Workshop for Career Counsellors

EWRF has always taken a serious view on the importance of career guidance and counselling. Through its C3G (Centre for Career Guidance and Counselling) programmes, the foundation has helped steer many Indian upper secondary students nationwide to determine suitable careers for their future. EWRF believes that “Career planning is a lifeline”.

To further explore the field of career counselling, four officers from the EWRF Headquarters attended a one day ‘Career Counsellors Workshop’ which was held at the Rumah Universiti, University Malaya, on May 23 2007, from 9.00 am – 5.00 pm. The workshop was organized by Ark Career Development Center and was conducted by a seasoned career guidance counsellor, Mr. K. Krishnan.

The workshop started of with a brief ice breaking session between Mr. Krishnan and the 10 participants of the workshop. Participants were provided with activity kits to be used during the workshop. Mr. Krishnan elaborated on the different kinds of career options in today’s world and on how career guidance could help individuals choose the right careers based on their personalities. According to him, there are a whopping 36297 careers in existence! After introducing a variety of test instruments used in identifying one’s career personalities, he then focussed his talk on John Holland’s Self-Directed Search, an instrument which groups career personalities into 6 major categories.

As the workshop progressed, participants were briefed on other issues in career counselling such as exploring the work environment and decision making. There was also a self discovery session for participants to try out Holland’s system. Most participants found that the evaluation system was very consistent in narrowing down relevant careers based on the six types of personalities* (See picture below).

To further enhance the participant’s knowledge on career counselling, Mr. Krishnan conducted case studies for participants to apply their knowledge gained during the workshop. Before that, he provided some tips for the participants on certain approaches that are to be taken during counselling. There were even simulated counselling sessions and all the participants enjoyed the sessions. Following that, Mr. Krishnan recapitulated all the different tasks carried out during the workshop. All participants were presented with certificates of participation. The Career Counsellor’s Workshop provided valuable information for the EWRF team and the information can be put to good use for upcoming C3G programmes.