UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA (UMYU)

DEPARTMENT OF ISLAMIC STUDIES EDUCATION

ASSIGNMENT
DESCRIBE THE COLLECTING, PLANNING AND DISSEMINATION OF CAREER
INFORMATION

GROUP 4 ASSIGNMENT

INTRO. TO GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING (EDU 2204)

GROUP MEMBERS:
 IBRAHIM ISMA’IL U1/19/ISLED/1118
 MALIK ABDULLAHI U1/19/ISLED/1147
 YUSRA AHMAD U1/19/ISLED/1223
 NASIR ABDURRAHMAN U1/19/ISLED/2308
 NASIRU YUNUSA U1/19/ISLED/2019
 SHAMSU ZUBAIRU U1/19/ISLED/0704
 NASIRU ADAMU U1/19/ISLED/2121
 YUNUSA MUSA U1/19/ISLED/1506
 ZAINAB SANI DAN KOFA U1/19/ISLED/1533
 MIYASSARATU IYAL U1/19/ISLED/2287

DECEMBER, 2022
INTRODUCTION TO CAREER

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word "career" as a person's "course
or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life)". This definition relates
"career" to a range of aspects of an individual's life, learning, and work.
"Career" is also frequently understood to relate to the working aspects of an
individual's life - as in "career woman", for example. A third way in which the
term "career" is used describes an occupation or a profession that usually
involves special training or formal education, considered to be a person's
lifework. In this case "a career" is seen as a sequence of related jobs, usually
pursued within a single industry or sector: one can speak for example of "a
career in education", of "a criminal career" or of "a career in the building trade".
A career has been defined by organizational behavior researchers as "an
individual's work-related and other relevant experiences, both inside and outside
of organizations, that form a unique pattern over the individual's life span."

COLLECTING OF CAREER INFORMATION

Collecting Information

Listed below are several good places to begin collecting information on careers
and job opportunities. These sources offer different types of information. For
example, people you know may provide highly specific information because
they have knowledge of you, your abilities and interests, and your
qualifications. Other sources, such as those found in state sources, provide
information on occupations in each state. Gathering information from a wide
range of sources is the best way to determine what occupations may be
appropriate for you and in what geographic regions these occupations are found.
The sources of information are not exhaustive, and other sources could prove
equally valuable in your career search.
Like any major decision, selecting a career involves a lot of fact finding.
Fortunately, some of the best informational resources are easily accessible. You
should assess career guidance materials carefully. Information that seems out of
date or glamorizes an occupation—overstates its earnings or exaggerates the
demand for workers, for example—should be evaluated with skepticism.
Gathering as much information as possible will help you make a more informed
decision.

PERSONAL CONTACTS

One of the best resources can be your friends and family. They may answer
some questions about a particular occupation or put you in touch with someone
who has some experience in the field. This personal networking can be
invaluable in evaluating an occupation or an employer. People you know will be
able to tell you about their specific duties and training, as well as what they did
or did not like about a job. People who have worked in an occupation locally
also may be able to give you a recommendation and get you in touch with
specific employers.

EMPLOYERS

These are the primary source of information on specific jobs. Employers may
post lists of job openings and application requirements, including the exact
training and experience required, starting wages and benefits, and advancement
opportunities and career paths.

INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS

People already working in a particular field often are willing to speak with
people interested in joining their field. An informational interview will allow
you to get good information from experts in a specific career without the
pressure of undergoing a job interview. These interviews allow you to
determine how a certain career may appeal to you while helping you build a
network of personal contacts.

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES, TRADE GROUPS, AND LABOR

UNIONS

These sources have information on an occupation or various related occupations

with which they are associated or that they actively represent. This information
may cover training requirements and earnings, and may provide listings of local
employers. These sources may train members or potential members themselves,
or they may be able to put you in contact with organizations or individuals who
perform such training.

Each occupational profile in the Occupational Outlook Handbook concludes

with a “Contact for More Info” section, which lists organizations that may be
contacted for additional information.

GUIDANCE COUNSELORS AND CAREER COUNSELORS

Counselors can help you make choices about which careers might suit you best.
They can help you establish which occupations fit your skills by testing your
aptitude for various types of work and determining your strengths and interests.
Counselors can help you evaluate your options and search for a job in your field
or help you select a new field altogether. They also can help you determine
which educational or training institutions best fit your goals and then assist you
in finding ways to finance your education or training. Some counselors offer
other services, such as interview coaching, résumé building, and help in filling
out various forms. Counselors in secondary schools and postsecondary
institutions may arrange guest speakers, field trips, or job fairs.
You can find guidance and career counselors at:

 High school guidance offices

 College career planning and placement offices
 Placement offices in private vocational or technical schools and
institutions
 Vocational rehabilitation agencies
 Counseling services offered by community organizations
 Private counseling agencies and private practices
 State employment service offices

When using a private counselor, check to see that the counselor is experienced.
One way to do so is to ask people who have used the counselor’s services in the
past. The National Board of Certified Counselors is an institution that accredits
career counselors. To verify the credentials of a career counselor and to find a
career counselor in your area, visit [Link].

POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS

Colleges, universities, and other postsecondary institutions typically put a lot of

effort into helping place their graduates in good jobs, because the success of
their graduates reflects the quality of their institution and may affect the
institution’s ability to attract new students. Postsecondary institutions
commonly have career centers with information on different careers, listings of
related jobs, and alumni contacts in various professions. Career centers
frequently employ career counselors who generally provide their services only
to their students and alumni. Career centers can help you build your résumé,
find internships and co-ops—which can lead to full-time positions—and tailor
your course selection or program to make you a more marketable job applicant.

LOCAL LIBRARIES
Libraries can be a valuable source of information. Because most areas have
libraries, they can be a convenient place to look for information. Also, many
libraries provide access to the Internet and E-mail.

Libraries may have information on job openings, locally and nationally;

potential contacts within occupations or industries; colleges and financial aid;
vocational training; individual businesses or careers; and writing résumés.
Libraries frequently have subscriptions to various trade magazines that can
provide information on occupations and industries. Your local library also may
have video materials. These sources often have references to organizations that
can provide additional information about training and employment
opportunities.

If you need help getting started or finding a resource, ask your librarian for
assistance.

INTERNET RESOURCES

A wide variety of career information is easily accessible on the Internet. Online

resources include job listings, résumé posting services, and information on job
fairs, training, and local wages. Many of the resources listed elsewhere in this
section have Internet sites that include valuable information on potential
careers. No single source contains all information on an occupation, field, or
employer; therefore, you will likely need to use a variety of sources.

When using Internet resources, be sure that the organization is a credible,

established source of information on the particular occupation you are interested
in. Individual companies may include job listings on their websites, as well as
information about required credentials, wages and benefits, and the job’s
location. Contact information, such as whom to call or where to send a résumé,
is usually included.
Some sources exist primarily as a Web service. These sources often have
information on specific jobs and can greatly aid in the job-hunting process.
Some commercial sites offer Web services, as do federal, state, and some local
governments. Career One Stop, a joint program sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Labor and the states as well as local agencies, provides these
services free of charge.

The Career One Stop site includes links to the following sources:

 State job banks allow you to search job openings listed with state
employment agencies.
 America’s Career Info Net provides data on employment growth and
wages by occupation; the knowledge, skills, and abilities required by an
occupation; and links to employers.
 America’s Service Locator is a comprehensive database of career centers
and information on unemployment benefits, job training, and educational
opportunities.
 O*net Online provides occupational information, including descriptors on
hundreds of occupations.

For more information on specific occupations, you can also visit the Department
of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS publishes a wide range of
labor market information, from regional wages for specific occupations to
statistics on national, state, and area employment. For more information, see the
section on occupational wage data.

ORGANIZATIONS FOR SPECIFIC GROUPS

Some organizations provide information designed to help specific groups of

people. Consult directories in your library’s reference center or in a career
guidance office for information on additional organizations associated with
specific groups.

STATE SOURCES

Whereas the Occupational Outlook Handbook provides information for

occupations on a national level, each state has detailed information on
occupations and labor markets within its respective jurisdictions. State
occupational projections are available at [Link].

PLANNING OF CAREER INFORMATION

DEFINITION

Career planning is the process of discovering educational, training and

professional opportunities that suit your interests, passions and goals. Before
searching for jobs, you should set achievable long-term goals

that identify what you want to be doing along your career path at five, 10, 15,
20 years and so on.

Then, you can set short-term goals

between each stage to ensure you have clear, actionable steps you can take to
reach your long-term goals. Career planning allows you to outline your goals
and reevaluate them as you progress.
Steps of the career-planning process

Depending on your path, you may complete each step just once, or you may
revisit the process to change direction and discover new career options. Here are
the chronological stages of the career-planning process:

1. Self-exploration and assessment

You first need to understand your needs, strengths, personality, skills, talents
and interests to make informed academic and career decisions. You can
determine these items on your own by making a series of lists or through a
variety of tests, including:

 Value evaluations, which include factors such as the salary level you
desire, whether you prefer frequent interactions with other people or
solitude in the workplace, how much you want your work to contribute to
society as a whole and how important prestige is to your work and the
rest of your life.
 Interest evaluations, which gather data about your likes and dislikes
regarding a wide array of activities, people and objects. Many interest
profilers, including the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory, match your
interests with six types: realistic, investigative, artistic, social,
enterprising and conventional. Then, these types are matched with the
occupations that fit them best.
 Personality evaluations, which often use online surveys like the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator. This test categorizes people into 16 personality
types

 based on the following characteristics: Introversion or Extroversion,

Sensing or Intuition, Thinking or Feeling, or Judging or Perceiving.
People with some personality types do better in certain occupations than
 others. For example, an introvert might not enjoy working with other
people all day.
 Aptitude

 evaluations, which test your abilities and strengths. They can let you
know if you need more education or training and can also help you decide
if you want to spend the time, money and effort needed to start a brand-
new career.

You can also consider meeting with a career counselor. A career counselor
specializes in helping professionals understand elements that can influence
career decisions and identify possibilities they may not have considered. A
career counselor might use skill identification exercises, interest inventories,
communication and learning styles, and other methods to help you understand
yourself better.

2. Career research

After you determine your qualities and aptitudes, you can decide which types of
careers you're interested in with research. Start with a list of roles and industries
provided by your assessments or compile a list of characteristics in the work
environment, responsibilities and advancement opportunities you want in your
career. Using those characteristics, determine more roles and industries you may
want to consider.

Start further research by gathering basic information about each of the careers
on your list. Look at the general description of each profession, along with
general labor market information, such as median salary, common benefits,
educational and training requirements and the likelihood of being hired after
meeting all the requirements.
Continue narrowing down your list of possible careers by learning what
working in different fields is really like. Consider using your professional
network to find people already in those roles and industries, or reach out to
current professionals on career-focused social media platforms.

You can also read company reviews for specific roles to find out as much as
you can about the advantages and disadvantages of the field. Reading first-
person perspectives could be invaluable when it is time to make a choice.

3. Career exploration and experimentation

After you have narrowed down your list of possible careers, find ways to
experience each career in person. Here are some ways you can get a first-hand
look at what a role entail:

 Informational interviews: Consider asking a professional in your desired

field to sit down with you to answer questions. You can discover the
education, training, entry-level roles and other aspects they followed
along their career path. An informational interview

 can also help you build your professional network within your intended
industry, which may help your job search process in the future.
 Job shadowing: This activity involves spending a day, a week or another
short period observing a professional on the job. You may accompany
them to meetings or watch them demonstrate how they complete their
typical daily work. You can also ask them questions throughout your time
with them to better understand their career path.
 Volunteering: Some organizations may allow you to volunteer for tasks
that your ideal role would handle to gain more hands-on experience. This
can also help you determine whether you can enjoy working in that role,
industry or type of workplace.
  Internships: Consider an internship for more direct field experience.
These opportunities are likely to give tasks more relevant to your
intended role.
 Part-time work: Part-time versions of many jobs may be available with
fewer entry-level requirements. You can find them in specific companies
that you might consider working for and in assistant-type roles that
directly interact with your intended role.
 Find a mentor in the industry: Watching an experienced mentor

 and listening to them talk about the realities of a career can be very
informative. You can consider applying their career path choices to your
own planning to identify steps that may also work for you.
 Courses: If you pursue any form of higher education, consider choosing
courses related to possible career choices. These classes can provide you
foundational information and training through projects and essays, which
can help you understand some of the basics of a career.

4. Decision-making and career selection

Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of all of your options. You will need
to consider many factors, including the possible balances between pay and
enjoyment, the pros and cons of relocation, and the work-life balance.

Go over all of your previous research as well as any related experiences very
carefully, and organize them by preference from highest to lowest. This strategy
helps you rank certain factors and roles over others to identify your top choice.
Consider also identifying alternative yet similar options should your desires
change as you progress or your job search does not lead to that role.
5. Final planning and action

Gather all the information you have learned and determine an action plan. This
plan should include background information, such as your employment history,
education, level of training, volunteer and other unpaid experience. It should
also include your professional licenses or certifications, the results of the self-
evaluations mentioned in the first section, and career counselor advice you have
received.

Create detailed lists of short- and long-term goals you will need to achieve
before you reach your final career goal. These lists should include all of the
occupational, educational and training goals required to pursue your chosen
career path. You should also consider the barriers to reaching those goals and
how you plan to overcome them. These barriers could be financial, educational,
vocational or personal, such as the cost of college, family obligations, or the
need for tools and supplies for your chosen career.

Consider writing out each step for your intended career path, including the steps
you’ve already taken to see the progress you’ve already made. You can also do
this for your alternative options to ensure you are prepared to follow them
should your ideal option not work out.

6. Job search and acceptance

Use your career plan to begin your job search. Identify specific roles and
companies you’re interested in applying to, and compare those preferences and
requirements to your career plan. See if there are steps you still need to take or
if you’re qualified to apply.

You can also use your goal-setting strategy and career plan to write an effective
cover letter that demonstrates your passion for the role, field and employer. You
can use your career plan to identify the steps you’ve taken on your path thus far
and highlight your goal-setting skills and dedication. You can also apply these
items during the interview process to prove your interest and qualification to
prospective employers.

If you receive a job offer, determine whether the salary, benefits, location,
work-life balance and responsibilities match your self-assessment and action
plan.

DISSEMINATION OF CAREER INFORMATION

1. Career conferences and carrier talks:

For providing information about different occupations or vocations, career talks

can be arranged and experts are invited to deliver talks on certain important
group of occupations or vocations. For this, career days also be organised. The
career talks can be given by the principal in a college and by the headmaster in a
school. The teachers can join now and then in the career talk. The counselor if
present should also do it. All the more, the students or pupils can be asked to
speak on various occupations. Each pupil can speak on the job of his choice in
life.

The parents could speak to the pupils about their jobs. Besides the employment
exchange officers could give a talk to the pupils every now and then. The career
talks could also take the shape of conferences in the schools. So some career
conferences can be organised in the school. The employers or experienced
workers or experts can be invited to these conferences as guest speakers who
can generate awareness and enlighten pupils about the different aspects of
certain occupations.
The talk or speech is to be followed by a question answer session in which the
doubts and confusion of pupils can be clarified. Some career conferences may
last for some hours, some for a day and some conferences may extend over
several days involving speakers from different occupations, interview with
different representatives from different industries, displays, exhibitions, film
shows etc.

2. Mass media:

Occupational information can be widely imparted through different agents of

mass media such as—radio and T.V. programmes, press, newspapers, journals,
magazines etc.

3. Career masters:

The responsibility of dissemination of the job information in the schools lies

with the career masters. They are the centres of job information. They are held
responsible to tell pupils what do they know about the job market. Of course
they should know a lot of it. They can speak to them. They can deliver talks on
job information. They have to find the ways; they can be effective in doing what
is expected from them in the schools.

4. Displays and exhibitions:

Information collected from different sources is to be classified and made

available to pupils. Charts, posters, leaflets, newspaper cuttings can be
displayed on bulletin boards. Besides booklets, leaflets, books, journals,
directories and other printed materials may be exhibited on display racks. These
materials can be placed in a separate library or in a corner of the school library
and the pupils can handle them in their leisure hours. It must be noted that the
display materials are carefully selected and attractively arranged.

5. A course in occupations:

Occupational information can be provided by a course consisting of a series of

group discussions or class talks on various occupations.

6. Publications:

This method has been found to be one of the most effective methods of
providing information to needy pupils. The brochures are brought out. The
books are printed. These are meant for the general masses. Of course, in schools
there are the pupils. They could also have the benefit of all kinds of these
publications. Besides occupational information can be published in different
newspapers, magazines, journals, periodicals, bulletins, directories etc.

7. Career visit or field trips:

It implies visit to place of work, plants, factories and business establishment. To

provide the pupils direct experience with certain occupations they can be taken
on educational tours or visits to some important industrial plants and business
establishments.

8. Libraries:

Libraries can do a lot in disseminating or propagating occupational information

to pupils. It can display books, booklets, journals and other literature relating to
occupational information and pupils can go through it.

9. The audio-visual aids:

This is an era of science and technology. The radio and television have been
found to be popular with the children or pupils. We can have useful programme
for them. So for them we can have cassettes. In schools there could be a display
of charts and pamphlets on bulletin boards. The newspapers cuttings could be
pasted there. The articles published in the magazines can be put up.

10. Interviews:

Occupational information’s can be disseminated through individual contacts. In

an interview situation, occupational information can be given to the individuals
as well as pupils orally. Such interviews form a part of the counselling process.
In interviews, information is given to one individual or pupil at a time.

11. Screening of film strips:

Occupational information can be given to the pupils through film strips. A film
strip is a series of a particular item. Film strips are made on different aspects of
a particular item. Film strips on different vocations or occupations can be
screened. To be more useful screening of film strips must be accompanied by a
commentary. Film strips on some vocations or occupations have been prepared
by Central Bureau of Educational and Vocational Guidance, Delhi.

12. Occupational Information can be given to pupils through the different work
experience program.

13. Occupational information can be imparted through school clubs, tutorials

and class talks.

14. Film shows:

Occupational information can be imparted through film shows. It is a substitute

for a visit. Film shows are to be supplemented by a talk and followed by a group
discussion. Measures should be taken to produce a number of good educational
films which can disseminate relevant information on different vocations or
occupations. These are the different methods of imparting information about
different vocations or occupations for meeting the vocational or occupational
needs and requirements of different categories of pupils.
REFERENCES

 career. [Link]. 2012. Retrieved 2019-03-03: "an

occupation or profession, especially one requiring special training,
followed as one's lifework".
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 Sullivan, Sherry E.; Baruch, Yehuda (December 2009). "Advances in
Career Theory and Research: A Critical Review and Agenda for Future
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doi:10.1177/0149206309350082. ISSN 0149-2063. S2CID 18873791.
 Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2019-03-03. '1530s, "a running
(usually at full speed), a course" (especially of the sun, etc., across the
sky), from Middle French carriere "road, racecourse" (16c.), from Old
Provençal or Italian carriera, from Vulgar Latin *(via) cararia "carriage
(road), track for wheeled vehicles," from Latin carrus "chariot".'
 Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
 Boening, John, ed. (2020-01-31), "MONTHLY REPOSITORY, 8
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