Ed.S./M.S. in Career Counseling

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Overview

The Career Counseling Program is a 72 hour program that includes 2 years of academic coursework and practica. Career Counselors are professional counselors who work in all kinds of settings (e.g., schools, community colleges, universities, businesses) to help students, teachers, parents, and others with career and educational decision making. Interventions include individual and group counseling, consultation, computer-based guidance systems, tests, information resources, referral, career courses, and workshops, for a variety of career problems, including choice of a career or field of study, job hunting, and lifestyle planning.

The Career Counseling Program at FSU:

• Is one of eight in the nation (http://www.cacrep.org).
• Is designed to enable students to obtain two graduate degrees simultaneously, the Master of Science and the Educational Specialist.
• Provides an option for training and supervised work experience in the nationally recognized FSU Career Center, a comprehensive full service center http://www.career.fsu.edu. Work experience includes career advising, career counseling, college teaching, workshop and outreach presentations, and program development.
• Provides paid graduate assistantships, tuition fee waivers, and designated scholarships/fellowships for qualified students.

Over a period of 30 years, an approach to career counseling services has evolved at FSU from the interaction of theory, practice, and research. This approach applies cognitive information processing theory (hereafter called CIP) to the process of career problem solving and decision making. It has been fully described in the professional literature and relevant bibliographies can be found at http://www.career.fsu.edu/techcenter/.

Foundations of Career Counseling

Studies in this area include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. history, philosophy, and trends in career counseling;
2. settings for the practice of career counseling, including private and public sector agencies and institutions;
3. roles, functions, and credentials of career counselors in a variety of settings and in relation to other professionals;
4. policies, laws, and regulations relevant to career counseling;
5. professional organizations, competencies and preparation standards relevant to the practice of career counseling; and
6. implications of sociocultural, demographic, and lifestyle diversity relevant to career counseling.

Contextual Dimensions of Career Counseling

Studies that provide an understanding of career counseling needs, the network of career services and resources available to individuals, and roles of career counselors as members of service provision teams, include but are not limited to the following:

1. lifelong career needs of people throughout their education, employment and retirement;
2. assessment and intervention strategies for career development and career counseling programs;
3. knowledge of the continuum of formal and informal career counseling services and options;
4. knowledge and skill in referral of students/clients to appropriate mental health and career resources; and
5. informal support networks and resources.

Specific Knowledge and Skills for the Practice of Career Counseling

1. Career Development Theory: theory base and knowledge considered essential for professionals engaging in career counseling and development;
2. Individual and Group Counseling Skills: Individual and group counseling competencies considered essential to effective career counseling;
3. Individual/Group Assessment: Individual/group assessment skills considered essential for professionals engaging in career counseling;
4. Information/Resources: Information/resource base and knowledge essential for professionals engaging in career counseling;
5. Program Management and Implementation: Management and implementation skills necessary to develop, plan, implement, and manage comprehensive career development programs in a variety of settings;
6. Consultation: Knowledge and skills considered essential in relation to individuals and organizations that impact the career counseling and development process;
7. Special Populations: knowledge and skills considered essential in relating to special populations that impact career counseling and development processes;
8. Supervision: Knowledge and skills considered essential in critically evaluating counselor performance, maintaining and improving professional skills, and seeking assistance from others when needed in career counseling;
9. Ethical/Legal Issues: Information base and knowledge essential for the ethical and legal practice of career counseling; and
10. Research/Evaluation: Knowledge and skills considered essential in understanding and conducting research and evaluation in career counseling and development.