needed, problems with distance intervention and social media, confidentiality of client records, inequality of access, inadequate competencies, and poor implementation. Specific practitioner roles are identified, and those related to social media are elaborated. Implications for theory, research, training, and policy are provided.

This article reports the findings from a phenomenographic investigation into guidance counselors' conceptions of career management skills (CMS). The results show that CMS was conceived as (a) information-based knowledge, (b) personal skills development, (c) interpersonal skills development, and (d) autonomous application of skills. The differences appeared along six dimensions of variation that included awareness of CMS, emphasis, promotion of CMS, teaching practice, assessment, and attitude. The findings give us a more profound understanding of critical aspects that may have an important role in the development of individual's CMS.

Educational and vocational guidance has received increased attention with regard to policymaking in the Nordic countries over the last 15 years. This has led to a growing interest in research-based knowledge. Updating an earlier article, we undertake a systematic literature review of guidance research in the Nordic countries during this 15-year period. Features and themes, both country-specific and in the region as a whole, are revealed through the analysis of a variety of research documents. Therefore, this article provides insight into research-based knowledge grounded in the Nordic context-relevant for both practitioners and policymakers on a national, Nordic, and international level.

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network representatives' conceptions of the role of information and communication technologies (ICT) related to national lifelong guidance policies. The role of ICT in relation to national lifelong guidance policies was conceived as (1) unexploited, (2) emerging, (3) acknowledged but fragmented, and (4) strategic. The hierarchical structure of the findings may serve as a tool to enable policy makers and other stakeholders to deepen their understanding of critical aspects that may have an important role in relation to further developments and the successful implementation of existing and emerging technologies in the guidance service sector.

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into career practitioners' understanding of competency for social media in career services. Sixteen Danish and Finnish practitioners with experience using social media in career services were interviewed in focus groups. Competency for social media in career services was conceived as (i) an ability to use social media for delivering information, (ii) an ability to use social media for delivering career services, (iii) an ability to utilise social media for collaborative career exploration and (iv) an ability to utilise social media for co-careering. The findings can be used to develop pre-service and in-service training of career practitioners and support for the deepening of their competency, using the critical aspects that were identified.

This article reports the outcomes of a study, undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective, of career practitioners' conceptions of social media usage in career services. Fifteen Finnish career practitioners--representing comprehensive, secondary and higher education as well as public employment services--were interviewed in focus groups. The analysis of the interview data revealed five distinct descriptive categories reflecting the career practitioners' conceptions of social media's use in career services. Social media in career services was conceived as (1) unnecessary, (2) dispensable, (3) a possibility, (4) desirable and (5) indispensable. The results indicated associations between career practitioners' conceptions and their practice. Moreover, the critical aspects identified in this study can be used to support the career practitioners' understanding of new technologies in career services.

The increasing use of technology is placing new demands on career guidance practitioners. This article examines what changes, if any, have occurred in the perceptions of guidance practitioners regarding their role and the role of the internet in meeting guidance goals and delivering career guidance services. The data were collected in focus groups in 2001-2002 and a follow-up study in 2010. A total of seven focus groups were held. The data were analysed using combined methods. The results indicated that practitioners now observe that the need for differentiated service delivery modes is more explicit due to varied levels of readiness in decision-making and ICT literacy. (Contains 1 table.)

This article reports findings from a phenomenographic investigation into career practitioners' ways of experiencing social media in career services. Focus-group interviews were conducted with 16 Danish and Finnish career practitioners with experience using social media in career services. Four qualitatively different ways of experiencing social media in career services were identified. Social media in career services was experienced as (a) a means for delivering information, (b) a medium for 1-to-1 communication, (c) an interactive working space, and (d) an impetus for paradigm change and reform. The results suggest that models of career intervention and ways of experiencing social media appear to be intertwined. The hierarchical structure of the findings may serve as a tool that enables career practitioners to deepen their ways of experiencing and understanding social media in career services by using the critical aspects that were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]