Vocational Guidance: what is it and what is it for?

A process of counseling and information that helps to enter the labor market.

Vocational guidance has recently positioned itself as one of the necessary tools to ensure a successful professional life. This has involved the knowledge of different disciplines, such as psychology, pedagogy, business administration, among others. Nowadays, vocational orientation is even one of the most worked areas with young people of pre-university age. pre-university age.

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

What is vocational guidance?

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

For its part, the term "orientation" refers to the action of placing something in a certain position. In this context, orientation is also the act of informing someone about a matter, so that this information serves as a guideline or guide for him or her. information serves as a guideline or guide for taking action..

This has been transferred specifically to the choice of a professional career, since it is largely this that marks a long-term life trajectory, at least in industrialized countries.

Thus, vocational guidance can be understood as a process that assists in the choice of a career. a process that assists in the choice of profession (Vidal and Fernandez, 2009). It is the activity in charge of covering the needs that prepare such a choice, and which range from favoring the knowledge of one's own interests to the evaluation of the real possibilities of access to its exercise, its evaluation and follow-up.

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

Such a process is not only aimed at incorporating a young adult into the professional workforce and guiding him or her through his or her practice, but it also requires recognizing the individual's interest and facilitating his or her learning about the work environment..

Its components

We have seen that vocational guidance is not a process focused solely on the individual. Since vocational guidance is strongly focused on favoring and expanding job opportunities and professional practice, such guidance should also know the real opportunities of access to the labor market, its relation with the different study programs and the skills or competencies that are necessary to access them.The orientation must also be aware of the real opportunities of access to the labor market, its relationship with the different study programs and the skills or competencies needed to access them.

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

1. Exploring the person's interests

In the context of vocational guidance, it is common that the interests of the person are explored by are explored based on the application of psychometric testsand, sometimes, from in-depth interviews. The former make it possible to evaluate different personality profiles, attitudes or performance, as well as specific preferences.

For the most part, these tests determine a range of possibilities with which it is possible to consider, for example, whether the person has the necessary skills to perform the job of interest, or whether, on the contrary, the person has the necessary skills to perform the job of interestThe tests can be used to consider, for example, whether the person has the necessary skills to perform the job of interest, or whether, on the other hand, the profession of interest does not correspond to his or her skills or real chances of success. Thus, a series of options are usually presented, which 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 person's decision.

Therefore, vocational orientation consists of providing all the information that allows the individual to recognize his/her own interests, skills and areas of opportunity, or in some cases, also facilitating the recognition of the competencies that need to be strengthened to be inserted in a specific work context in the medium or long term.

2. Analyze the characteristics of the context

On the other hand, it may happen that the person's interests correspond to the skills or competencies available to exercise the professional activity of interest. However, the opportunities for access to such an activity may not necessarily correspond to the person's interests or to the skills or competencies available to perform the professional activity of interest. correspond to the person's interests or skills..

In this sense, part of vocational guidance consists of precisely assessing the real opportunities for access and making them known to the person concerned, so that he or she will be the one to propose the alternatives that he or she considers relevant.

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