Exploring Pathways: A Comparative Experiment on Career Counseling Modalities

November 4, 2024
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Let’s face it, career decisions are tough! For young Jordanians, they’re even trickier with rising unemployment rates, high societal expectations, and limited access to career counselling resources. The UNDP Accelerator Lab in Jordan is approaching this issue in a fresh way by "sensing, exploring, and testing" how Jordanian youth navigate their career paths. Let’s take a closer look at this experimental journey and what it’s uncovering. 

 

Why Jordan’s Youth Needs a Career Counselling Boost 

 

Picture this! every year, around 100,000 young Jordanians step into the job market, eager to make their mark. Yet, nearly a third face unemployment, and for women, finding a job can be even tougher. For many, career counselling is like a mysterious luxury, something they know they need but aren’t sure how to access. So, UNDP’s Accelerator Lab decided to step in, unravel the mystery, and bring career guidance to the forefront. 

The 3-Step Adventure: Sense, Explore, Test! 

Here’s how the Accelerator Lab got the ball rolling in their career guidance quest: 

 

  • Sense: First, we assessed the current landscape, finding that career counselling was limited and fragmented. Efforts to provide guidance were largely uncoordinated and often failed to reach those who needed it most. 

  • Explore: Time to dig deeper! The lab launched an online survey targeting university students and recent grads to understand what factors influence their career choices. Salary, work-life balance, and, of course, job passion topped the list of priorities for young people. Interestingly, 34% of participants said family advice influenced their decisions, and many wanted more independence in choosing their paths. 

  • Test:  In this phase, the lab tested three modalities of career counselling: in-person, phone, and chat sessions to see what worked best. Each modality brought its own insights, and the results were eye-opening! 

 

Experiment Highlights: Chat vs. Phone vs. In-Person 

The Lab’s experiment brought valuable insights: 

 

  • In-Person Counselling: This was the top rated! Participants loved the realness of face-to-face sessions, where body language, eye contact, and natural conversation flow made it easier to connect and share. 

  • Phone Sessions: Convenient but slightly distant, phone sessions let participants talk freely, though without the helpful Facial expressions. They were great for quick, on-the-go advice but felt a little less engaging. 

  • Chat Sessions: Chatting was a. However, without the warmth of a voice or a face, these sessions felt more formal, which wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. 

So, the verdict? In-person sessions won the popularity contest! While the hypothesis that chat-based counselling could match the effectiveness of face-to-face sessions was particularly supported, the research revealed that most participants still preferred in-person sessions. But don’t count chat and phone sessions out just yet, they’re still valuable, especially for those who can’t attend in-person counselling. 

 

What Young Jordanians Really Want from Career Counselling 

Beyond session preferences, the survey and experiment uncovered a few things that Jordan’s youth want in their career guidance: 

 

  • Dream Job Platforms: Young people want job-matching websites that work better and have clearer job descriptions, effective filters, and helpful features that make the job hunt easier. 

  • Sustained Support: Career journeys aren’t one-and-done! The youth want ongoing counselling sessions as they navigate career choices, internships, CV building, and more. 

  • More Access to In-Person Counselling: Since face-to-face sessions were a big win, creating more in-person options could help reach more young people, especially those living outside major cities. 

 

The Road Ahead: Making Career Counselling Accessible, Scalable, and Just Plain Better 

With all these insights in hand, the Accelerator Lab has some recommendations: 

 

  • Expand In-Person Counselling: Making it more available and accessible to those across Jordan, especially in rural areas, could be game-changing. 

  • Offer Hybrid Options: A mix of in-person, phone, and video chat could cater to diverse needs and keep young people engaged, wherever they are. 

  • Improve Career-Matching Platforms Based on Participant Feedback: By improving job-matching websites, youth would have an easier time finding positions that actually fit their skills, interests, and lifestyle needs. 

  • Introduce Follow-Up Programmes: Imagine a career counselling service where, once you’ve finished your first session, you’re invited back for follow-ups, check-ins, and mentoring programmes! That’s the vision. 

 

The journey to career confidence in Jordan is only just beginning. With the Accelerator Lab’s data-driven, youth-focused approach, there’s real hope for creating a counselling culture that empowers young people to dream big and take action. So here’s to a future where career counselling in Jordan isn’t just an experiment but a norm that helps young people everywhere find their place, passion, and purpose. 

 

To know more about the results check out our publication titled “Experimenting with Career Counselling at the Jordan Lab”.