THE NEED FOR CAREER GUIDANCE

The need for career guidance is now more critical than it has ever been. With thousands of careers to choose from in the 21st century, how do secondary school learners navigate their way through this maze? Phrases such as ‘career planning’, ‘career guidance’, ‘career pathing’, ‘career choice’, ‘career development’ only add to the confusion and make selecting a suitable career an almost impossible task and creates a ‘leave-to-the-last-minute’ attitude.

It is well known that even when learners have reached matric, they still do not know what career they would like to follow. So, what happens?  They make a rushed decision and simply register for a programme or course that they think they like or that their friends persuaded them to register for. They have not considered what career the particular degree/diploma will prepare them for, what is the scope for such a career in the job market, what can they expect to earn etc. It is no wonder that many of them drop out half way through the academic year which, of course, is a very expensive event. (As a matter of interest, the failure and drop-out rate at tertiary level is over 50% and the two main reasons for this (besides the socio-economic reasons) are the selection of inappropriate or unsuitable careers (and hence courses of study) and the lack of effective study skills).

Making choices about careers can be difficult especially if learners are unaware or unclear about their options. It doesn’t have to be. All they need is a little help in getting started. To make a successful transition from school to work, it is important that learners start to think early about what they want to do and to obtain information and guidance on the multitude of career options.

As a result of the confusion due to lack of guidance and information (or perhaps, because there is just too much information!) that the Study Centre is offering a ‘Selecting a Suitable Career’ Workshop.  This workshop is aimed at grades 8 to 12 learners. It will give all learners direction in their lives as far as their careers are concerned and it will help grade nine learners with the selection of their subjects.
Since this workshop is not content-based, learners can attend it any time of the year – even as late as November and early December.  The sooner learners get the choice of a possible career/s out of the way, the better. It has been found that once learners more or less know which career they want to follow, they become more focused on their studies and tend to perform better in their school work.

The duration of the workshop is four and quarter hours. (The workshop is generally conducted on a Saturday morning but other times can be arranged). The registration fee is just R500. The fee includes:

• facilitation at the workshop
• a CD containing:

* a software entitled ‘Left/Right Brain Dominant Profiler’ (identifies which side of the brain is dominant and, as a result, which career/s will suit the respondent learner)
* an e-book called ‘Career Planning’
* an e-book on ‘Job Hunting’ that describes over 150 careers including trades
* FREE English Grammar (for grades 8 to 12)
* FREE 10 Shakespeare Plays (covered in the school syllabus), the study guides for each and all the sonnets (Value of the Grammar and Shakespeare is R500)

• FREE assistance with drawing study schedule and a few tips on study habits and study techniques for the upcoming final exams
• Certificate of Attendance (which learners can include in their tertiary and bursary/loan applications or even when applying for a job)
• FREE telephone advice line on careers

In essence, the workshop can help learners to make a successful transition from school to the work environment by helping learners to choose a suitable career path.

To view the full programme of the workshop, click here