Hi Sharon,
I relate to your experience. I think the challenge has multiple aspects. The obvious challenge is that people in general have not acquired career literacy skills (also called pre-employment skills, career management skills, job searching skills, etc.). These skills are just as (if not more) important than "hard" skills necessary to perform job functions because if you have all the skills necessary to do a job but aren't able to market yourself so the right people know it, how do you ever get the job and advance in your career?
The other challenge is attitudes. It has been my experience that most people completely underestimate the importance of career literacy. They don't view things like resume writing, job searching, networking, etc. as valuable life skills necessary for success. They view these things as tasks that are necessary evils. Not understanding that these are skills that need to be developed and not appreciating their importance to success is the first barrier I have found myself having to break through. Once you can get students to understand this, they get that career literacy is an entire educational process they must commit to much like the program of study they have selected.
The major challenge, however, is that for centuries, school systems of all types have viewed career literacy as extra-curricular vs. co-curricular. Thus, students only acquire these skills by voluntarily seeking to do so. That is to say, they tend not to be embedded into curriculum and when they are (small workshops, guest presentations, etc.), they are not adequate. I think if career services professionals can advocate for decision-makers within institutions to think of the problem as a systems problem, they can design interdepartmental interventions to better address these critical skills for their students. Let's face it, many career services offices are understaffed and have to overcome so many different types of challenges working with an extremely diverse student population.
Excellent thoughts - thank you for sharing!
- Robert
