Counseling for carrer development: exploration instrument

Abstract

The theory of career development emphasizes the understanding of the process carried out by the person to build their personal and professional identity throughout life. However, in the professional practice of Counseling, practicing such exploration requires delving into their experiences, interactions and activities carried out, as well as the meanings given to them. According to the above, this article aims to operationalize a qualitative exploration instrument, where the career development of people is represented, through didactic and visual support through a graph. In this way, the intention of the instrument will be to favor dialogue in the intervention process, as well as the exploration of elements such as: the perception of significant experiences; the personal resources and support available to the person, that is to say, it will help to propose the strategy to be followed in the intervention process. It should be noted that the instrument was developed in Costa Rica and subjected to qualitative validation in 2021, with the help of a panel of experts in Counseling, focused on determining suggestions for improvement; utility of the instrument; feasibility and possible criteria for interpretation. As a result, the expert panel pointed out the feasibility of applying the instrument, the ease of understanding that -from a holistic and comprehensive perspective- provides information to build the profile of the targeted person and thus base the rest of the process of intervention. In short, it is concluded that the application of said exploration instrument will facilitate the guiding action, in addition to being a significant contribution in the professional practice of Counseling and a tool that arises from the vision of the discipline in the particular Costa Rican context.