Improve student career certainty using self-information

This study aims to examine the effectiveness of counseling interventions using self-information to increase student career certainty. This study was conducted with a quasi-experimental pre-test–post-test non-equivalent group design. The number of subjects was 94 high school students, out of which 44 were male and 50 were female; the experimental group consisted of 39 people and the control group consisted of 55 people. The Self-information used in this study was provided through the Self-Directed Career Exploration Inventory, while research data was obtained through the Career Plan Certainty Scale. The results showed that career counseling services using self-information were effective in helping high school students to increase their career choice certainty. The mean score of the students of the specialization group in the experimental group increased and was significantly different from the mean score of the students in the control group. In addition, the mean score for the study plans of male and female students was not significantly different. Keywords: Career certainty, self-information, career counseling, career intervention.

Work Value Differentiation and Profile Elevation: What Do They Predict?

The current study examined work value differentiation and profile elevation (PE). Using a sample of 251 college students who provided data on the O*NET Work Importance Profiler online, it was found that (1) when differentiation of work values was calculated using three indices (i.e., high–low differentiation, Iachan differentiation, and variance differentiation), only Iachan differentiation positively related to indecision; (2) none of the three indices of differentiation related to career maturity; (3) work value PE positively related to extraversion and openness and negatively related to depressive symptoms and career indecision but was unrelated to career certainty and neuroticism; and (4) work value PE moderated the relationship between Iachan differentiation and career indecision. The findings from this study have valuable implications for both vocational counselors and clients and should help to improve the utility of individuals’ work values results.

Life Design Counseling Group Intervention With Portuguese Adolescents

This article examines the process and outcome of a life design counseling group intervention with students in Grades 9 and 12. First, we applied a quasi-experimental methodology to analyze the intervention’s effectiveness in promoting career certainty, career decision-making, self-efficacy, and career adaptability in a sample of 236 students. Second, focus groups comprising 33 participants were conducted, examining participants’ perceptions of the intervention process and outcome. Our findings showed that the intervention had a significant effect on both career certainty and career self-efficacy, but it had no effect on career adaptability. Our results also showed that My Career Story (MCS) had a stronger effect on Grade 12 students. Focus group participants reported on the usefulness of MCS, as well as on its benefits, which include increased information as well as a sense of direction, self-discovery, connection, and increased self-awareness. Grade 9 participants expressed more difficulties in narrating self-experience than Grade 12 participants did. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.