Choice Of Careers For College Students

Chronicle (Levin), 14 April 1949, Page 3

Choice Of Careers For College Students

Speaking to a good attendance of members at the April meeting of the Shannon Sehool ParentTeachers' Association at the school last Monday evening, Mr. G. H. W. Andrew, careers master at the Horowhenua College, began by explaining the! detail and. value of the pupils record car'd. Much of the information recorded on the card was made use of at a laiter date. 7 The student of today lived in difficult times, safd Mr. Andrew,' because he was able to secure well paid employment so easily. There appeared to be in many a complete lack of any chdsen occupation and of, a consciousness of the need for preparation for careers. It was ©asier to take the first well-paid job that offered than to plani ahead for something with progressive op•portuni'ty. Mr. Andrew went on to say that there was a growing nee'd for ticket qualification, while several trade# now demanded at. least two years of post-primary education as a prerequisite to apprenticeship. Parents should accept - their share of responsibility for the attitude of mind of their children. Some per-

* haps did not know of the facilities for advice that were available to them, while others just ignored them. Careers advisers at secondary schools had a fund of information which they were anxious to pass on and what they did not have, they would be willing to ascertain for those who wanted it. The proper approach to the problem was a conference of parent, child and careers adviser or vocational guidance ofiicer. The college welcomed parents at any time, said Mr. Andrew, and he gave an emphatic denial , to the assertion sometimes made that academically trained careers advisers were biased against recommending trades to students seeking employment. The chief concern of advisers was to guide those leaving school into employment which would be congenial to them over the long period. Consideration had to be given to the intelligence, educational attainment, special abilities and aptitudes, health and temperament of the candidate. This ' required careful study over a long period by the careers adviser, and the best results could be expected after the triangular conferences already mentionedMr. Andrew quoted cases of pupils he had known whose choice of careers had been unsuitable because of health or lack of manual dexterity, and who had been guided into oc.cupations more in Reeping with their aptitudes. Those who were plaeed in employment were watched and a note- made of their success. Employers in these cases had proved very co-operative. Professions required a longer period of preparaJtion and should only be embarked upon by those who were s.uited by temperament to undertake a good deal of study. Coining a word,vMr. Andrew said that "stickability" was essential to success in any occupation. The boy or girl who considered himself or herself to be "trylng out" some occupation should work on the assumption that this choice was to be a permanenit one, and should put everything into it and endeavo'ur to make it a success. If after a period of workihg under these conditions the position still seemed to be unsuitable, it would be wise to try something else, but careers advisers or vocational guidance officers should be first consulted. ' "Dead-end" employment was" that which ofEered no advancement. In the event of "difficult times" those who were at least half way up the ladder could slip hack a few rungs, but would still remain on the ladder. Those on the lowest rung would Jeave the ladder. It was ' wise« therefore, to enter an occupa- ; tichi which offered opportunity for . (&dVancgment, and to make every •|eridedyour. to study and work to I seluh^f it. ll' Maihy questions were - answered by Mr. Andrew: ,-wM Ia(te..,fha>cLe • pamphlets a|dilaibib:to Pu. of the' ^so^ ciatiori, '^manked Mr. Andrew for his informative and very interesting address and expressed pleasure at the prese'nce of Mr. A. H. Haley, who was already well known to members.