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Guidance and Counseling

Notes Family life and social, civic, religious, and recreational aspects cannot be neglected. The life goal–
the objective that provides the center of all activities and gives meaning to life– is very important,
but a satisfying and successful life is often dependent on the wise choice of an occupation and a
reasonable success in it. The job itself is often the aspect that gives meaning to life just as it is true
that a satisfying life goal is frequently what gives meaning to the occupation. The two cannot be
separated.
The specific aims of vocational counseling may be stated as follows :
1. To assist the student to acquire such knowledge of the characteristics and functions, the duties
and rewards of the group of occupations within which his choice will probably lie as he may
need for intelligent choice.
2. To enable him to find what general and specific abilities and skills are required for the group
of occupations under consideration and what are the qualifications, such as age, preparation,
and sex, for entering them.
3. To give opportunity for experiences in school (tryout courses) and out of school (after-school
and vacation jobs) which will give such information about conditions of work as will assist the
individual to discover his own abilities and help him in the development of wider interests.
4. To help the individual develop the point of view that all honest labour is worthy and that the
most important bases for choice of an occupation are (a) the service that the individual can
render to society, (b) personal satisfaction in the occupation, and (c) aptitude for the work
required.
5. To assist the individual to acquire a technique of analysis of occupational information and to
develop the habit of analyzing such information before making a final choice.
6. To assist him to secure such information about himself, his abilities, general and specific, his
interests, and his powers as he may need for wise choice.
7. To assist economically handicapped children who are above the compulsory attendance age to
secure, through public or private funds, scholarships or other financial assistance so that they
may have opportunities for further education in accordance with their vocational plans.
8. To assist the student to secure a knowledge of the facilities offered by various educational
institutions for vocational training and the requirements for admission to them, the length of
training offered, and the cost of attendance.
9. To help the worker to adjust himself to the occupation in which he is engaged; to assist him to
understand his relationship to workers in his own and related occupations and to society as a
whole.
10. To enable the students to secure reliable information about the danger of alluring short cuts to
fortune through short training courses and selling propositions, and of such unscientific methods
as phrenology, physiognomy, astrology, numerology, or graphology, and to compare these
methods with that of securing really trustworthy information.

20.3 Methods of Vocational Counseling in College

Because many factors influence people in choosing an occupation, various methods may be used in
helping them choose wisely. The factors responsible for the choice of an occupation are many and
often complex. Very often people are not conscious of the influences that were responsible for the
choice of their present occupation.
Sometimes occupational heredity—family tradition and pride—may influence the choice. People
may drift from one occupation to another until finally, almost by accident, one occupation, which
was the only one available at the time, becomes permanent.

214 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY