Personal Exploration

This section begins with an opportunity to explore what
you bring to the area of career guidance, as well as what
you would like to know. It goes on to define what we
mean by the terms "career," "vocational guidance," and
"life skills."

As you begin your work on this unit, take a few moments
to think about your own career experience and what you
can bring from it to your work with youth who are planning
their careers.

We are all different people, with unique abilities and dreams. One of the
biggest challenges in counselling youth about their careers is to be able
to really get to know them: to see their potential and understand their
hopes. As you have worked through the various units in this course,
you have learned various strategies and approaches to help you get to
know children.

Does your list include some of the following?

 
• Giving youth your full attention.
• Listening, not talking or giving advice.
• Being respectful of their ideas.
• Encouraging youth to expand on their statements by asking
questions and checking to see if you are understanding
correctly.
• Helping youth to explore possibilities so they can come to
their own conclusions.

The world of work is changing so quickly that it is difficult to keep
abreast of new career possibilities. While it's useful to know about various
careers, it can be more important to know where to find information
about them.