IDEAL GUIDANCE?

When I think about how an ideal guidane service should look like I ask myself a question if it will be ever possible to build a perfect world where everyone could get a perfect advice.

Well, I guess that the perfection will never be achieved. But we can still aspire to improve guidance service so that we can make a difference. My personal view of the ideal guidance is that there is one very important factor that can make things better. That is tme. I feel that in many cases it is not possible to help the client because there is not enough time to sort all issues that the client brings. I have seen many one-to-one interviews and sadly all of them were very much limited by the time frame. It used to happen especially in Careers Scotland where careers advisors were given only 20 minutes for an interview.
What else should ideal guidance include? I believe that cultural awareness is also very important and that we should pay more attention to others' various backgrounds. I also think that the ideal guidance service should be opened to all ages. Focusing only on one group of young people can make a real harm to others who are left behind.
Additionally, I think that an ideal guidance should not be so much driven by targets. Strong target approach can suddenly change people into figures. In this case there can be less space for empathy, understanding, acceptance. We should never forget that we work for and with people, not with the figures.
In overall, I believe that ideally people should be treated like people because we all deserve it. also, we are all equal and every one should be given an equal chance to develop skills, build experience and simply enjoy the life in many possible aspects.

My last placement practice

Recently I finished my last placement practice. I was based in Edinburgh with Access to Industry which is a charity agency working for vulnerable people. I spent there 2 weeks and I have to admit that this was my best placement I have had so far. There are many advantages of this placement but the main one is that I finaly got a chance to speak to the clients and also a chance to interact with them often. I had a chance to help the clients learn new skills. Also, I tried to support them when I felt I could do that. I found this work to be very challenging. It was because the group of clients was a specific one, also they were very demanding and expected real support from the staff. In overall, I found that it was hard to work with them on advisory or guidance field as there was a number of different personal issues those clients had(crime convictions, housing problems, benefits issues, drug/alcohol addiction). It was to early for some of them to think about going back to the employment. Nevertheless, this placement opened my mind for different things. I learnt how to undestand people's needs, hopes, fears, happiness or disappointments. I also learnt that a respect is above all the most important in a helping role. It indeed helps us to build positive relationship with clients. It is worth to remember it when we, as helpers, want to gain client's trust.

DISAPPOINTMENT

This post is to give a critical comment on service provided by Careers Scotland on Shandwick Place. I will give my example.
Not so long ago I decided to go to Shandwick Place to CS because I wanted my CV to be checked by a professional career adviser. When creating my CV I followed tips given by Elaine from Careers Service at Napier. When I went to CS and met the careers adviser I stated clearly what I wanted her to do. I asked her to check my personal prifile as I wasn't sure if it was strong enough. I told her I was going to apply for one post and showed the post to her. I was shocked by what I received from that career adviser.
First: she never checked what that job post was about, what was person specification or what did that job involved.
Second: she never checked all my CV. I mentioned to her I had had a placement with CS in Edinburgh and that I had put that detail in CV as well. She never checked that either.
Third: after I had mentioned I was a student doing postgrad. course at Napier in Career Guidance she went on to Planitplus website to show me what does Careers Adviser do and what skills are required. She also gave me some handouts with CV samples. I was absolutely disappointed as I had mentioned her before I had CV samples already. Those CV samples were given during CV workshops I had attended when I was on my placement. So I knew all that very well. Moreover, I did not need to find out what does careers adviser's job involve as I am studying to become a careers adviser so I know that as well!
Fourth: I was even more disappointed and shocked after she told me to remove my Master Degree from my CV! At first I had thought I might not understand her so I made sure what she ment. She told me to keep PG Diploma in Career Guidance in my CV and she said that my Master Degree was not 'relevant' and that I did not need it at all. I was absolutely confused and I thought 'how can I remove 5 years of my higher education fro my Cv?!' She also told me to remove information about my language certificate!

I can see that service provided by Napier is completely different from that in CS. What I got in CS was not enough and information I had received was the same that were given during CV workshop I attended at Shandwick Place. I knew that already.
I was observing that career adviser who was working with me and I noticed she did not even establish report with me, neither she paid attention to what I was saying. She never gave me information on privacy and confidentiality issues. She could had done that before I mentioned I had a placement with CS. She did not know I was a careers guidance student so she should have informed me about those things earlier on. Additionally, she never asked me whay I wanted to apply for the post I had told her about.
In overall, I did not find anythigh in her way of work that could apply to what I have learned during my course. During my interview practice I learned that establishing report and asking questions is essential for a good interaction with a client. I never saw that on that day.
I had a feeling I had not received a professional advice and that my CV was not checekd as it should be checked. I was completely disappointed and I do not think I will go there again.

FREEDOM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-uAxvjWzVU

INSPIRATIONS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY0yrW-vtBs

The right to be lazy

This is my very first and very late post. But, contrary to the title of this post, it is not late because I've been lazy....
Anyway, my very first reflection is about this text "Toil and Trouble".It is such a short text, however, there is so much in it that can make the reader confused....confused about what does 'work' and 'job' really mean. This text is an expression of just one man but it can provoke or even force every reader to think and ask questions. What does it realy mean 'to work'? Maybe it means just earning money, maybe it sounds like a mandatory activity that everyone has to perform....
For me, work always meant something I had to and wanted to achieve. Something I had to get. We always say'I want to get a job'. And we want to get a job for different reasons. When I was a young student, I always wanted to get a job because I had to survive somehow.....but years after, I realised I wanted to get a Real Job to summ up and to develop my knowledge, my skills, my ambitions....Waht I mean by a Real Job is the one that can give so called satisfaction, not just in terms of a good money or friendly people. It needs to be something more, or at least it should be. What kind of job ones chooses is of cource an individual matter. But for me a real job is the one that stimulates development and leads to a progression. Intelectual progression.
Nevertheless, having a job and working is not everything about the life. What kind of life is it when you have to work only? There has to be a room for laziness, for doing nothing. Otherwise life can become so much depresing and pointless. Pointless because when you work only, there can be a feeling there is nothing more in this world waiting for you and that there is nothing worth to find out, to be curious about. Beacuse wrok is the only world you can have.

And finally, work is not all about the life. There always needs to be a space in ones life for someone. Someone can be anyone-mother, sister, partner, son, friend, wife......Work is of course not the esence of our life. What the author of this text writes is an important and interesting prepostion- a job is the summit of our lives, the answer. Well, actually it may be but only to some point. I think it is essential not to forget about other people. It is also very important not to stuck so deep into the world of work. Work will never make anyone entirely happy and satisfied. People are not robots or machines that only need to work and work...That's why we need some time and a right to be lazy, to have some time off from work and to spend this time with other people. We need it because our emotions need it. There is no space for emotions at work.

I do not really know if what I wrote does make nay sense but that's what comes up to my mind when reading Toil and Trouble. It is not an essential reflection on this topic however. I shall come back to this later on. But because it is the weekend already and because someone is waiting for me to tell me that he missed me so much when I was working, I decide to finish my work just now. I have some right to be lazy. At least for the weekend.

Hello

Hello!