- specifying the significance of the investigated psychological processes,
clarifying the concepts used: interests, aptitudes, values, etc.; - asking clients to give their opinions on the tasks, the emotions experienced,
the expectations raised by the evaluation; - explaining the value of the clients’ own performance (comparing it against
the performance obtained in other evaluation contexts, against certain
norms/standards, the significance of omissions and errors, correcting and
marking, if applicable), etc.; - initiating a career development plan in cooperation with the client.
In classifying the methods employed in career counselling the following criteria may be
held in sight: clients’ needs, purpose and means by which counselling activities are
carried out, the stages in the process, the phases of a counselling sessions, types of
counselling approaches, degree of instruments standardization.
According to the purpose of counselling activities, the methods are generally classified as
follows:
- Methods to gather information on the client: psychological test,
questionnaire, observation, interview, anamnesis, autobiography,
self-characterization, school record, focus group, opinion poll, knowledge
assessment test, analysis of biographical data, analysis of the activity
products, SWOT analysis, portfolio, etc. - Communication methods: conversation, role-play, simulation, exercise,
narration, pedagogical game, Philips 6/6. - Client information methods: materials used to spread information among and
for the clients (leaflets, guides, other media products), occupational profiles,
conferences, personal reading, presentation movies, commenting on the radio
or TV shows. - Methods of investigating the labour market: exercises to develop job hunting
skills, simulating work situations, orientation tours, work shadowing, ICT in
job tracking, educational fairs, job fairs, mini-stages in enterprises, polls to
identify needs, case studies. - Methods of personal marketing and information management: writing a CV
and a letter of intent, sitting in a job interview, analysing / drawing up a
media ad; databases / portals on education and training, professions, jobs. - Methods of career planning and development: action plan, personal project,
weighing alternatives, values clarification, competence survey.