WHAT IS OUR JOB?
(March/April 2005 Issue)

Do we know what our job is? Check all of the following that apply. Rank in order of importance.
____ To help my clients get the most satisfying jobs possible
____ To help my clients get the best-paying jobs possible
____ To support my clients in obtaining what everyone else is taught to want no money, fame, and power
____ To help clients to explore the values they express in their work
____ To support clients in creating jobs and career opportunities for themselves
____ To encourage clients to examine the career values they have inherited from family members, their ethnic group, and the American culture
____ To assist clients in being effective competitors in the free enterprise system where it's "every person for themselves"
____ To encourage and teach clients to take responsibility for their own career development
____ To help clients to develop ongoing and mutually positive relationships with people, organizations and support systems within the world of jobs and careers
____ To encourage clients to do whatever work they most want to do
____ To urge clients to be financially self-sufficient
____ To assist clients in identifying their key marketable skills
____ To introduce clients to the options available in the world of jobs, careers, and entrepreneuring
____ To encourage clients to consider the societal influence of their work

My interest here is not only in deciding which items to check. It was fun deciding what items to write in the first place. How would you complete the sentence: "My job is ___________"? Many career counselors will check at least half of the above items, but most will part ways on the rankings. Some counselors will rank certain items 1, 2, and 3, and others will rank the same items 12, 13, and 14. How can counselors feel so differently about what is important in their job? Some times it depends upon who your clients are. Some client groups live on the edge of financial survival, so you can expect counselors to define their Get ten counselors together and ask them to try to reach consensus on the relative importance of the 14 items above. The richness and intensity of the debate will tell you how widely some of us differ on what our job is. And, of course, our clients themselves vary on what they want from us. What if you define your job differently from what the client wants from you? Be clear with yourself on how you would most like to "help" the client. Despite our claims of neutrality and client-centeredness, we all have some idea of "what we want to accomplish". Our preferred outcomes are sometimes deeply held and perhaps unconscious. It helps to ask the client what she wants from you. Reflect on your objectives. Compare your aims with hers and reach agreement about how you will proceed.

We are accustomed to thinking and saying that fullest expression of career values is what any client should be going for. However, "expressing oneself fully in a career" is not necessarily for everyone. For some people, a regular paycheck and freedom on weekends will do just fine, thank you. When the job ends, it’s on to the next one. In these cases, "career fulfillment" is defined differently and is no less valid than pursuit of lofty career goals.

"Our job" as career counselors can be many different things and each client may come to us wanting different outcomes. Clarifying what they want from us, compared to what we want to do for them, is our first order of business.

Howard Figler, Ph.D., is the author of seven books, including The Complete Job-Search Handbook [third edition, Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1999], a best seller for many years. He is co-author [with Richard Bolles] of the Career Counselor's Handbook [Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 1999]. His most recent book is Keys to Liberal Arts Success [Prentice-Hall, 2002]. He can be reached at: Howard Figler, Ph.D., and Associates, 9542 Shumway Drive, Orangeville, CA 95662 USA.
Tel: 916-988-6464;
e-mail: hefigler@pacbell.net.