Providing Career Advice, Guidance and Counselling During Covid-19 Pandemic
While it is true that our lives have been turned upside down because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the lives of those we serve – learners, students, parents – more so.
The work of Career Development Practitioners (CDPs) is not to foretell what will happen tomorrow regarding the virus and the pandemic but to help our clients deal with the fear and anxiety that comes with it. It is important to understand that people’s career plans and decisions have been impacted by the pandemic and the subsequent economic meltdown. It is important then for us as CDPs to guide them in the redesign of their career plans through a range of support services we provide. These includes information of current trends, upskilling opportunities, and linkages to suitable opportunities.
Our training, knowledge and expertise developed over many years has equipped us to deal with this current challenge and puts us in a unique position to be a source of hope and support for many. Appreciating that our own anxiety levels might be high during this time, it is advisable to have additional strategies and tools in place in order cope while providing effective service to our clients. We also need to find ways of taking care of ourselves physically and mentally.
Some of the useful tips for CDPs during the pandemic
- Embracing technology as a tool for career guidance: It is very important for CDPs to know, understand and identify types of technology that can be used when providing career guidance. Majority of career guidance clients are young people who are mostly familiar and comfortable using technology. This should encourage us to improve our own Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills which we can use to effectively provide career service to our clients.
- Online and visual services: The role played by ICT has become even more important today and CDPs with access to internet can use it to provide career guidance services to clients through emails, social media, websites, webinars, skype, zoom and Microsoft teams.
- Telephonic services: Clients can call in for career services or the CDPs can call the clients and assist them with the information that they need.
- Face-to-face: If face-to-face is the only option for providing career guidance, the CDPs and the clients should always wear face mask, maintain physical distance of at least one and a half metres from each other. The CDPs should refer to this link for all the precautions and Covid-19 related health guidelines: https://www.gov.za/covid-19/about/coronavirus-covid-19-alert-level-1
Remote career guidance is here to stay with or without crisis. This situation enables flexible participation without sacrificing quality.
I would encourage you colleagues to participate in this discussion and if there are things you’d like to see included here such as helpful resources you have found or challenges you came across during this time. Collaboration and mutual support remains crucial during this time even when experiencing greater physical distance from each other.
See our contact details below:
Telephone: 086 999 0123
Please call me / sms: 072 204 5056
Fax: 012 323 1138
Email: careerhelp@dhet.gov.za
Website: www.careerhelp.org.za
National Career Advice Portal (NCAP): http://ncap.careerhelp.org.za/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/careerhelp
Compiled by Ntsoaki Kala