Customer Reviews

The Career Counselor's Handbook, Second Edition

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This book is a gift to anyone who is interested or involved in career counseling. It holds a wealth of clear, helpful and practical information that has been gathered and tested by two writers who have become leaders in their field, and who have in this book shared their wealth of experience. It provides a superb history of the ideas and events in the history of career counselling from 1909 to the present that will be valuable to both the student and the practitioner. It successfully integrates the academic, the spiritual and the intensely practical aspects of career counseling, and shows its relationship to life planning. The basis of this counseling approach is empowering individuals, so that clients 'take charge of their career development, make their own decisions and act on those decisions'. The writers take a firm stance on career assessment tools. There is sound advice on managing groups and group processes as well as an initial framework for running career counseling in a group. There is also practical advice on how to unblock clients, how to deal with the impossible client and how to counsel someone when you only have one hour. This book supports the proactive job search approach, self-employment, entrepreneurship and selling yourself. This is no standard textbook on counseling - it is a focused, practical and helpful guide that stays with its own topic and provides real tools and helpful advice, based on sound research and practice. I believe this book goes far in providing the career counselor with the tools they need to succeed, and, and in a wonderfully readable form.

This is a great book about not just helping people find a job, but helping them find themselves and fulfillment in their career. For the job seeker this book is also a great tool for understanding both yourself and the career counsel you may seek.

As a rookie in the field of Career Development I was in for some major surprises. As many Americans in today's society, I thought that the most frequently utilized tools of any professional career counselor would be assessment tests and occupational forecasts. Instead, I learned that these tools should be be used sparingly and with caution. Although still frequently used, the the highly skilled and professional career counselor makes it his/her mission to help the client use introspection, and ultimately, assume the responsibility for her/her own career development. I learned a lot about the field of career counseling, material which can not only be used when working with clients but also material that will be beneficial to my own career development. My two least favorite aspects of the book were the last chapter which dealt with "Hanging it up as a Career Counselor". Not that this Chapter shouldn't have been included, but I felt as that it was a downer of an ending. Also, it was recommended that the Counselor be ready to bring God and sprituality into the counseling session(s) if the client seems ready to do so. Maybe it is because I am new, but I find religion and spirituality to be so personal and unique to the individual, that I would be uncomfortable doing this. Religious values and beliefs are so varied that I think one would have to be highly knowledgeable about both world religions and the world of work.

When I purchased this book, I found myself inspired, refreshed and enlightened by the contents. After doing career counseling for over 20 years, I am delighted to be caught up anew in the possibilities. I called up four colleagues and started a book discussion group. We are working our way through the ideas herein, beginning with the authors' distinctions between information, knowledge, and wisdom. Brilliant, and very helpful! I recommend this to career practitioners who wish to sharpen their skills and focus. Bravo!

This book gives sound advice and an overall view of how career counseling works. Some good ideas for counselors and job seekers alike.

Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D., author of "The Accelerated Job Search" docwifford@msn.com