Vocational Guidance: what it is and what it is for

Vocational guidance has recently been positioned as one of the necessary tools to ensure a successful professional life. In the above, knowledge from different disciplines has participated, such as psychology, pedagogy, business administration, among others. At the moment, Vocational guidance is even one of the areas most worked on with young people in pre-college age.

Next we will see what vocational guidance is and what its main objectives and tools are.

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What is vocational guidance?

The word vocation means "related to vocation." In turn, "vocation" means special inclination or inspiration to adopt a way of life. The latter based on a conviction and important identification towards what is adopted.

For its part, the term "orientation" refers to the action of placing something in a certain position. In this context, counseling is also the act of informing someone about a matter, in a way that said information serve as a guideline or guide to take action.

The foregoing has been specifically transferred to the choice of a professional career, since to a great extent part, is this what marks a long-term life trajectory, at least in the countries industrialized.

Thus, vocational guidance can be understood as a process that helps the choice of profession (Vidal and Fernández, 2009). It is the activity in charge of covering the needs that prepare said election, and that go from favoring the knowledge of their own interests up to the evaluation of the real possibilities of access to their exercise, their evaluation and their follow-up.

It is also a set of knowledge and practices that seek to ensure that young adults are trained in activities professionals that correspond to their personal interest, and at the same time, ensure efficient performance in their future work environments.

Said process not only has the objective of incorporating a young adult into the professional labor force and guiding him during his exercise, but also requires recognize the interest of the person and facilitate their learning about the work environment.

It's components

We have seen that vocational guidance is not a process solely focused on the individual. Because vocational guidance is strongly focused on promoting and expanding job opportunities and professional practice, said guidance should also to know the real opportunities of access to the labor market, its relationship with the different study programs and the skills or competences that are necessary to access them.

Thus, we can speak of two specific and necessary dimensions for the exercise of vocational guidance: one centered on knowing the individual, and the other focused on knowing the characteristics of the environment where their development is expected to occur professional.

1. Explore the person's interests

In the context of vocational guidance it is common that the interests of the person are explored from the application of psychometric tests, and sometimes, from in-depth interviews. The first allow evaluating from the different personality profiles, attitudes or performance, to specific preferences.

For the most part, these tests determine a range of possibilities with which it is possible to consider, for example, If the person has the necessary skills to carry out the work of interest, or if, on the contrary, the profession of your interest does not correspond to your abilities or your real chances of success. Thus, a series of options are usually presented that are arranged from highest to lowest, and from which the person can make certain decisions. This is how these tools seek precisely to guide the decision of the person.

Then, vocational guidance consists of providing all the information that allows the individual to recognize their own interests, abilities and areas of opportunity, or in some cases, also facilitate the recognition of the skills that need to be strengthened in order to enter a specific employment context in the medium or long term term.

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2. Analyze the characteristics of the context

On the other hand, it may happen that the interests of the person correspond to their skills or competencies available to carry out the professional activity of interest. But, not necessarily the opportunities of access to said activity match interests or abilities.

In this sense, part of vocational guidance consists of precisely evaluating the real opportunities for access and make them see the interested person, so that she herself is the one who raises the alternatives that she considers relevant.

The information and tools that help meet this need range from sociodemographic studies that account for the number of professionals performing a specific activity, to labor and market studies where it is possible to see which are the more or less competitive professions, or with a greater or lesser possibility of economic remuneration, or what is the economic cost of studying certain professions, among others characteristics.