Library research is only one form of investigation used to track down occupational information. The other very important way to learn about the world of work is to us a technique that Richard Bolles popularized in What Color is Your Parachute? -- the informational interview. This is a process of information gathering where the career changer goes out into work situations and talks to individuals about their jobs in order to get a first hand look at what a job is really like. In this way a woman gets the chance to explore alternatives, to discover the day to day reality of various work environments and to evaluate them against her own criteria for career satisfaction.

I teach women techniques for conducting informational interviews and for evaluating the information they receive. This involves clarifying the objectives of such interviews (particularly distinguishing them from manipulative job search tactics or job interviews.), identifying lines of questioning that will draw out the information they need, and reassuring more timid individuals of their right to ask people for time and information.

Once women have developed interviewing skills, they need to learn to evaluate the information gained, using the personal criteria they identified in the self assessment process. "Going out" into the work place to research and "coming back" to one's internal sense of direction is an important process that is usually repeated several times. Like a pendulum women need to learn to go outside themselves for information with themselves without losing their balance and inner motivation.

Research is the art of tracking down information through talking with people and reading. Although I have stressed "occupational" information as the goal of career research. women seeking career change need other kinds of information as well: What are my daycare options? Do I qualify for subsidies? What are my training options? What kinds of financial supports are available to me? Teaching research skills and supporting women through the research phrase of their counselling will give them the opportunity to gather all the relevant information they need in order to make a career decision.

The sum of all these skills adds up to an ability to navigate through a sea of career choices without losing sight of who you are and what you need for career satisfaction. As a woman's needs and values change, she can go back to using the self assessment process. As her job situation becomes less challenging for her, women who have been counselled in this way will have the skills to research the alternatives once again. This ability, once gained, is seldom lost and can give women the courage to face the life long task of maintaining career fulfillment.

Career Counselling Must Help Women Address The Issue Of Childbearing

Traditional career counselling has explored career choice outside of family context. Questions about having and raising children are not normally asked of people who want to examine occupational alternatives. This leads me to conclude that most career counselling is based on male: assumptions that work is something done outside the home, that it is a breadwinning function, that it is separate from family life.

The implications for women receiving such counselling are astounding to me: They are forced to segregate work and family life in their minds. They are pressured into conforming to male life cycles, which can put them on the defensive about whether or not to have children and when. Childbearing is not seen as part of career development, but rather an obstacle to it. So women who want to have children end up feeling discouraged and put down about life goals that are important to them.

When career counselling examines, women's life style issues, the message women receive is positive. They are asked to consider: Do you expect to have children? When do you want to do this? Have you thought about how you will handle life style changes which will occur? We discuss anticipated changes and look at ways other women have handled those changes. Personal needs and values are explored in an effort to paint a picture of a ideal life style.

Regardless of the exact questions, an interest in life and childbearing concerns crucial to supporting women at career crossroads. The approach implies that career development for women are different than for men; it is unique and has its own considerations that must be addressed. If the differences are acknowledged, career counselling can help women to find answers to difficult questions rather than reacting defensively.