Peak Careers

Professional Development for Career Practitioners

Career

Transitions

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Did you ever have a student not follow through with the plan you worked on with them?  I know I have many times.

Transition day to night.

Ever wonder why?  Transition Theory may offer some insight and help guide you to the “next steps” with this person.

Many EVENTS in people’s lives are obvious, (freshmen year for a first-generation college student or a senior year), but the IMPACT of that event on the person is the TRANSITION.  How people deal with transition or do not deal with it, can be blocking them from making good decisions.

Schlossberg’s Transition Theory breaks down the transition into four parts BEFORE you make an action plan.  (too often we go to “solution” first).

1.     One question you want to know is “are they overwhelmed by the situation?”  A first-generation college student coming from a family that has never had a high school graduate before, let alone a college student, can be facing many feelings and decision conflicts.  If I discover they really are overwhelmed with some life transitions, it might guide me on what to do next or what I can expect.

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My passion

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As I step into the blog world today for the first time, I am excited to challenge myself to share my thoughts of career counseling and advising with you.  I am passionate about career advising and want to share many of my beliefs with others in the field as a way to help all of us serve our clients better.

Just so you know, I call it ‘career advising’ because most people who are providing career advice are not “counselors”.  Even though it is typically called “career counseling” that is not what most of us are doing. We are advising students and clients to choose college majors, or to decide on what to do after they earn their  GED, or what will I do after I get out of the military, etc…   Some of us do career counseling but it is important that we use words that describe what we do to clients.  If you are not a counselor, but call yourself a “career counselor” be thoughtful about the message you are sending to the students or clients you work with.  In the Career Development Facilitator (CDF) class I teach, we talk about actually having a sign in the office that describes what services you provide and what services you do NOT provide.  Don’t assume your students/clients know.

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