Innovations in career counseling

The work world is now full of uncertainty and change as a result of forces such as globalization, downsizing, advancing technology, and increased diversity in the work force. Further, people cannot count on maintaining a job with one company, or even one career, throughout their work lives. In order to meet clients ’ needs, career counselors must utilize approaches that are compatible with these realities. We review a set of approaches for career counseling that should be effective for clients now and into the future. Specifically, we argue for a holistic approach to career counseling, use of the Personal Career Theory as a client-centered approach to counseling sessions, incorporating creative interventions that draw upon chance events and flexible decision-making, and an emphasis on building interpersonal skills and relationships. We conclude with a summary of recommendations for career counseling practice. KEY WORDS: career counseling; decision making; uncertainty. The nature of the work world has changed considerably over the last three decades. There is less employment stability, more economic uncertainty, and more continuous change occurring than ever before, due to such forces as globalization, downsizing, and advancing tech-nology. Further, the labor force is becoming increasingly diverse, with women and minorities entering the work place in increasing numbers. Our notion of &dquo;career&dquo; has changed as well. People are no longer stay-ing with the same company, or even continuing along the same career path, throughout their working lives. Rather, the emphasis is now o