Abstract
Career guidance and counseling (CGC) is vital for smooth career development. Pakistan is a developing country having scarce CGC services; CGC is an emerging field in the country. CGC needs of undergraduates and the services available to them have not been explored extensively through research. This study explored it through 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with undergraduates using a convenient and snowball sampling strategy. Data were analyzed by thematic analysis. Two main themes emerged, CGC needs of undergraduates and available CGC options for undergraduates, along with 10 subthemes in total. Undergraduates needed self-awareness, direction, decision-making skills, information and guidance, emotional management, job search skills, and practical exposure. Some CGC services like one-to-one sessions, job fairs, career seminars were available but seldom utilized by undergraduates. This study has potential implications for students and career service providers regarding utilization, assessment, planning, and execution of career services in developing countries as well as future research in CGC.
Highlights
Career guidance and counseling (CGC) needs include the need for career-related services like C.V. writing, interview skills (Litoiu & Oproiu, 2012), stress management (Sultana, 2004; Szilagyi, 2008), occupational guidance, and information about placements and internships (Sultana, 2004)
Two main themes were explored which included some CGC services and seven major CGC needs namely need for information, self-awareness, decision making, practical exposure, direction, managing emotional challenges, and academic needs
This study explored several CGC needs identified by undergraduate students of Pakistan, primarily a developing country
Summary
CGC needs include the need for career-related services like C.V. writing, interview skills (Litoiu & Oproiu, 2012), stress management (Sultana, 2004; Szilagyi, 2008), occupational guidance, and information about placements and internships (Sultana, 2004). CGC is still a new and emerging field in developing countries including Chile, Romania, Poland, The Philippines (Watts & Fretwell, 2004), and Pakistan (Zahid et al, 2020). Many different factors like political, infrastructural, economic, social, cultural, and policy-related factors influence the status of CGC (Watts & Fretwell, 2004; Zahid et al, 2020). Often CGC provision is not among their priorities (Watts & Fretwell, 2004); CGC planning is improper or absent; funds are scarce (Richard, 2005; Zahid et al, 2020)
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