Australian Journal of Career Development

This case study describes an effort to integrate academic scholarship and career services delivery in a university setting. The resulting model is a “teaching career centre” where applied research, undergraduate and graduate instruction and training, and comprehensive career services are provided.

The kinds of activities accomplished to date could not have been realised without the joint collaboration that took place between academic and student affairs. Each of the individuals involved in the effort brought a unique perspective and set of skills that enabled the team as a whole to accomplish much more than any one individual working alone or working solely within their own division. The collaborative effort described in this case study demonstrates that this type of activity can be sustained over an extended period of time, can be done in a manner where each party involved benefits, and can be cost-effective and productive for the organisation as a whole.

Given the plethora of organisations, agencies, peak bodies, publications, newsletters and services that focus on youth, the task of finding particular information on youth in Australia can be daunting and time consuming. The National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies (NCYS) is a non-profit project that has a brief to collect, publish and disseminate information relating to youth in Australia. It is a major publisher in the youth field in Australia, with clients and a readership including professionals working in the youth field, such as educators, practitioners, researchers, youth workers, program planners, policy makers and, increasingly, students. Its growing publications list is complemented by a large on-line resource containing information about the youth field gathered from a variety of sources and presented on the World Wide Web. This case study describes the origins of the NCYS, the development of its services, the range and scope of its print publications, and a description of its on-line information service.

Picture this. You are sitting in your own office. Perhaps you have an office with a view. The name on the door says: (Your Name) & Associates. Or perhaps it says: (Your Name), Career Counsellor. Either way, you are your own boss. You may even have others working for you. You can determine your own salary — pay yourself what you are really worth. You spend your time seeing the kinds of clients you enjoy seeing. You control how you spend every hour of your working day. No. It is no longer a working day; it is your business day.

A colleague might happen past and notice you are there. With delight, your colleague might say: “Wow! When did you set up your own shop? How did you do it? How did you manage to get there?”

Perhaps on reading the above scenario, you are wondering whether it is at all possible. Perhaps you are wondering whether you even have any entrepreneurial skill or the necessary know-how in running a business. This article is the first of a two-part series designed to help you through the process of establishing and running your own business.

This case study reviews the integration of Internet technologies into careers services, with a particular focus on gradlink, a new interactive system that uses the Internet to link university graduates with potential employers via university careers services. After introducing the new system, a case of the system in use is illustrated.

The challenge for careers services at present is how to incorporate Internet technology into their suite of offerings. Many services are “taking the bull by the horns”, so to speak, resulting in the widely accepted and even commonplace use of the Internet by both students and staff. This case study outlines the experience of the Careers and Employer Liaison Unit at The University of Melbourne.

Career development and employment services in TAFE perform a vital role in terms of providing students with information to make appropriate course and career choices, opportunities to gain work experience, and access to alternative sources of income. This article analyses the findings of a national study of student perceptions of career development and employment services in TAFE. The survey results show that although students rate career development and employment services among the 12 most important support services in TAFE, there is a high degree of dissatisfaction with the current level and quality of provision. The article argues that a significant improvement is required in the provision of career development and employment services if the vocational needs of TAFE students are to be satisfied and student wastage is to be minimised.

Many Australian-based companies are currently providing company information on-line. Now some companies are introducing the option of on-line job applications. The Internet will also play a key role in the delivery of employment services when the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs launches new labour market reforms in 1998. What is the difference between a keyword, an online, an HTML and a scannable résumé? What about security issues? This article examines what careers professionals need to know in order to advise their clients about this type of job application.

Using the Internet for job applications speeds up the process of applying for a job. Job seekers can obtain an application form, company information, fill out the form and submit it in a much shorter period of time than using other communication methods. The production of stunning looking resumes is no advantage for e-mail, scannable or on-line applications. With these types of resume, uniform presentation is essential and the content of the resume is the primary feature, with keywords of paramount importance. Conversely, for HTML resumes presentation is crucial and those who can turn their resume into an interesting multimedia presentation will have an advantage over other applicants.

Jandt and Nemnich (1995) and Riley (1996) are resources that careers professionals may find useful. The main requirement for careers professionals is to develop a good knowledge of the jargon, which will enable advisers to provide helpful assistance to their clients. Understanding how the various kinds of resumes differ from each other is also necessary to giving sound advice. Finally, clients need to be made aware of the security and privacy issues that may arise when making electronic job applications.

This quote suggests that there are many ways to give meaning to one's career; it can be seen as a utilitarian function, an expression of skills and craftsmanship and a spiritual expression. It is this last meaning that we know very little about. Is this important to those who have a spiritual belief system and does it express itself in career choice, path and experience? This article suggests it is important both for the person who has a spiritual belief system and the career practitioner who will try to assist the client in making a career choice that is closely aligned to his/her personal values.

This article explores the roles of public policy in career guidance delivery. Traditionally, most career guidance services have been structured towards the provision of social welfare to the public sector. The New Right critique of this has led to attempts to apply market principles to guidance delivery. This can take the form of a market or quasi-market in guidance. However, guidance can also be viewed as a market-maker: a means of making the labour market and education and training markets work more effectively. Some experiments in applying these principles in the UK and elsewhere are analysed.

This paper reports the factor structure of a new measure of the psychological contract, the Psychological Contract Inventory (PsyCon). Previous work on the measurement of the psychological contract is reviewed. The study was based on data from 114 employees between the ages of 25 and 65, The solution is simple and has intuitive appeal. The PsyCon inventory can now be used in future research.

Instead of our regular reports of research in progress, in this issue of Research Digest we have conducted some research into Internet sites relevant to career practitioners and researchers.

This section of the Journal is set aside to provide a forum for sharing of relevant information and stimulating discussion and debate. Ideas about successes and problems in practice can be exchanged. Contributors would welcome return correspondence, either directly or through Careers Forum.