The Career Counselor's Handbook

I have completed the coursework at NYU for a certificate in career assessment and development and am going to be teaching a course on an overview of career assessments. Found this book to be invaluable in filling in some gaps on assessment and career development. One of the authors of this book, Howard Figler, does't care for assessment except for asking questions, reflective listening etc. I tend to agree with the co-author, Richard Nelson Bolles, who believes assessments are valuable in exploring possibilities which come up in assessments.I have done assessments with a number of folks assessing values, skills, types, interest, strengths, passions etc. Loved reading the authors' perspectives with their collective 60-70 years in the career counseling field. These assessments are NOT scientific, the authors note. However, I find they can open thought and detect patterns. Often they affirm what clients intuit about themselves and give them confidence to explore something which fascinates them.This book is divided into nine sections: Goals, History of the Career Field, How to Survive and Prosper as a Career Coach, Tools, Special Problems, For Clients Who Want to Be on Their Own, Values, Spirituality and The Future of the field. Chapters read like articles on topics so there are some gaps. However, what is here I found so valuable and deep. It's not a how-to book although it has some how-to sections. Some of the topics which I found most valuable:* the 12 most important skills a career counselor uses* the six objectives of career counseling* history of ideas and events in career counseling and development* how to use just one hour of counseling* spirituality and career counselingThe authors also list online assessments and other books, worksheets and resources. There is not a lot on technology and career development such as LinkedIn. However, Mr. Bolles updates his book WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE every year so there is more in there. This book might be better for counselors-coaches new to career development and assessments. But experienced counselors and coaches might find something useful to glean from these authors' experiences running a career center, writing books and speaking on the topic. Regarding the spirituality section, I found it helpful as some clients do believe in God (many Americans do) and believe God has given them gifts or purpose here. They want to know their faith can be part of their career journey which I respect. 5 stars for me - maybe fewer stars if you wanted something more sequential and more on assessments. It does mention the Holland Code, and has exercises for assessing skills and values. I will be using much of the information in here for my class.

I bought this book to refresh my skills since my last Career Counseling course was ten years ago. This book is fantastic and so easy to read. I loved the depth the authors went into explaining the ethos of career counseling and best practices for counselors. So glad I found this book. Thank you.

VERY NEEDED FOR CAREER COUNSELING STRATEGIES AND LEARNING THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUCTURES BUT MOSESO THEN EVER IT IS A GOOD READ FOR HELP WITH WORK ON PAPERS FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT.

I have been a sports coach for 35 years now and the information in this book is valuable for all managers coaches and team leaders.It gives great insights into to leading people to their on ends and helping them achieve to those ends. Spectacular information

So far is the first book that I have found that targets coaches instead of job searchers; it concerns me that after so many years there has not been another edition, the world is changing much faster nowadays.

great quality

Uses examples from this book in my seminars.

This is one of the most biased, one sided Handbooks I have ever read. I have been a Vocational Counselor for over 30 years and this book is TRASH! Not that there isn't a great deal of information. I do especially like how the history of Career Counseling was handled. But the author's bias against interest, aptitude and ability testing is abysmal, as was the attempt to insert a religious bias. Shame on Bolles for having his name associated with this book.