1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 General

The Programme for Career Guidance Practitioners (PCAR) guides exploration, discovery and engagement with work preferences and access to work. The outcome is the emergence of occupational choices to help people develop their careers. The career seekers will gain understanding and devise a plan to acquire the required competencies to access work and build a career of their choice.

You, as the career guide, will learn the theory of the course and implement the theory in practice working with people around you. The processes create a safe environment.  As you learn and discover, it is expected that you share the lessons you learn, with others. In this way, the career guidance industry will grow and we will all learn and earn more. Each of us contributes our insights into and knowledge of the career world and in exchange, we learn from others.

1.2        Contents of this tutorial letter

This tutorial letter explains how to get Internet access (see Section 2) and how to set up a Gmail account (see Section 4). Your Internet access and Gmail facility are needed to create and organise your Portfolio of Evidence (PoE) (see Sections 3 and 10). I also help you to grow your MiCareer Book (see Section 5), use the Unisa Career Guidance Practitioner forum (see Section 7), and set up your own BLOG on the Internet (see Section 6) so that people with similar interests can locate you. In return, you will learn from other people’s publications.  The PCAR introduces and exposes you to BLOGS, and discussion groups (also known as forums) where you can experience Internet supported discussion and growth groups.

Finally, in this Tutorial Letter, I help you understand the required assignments fit into the whole course (see Section 8), how you can work in groups (see Section 10) and what networking is all about (see Section 11).

1.3 Terms used in this module

The Tutorial Letter includes selected definitions to assist you in the early phase of reading and understanding the tasks.

I guide you to the use of www.google.com,  www.dictionary.com and www.Wikipedia.org through the practical use of the Internet to ensure you understand all the concepts and words. Look especially for synonyms and full descriptions.

The above table of terms explains words in boldface in this Tutorial Letter. Should you not know how to go on or if you are uncertain, you should ask a person in your community, who works with career guidance to also explain the concepts.

In addition, discuss what you learn with your friends, family and those working in the career guidance field. Together they form your new network.  This ensures that you learn continuously – just as effective families learn all the time. They learn by discussing interesting facts and issues with other family or household members. Do the same by simply joining a larger group from whom and with whom you learn. This group forms your personal network.

2. INTERNET ACCESS

(Note: The computer you use must have Windows, Word, and Excel)

Do you have access to the Internet?  If you have access, then you might be approached by a fellow student to share your facility.

If you do not, note the following suggestions:

• Do I know someone with access to the Internet?

Tell this person what you are doing and ask him/her to learn with you in the programme and act as your Internet guide. Thus, you will add value to others and they will add value to you.
Both of you will learn and develop yourselves during this programme.  Both will learn how the Internet can improve your proficiencies in any career as well as a career guidance practitioner.  Both of you will also learn how the Internet can open up more opportunities.  Therefore, you will add value to your Internet friend.

• If you do not know someone with access to the Internet, ask your family, friends or acquaintances if they know somebody who has access.

Ask your family, friends and people, in activities that you are engaged in, if they know anyone with Internet access.

• Focus on your local political people like ward leaders and your local community development workers who were appointed by President Mbeki and ask them if they can assist you in gaining access to the internet.

• Ask your local business people or call your local Business chamber.

• Buy time at your local Internet café.

• See if you can find your local Government community development centres where you can access the Internet.

• Ask people belonging to local cultural or religious organisations.

• Government programmes

Locate and work with the Community Development Worker (CDW) in your area. The government has appointed and trained these people to help you.  The ward councils know them and other workers who are there for you. Find the workers tasked with Government Development   programmes. They can guide and help you.

There is always a way… just ask!  Tell people what your plan is and what you want.  There are many people willing to assist.

3. GUIDELINES FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO OF EVIDENCE (POE)

It is very important that your academic process and the results of the completed modules are documented.  Keep this documentation neatly in your Portfolio of Evidence (PoE).

Keep your PoE documents in your Gmail account.  The PoE consists of three tools. These are:

• your BLOG,
• your MiCareer Book, and
• your assignments.

See further explanations on these four tools in PCAR01V (Module 1), Activities 4-7.

The main reasons for keeping a PoE are the following:

1. You learn and practise how to organize information.  Remember that your accumulation of a PoE is a lifelong activity.  This course guides you in keeping and organising information and in appreciating the value of organising information.
2. Other people (such as your future clients) learn from your experiences.
3. In addition, you can use your PoE for job interviews to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and experiences gained.

Your PoE consists of documents in which you show how you have applied the information obtained from the course, in your community.

Figure 1 is a graphic presentation of the PoE and its five tools:

4. SETTING UP YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT

If you do not have a gmail account, go to https://www.gmail.com and click on the “sign up for Gmail button”.  Follow their prompts.  Now you have a Gmail account!

Take some time to familiarise yourself with Gmail.  To help you with this, consult these sites:  http://mail.google.com/support/?ctx=%67mail&hl=en and

http://g04.com/misc/GmailTipsComplete.html

Why have I chosen Gmail as a method to communicate, when you (and I) might already have a different mail address? The answer is simple: Gmail offers unrivalled storage space for the five documents that eventually form your PoE. Gmail also includes many tools such as google groups which can become very useful later on in your career guidance career.

5. THE MICAREER BOOK

This is the workbook for the Career Guidance Practitioner course.  All the activities are recorded here.  This forms part of your PoE and is preparation for your assignments at the end of the modules.  However, the MiCareer Book is also a preparation for writing your CV.  You should add anything you learn about yourself during the activities to your MiCareer Book.

Open your MiCareer Book in Word

Use www.gcflearnfree.org to familiarise yourself with Microsoft Word.

6. CREATING YOUR OWN BLOG

This website will guide you in the process of setting up your own BLOG: http://www.ebio.co.za/web/use-the-web-tools.html#blog

If you do not know how to use your BLOG, or are a first time user, you can either ask your facilitator for guidance or reread the information given regarding BLOGGING on the Internet (see 1.3 of this Tutorial Letter).

A BLOG is a personal space on the Internet. Although you author the space, it is open to anybody to read your information. In your BLOG, you can keep a record of your own personal growth (an online diary).  Remember that other people who surf the Internet have access to your BLOG. It can be compared to the footprints that you leave in paths or on the sand. Others can follow you if they wish.  They can also post comments and questions on your BLOG.  This is an exciting way to learn from others and to communicate with the world and with the workplace.

The Career Guidance Practitioner BLOG is for your learner support group to communicate quickly and share with many others while you learn from various people.  Remember, this is where the footprints are stored. A person who has similar interests to you can read your “footprint” to find out how you have managed your talent or solved a similar problem. In this way, you grow with others. Give input on their BLOGS as they do on yours.

Use the BLOG to publish aspects of your experiences and to communicate who you are what you want to do and your plan is for getting there.  Use extracts from your MiCareer Book.doc.  Other people can also post comments and questions on your BLOG and can do the same on theirs. You learn the rules about such communication by doing and participating, as the Internet contains the rules and lessons once you engage.  If you continuously update your own BLOG, you will continuously explore, discover and grow!  Others can follow your example.

What goes into the BLOG?

You will use the BLOG to publish all your findings in and that which you discovered as well as your career preferences.  This BLOG and everything you enter in it eventually becomes a book about yourself, a guide to knowing yourself and your personal marketing tool. It shows the skills and competencies that you have developed during this course and it shows what you can do in practical terms.

• Publish information about what you enjoy doing.  By doing this you become aware of what you like to do.
• Write about your strengths. This allows other people to see and know what your strengths are and for you to become aware of your strengths.
• Write about your Career Guidance experiences:  every experience and exploration you have where you discover something about yourself.  Show examples and discuss what you have learned.

The results in your BLOG come from the exploration and discoveries of your opportunities, preferences and skills. It reflects you in five ways:

1. Yourself (your personality, your proficiencies):  Intuitively you and only you know what your preferences are (PCAR01V)
2. Your own growth and development (your career plan and life plan), as well as local growth industries (PCAR02W)
3. Your relationship with your family, friends, community and successful business people (PCAR03X)
4. Your knowledge translated into a presentation  for a career exhibition (Academic PoE and PCAR04Y)
5. Practical application of all you have learned in Modules 1-4: what you can do, what you believe and value (PCAR053)

These are all aspects of the service you will present to future career seeker clients. Keep this in mind when doing the course. The best way to learn is by doing, and this process will enable you to provide a well rounded service.

7. YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

All the activities done in the modules form the background or preparation to the assignments.

First, find and read your final assignments for module 5 (PCAR053) Unit 3 (Assignment 01) and Unit 4 (Assignment 02).  The assignments also repeat at the end of each module.

The whole PCAR course builds up towards the assignments for module 5.  If you read it in this way, you will realize that every activity and assignment in the subsequent modules prepares you for the final assignments.

8. HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR POE IN GMAIL

To organise your information and to refer to it later, you need to create labels and archive relevant documents and the e-mails that you have sent and received.

Keeping track of all these e-mails and documents gets confusing, so try this tip:  Write the subject heading for your e-mails carefully. Write a short and descriptive subject heading which reminds you of its content.  In activity 1, I explain how you should archive all your e-mails, documents, activities, MiCareerBook.doc pages and assignments under a specific label.

Take some time to familiarise yourself with Gmail.  To help you with this, consult these sites:  http://mail.google.com/support/?ctx=%67mail&hl=en and

http://g04.com/misc/GmailTipsComplete.html

For the purpose of the PoE exercise, have a good look at the following topics:

1. Archiving
2. Labels
3. Organising your contacts
4. Compose, send and receive e-mails
5. Attaching files to your e-mail

Tutorial 102, Activity 1

So, let us start with exploring Gmail!

Consult the following sites:

http://mail.google.com/support/?ctx=%67mail&hl=en andhttp://g04.com/misc/GmailTipsComplete.html

Organizing documents in Gmail:

1. Click on the compose mail button.
2. Do you remember what I said about keeping track of your emails and documents?  Write a short description of the activity in your subject heading.
3. Attach your document that you have completed to your mail. Please refer to the CD or help websites if you have forgotten how to attach a document.
4. Send an email to your own Gmail address.
5. Tick the select box next to your email that should now be in your Inbox.  Now this email is ready for action!
6. Click on “More actions” button in your Gmail account. When you click on the button, a list of options (menu) appears. This is a drop down menu.  Now, choose the option: “New Label…”  This is at the very bottom of the menu.  Click on it.
7. You are asked to: “Please enter a new label name”.  For now you have a choice of four  labels: MiCareer Book, BLOG, Assignments, & Communications
8. Next select your email and click on the archive button.

When you want to find your email again, look at the left hand side.  There is a box called “Labels”.  If you click on this, you will be taken to your labelled inbox and will see all the emails stored there.

1 Archive your MiCareer Book Each time you finish an activity and/or entry in this book, email it to your Gmail account.  Create a label for “MiCareer Book” and archive it under this label.  Therefore, every time you make an update to your MiCareer Book, you must file it in your Gmail account.  This way you keep track of your previous documents and of the changes made. You can also for future reference access this information from any computer with internet access.

2 Archive your BLOG related documents Attach and email all the documents meant for your BLOG and mail it to your own email address.  File the email under your new label called: “BLOG”

3 Archive your assignments When you email your assignments to your lecturers, file the email under your new label called: “Assignments”

4 Archive emails you send to and received from other people When you send to or receive emails from other people, follow exactly the same process of archiving.  However, now you will use a different label to archive your emails.  Create a new label called: “Communication”.  You can also file any notes or documents on communication with other people under this label.  When your email contacts increase, you can give labels to individual people

Remember:

1. Follow this process for all your written activities in each one of the modules.
2. When you mail documents to yourself and send and receive emails, archive them under a label.
3. Imagine a filing cabinet with lots of drawers (see relevant section on CD).  Each drawer is meant for each of the five categories (labels).  Inside each drawer there are different files.  These files are for the different email entries.
4. Write a short and descriptive subject heading in your email.  It is so much easier to find that specific mail later.
5. If you are a bit uncertain, consult the CD presentation again.

Recap:

You might wonder how the MiCareer Book.doc, your BLOG, the forum, and Gmail link to each other. How do they complement each other?  To recap:

1. The MiCareer Book keeps all the activities done through the modules.  This is generally a preparation for your final assignments.
2. Select what you want to communicate to other people from your MiCareer Book and publish this selection on your BLOG.  Keep and publish (on your BLOG) information regarding your skills, personal qualities and discoveries, which will help you to write your curriculum vitae (CV), communicate your work preferences and market your services.  Find the information for this in your MiCareer Book.  Examples are your CV, the network you have built and the websites you like.  You communicate by telling others about yourself; your life goals and how you plan to get there (e.g., show your CV to a potential employer).
3. The forum is meant for career guidance discussions with your peers and with experts.
4. Finally, Gmail is where you keep and organise all your documents and emails.

9. WORKING IN GROUPS

Not many people manage a successful career on their own. Think of the idiom: “Two heads are better than one” or how a single stick can be broken easily but a bundle of sticks cannot be broken so easily.

This is why you are required to find two people to join in the process during your training as Career Guidance Practitioner.  These two people can be from any group (family, friends, work colleagues, Unisa support groups).

Each person in the group plays a different role:  facilitator, observer or candidate.  Finish an activity in one role and then repeat the activity in another role.   Each activity in the Activity Book template defines the tasks of the different roles.  Through this process, each person gains valuable proficiencies in listening, communicating and resolving issues.

Facilitator

The facilitator is the guide.  He or she tells the candidate what to do and shows him or her how to do it.

Tutorial 102, Activity 2

Learn exactly what a facilitator is by using the Dictionary and Wikipedia or the web in general.  Use your MiCareer Book and copy and paste different definitions and applications of a facilitator.

Observer

The observer stays objective and only intervenes if a task is not done properly.  He or she sees to it that each task is done successfully and recorded properly.

Tutorial 102, Activity 3

Find out exactly what an observer is by using the Dictionary and Wikipedia or the web in general.  Use your MiCareer Book and copy and paste different definitions and applications of an observer.

Candidate

This is the person actually doing the tasks and exploring the given problem.  The purpose of this exercise is to discover yourself and your passion. So, relax and enjoy it!

“Teaching others is the best form of learning. You learn while you are teaching and at the same time acquire effective communication skills.  Facilitate and observe what skills the candidate uses and reapply the various learning processes when it is your turn as the candidate. Learn words and synonyms on Dictionary and concepts on  Wikipedia.  Learn how to pronounce the words correctly on http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/. This will provide your learning group with the perfect opportunity to coach and mentor while learning.  The facilitator and observer provide processes for expertise, experience and encouragement.  They do not provide the “answers,” but rather assist the candidate in experiencing processes of problem solving and discovering answers that are suitable to his or her specific context.

10. NETWORKING

Start accessing the elders in your community and people in the industry of your choice.  You will gain from their wisdom and they can while guiding you in what not to do.  Continue doing this throughout your career life.

Tutorial 102, Activity 4

Make contact with a professional in career guidance, in your community.  If you cannot find anyone, look for schoolteachers, business chamber members, businesses, community development workers or social workers interested in the career guidance topic.  Tell this person of what you are busy doing and keep them updated on your activities through this course.  They might be very helpful in terms of their professional opinions, own case studies or by providing other contacts that you will need later on.

Record the contact details of these people in your MiCareer Book.  Also, remember to keep written communication (emails) in your Gmail.

You need to use some basic skills to access these experts, professionals and elders.  Follow these guidelines, not only for this course, but also for your whole career path and you are guaranteed of success.

1. Relax to activate and allow the thinking brain to govern you.  During change or when confronted with an unknown situation, we become anxious and start breathing quickly and tense our bodies.  Ever felt that?  Breathe deeply and slowly.  Move your fingers and toes and feel the relaxation.  Your thinking brain is immediately back in charge of all your responses.  In other words, you will not react emotionally and rashly.  For fun, look at this website: http://library.thinkquest.org/C0114820/logical/
2. Start communicating and growing relationships with your local elders, cultural leaders, and professionals (psychology, legal, accounting, civic leaders, business leaders).  Other people will automatically trust you if you work with the elders, leaders and professionals.  As a result, your business will grow faster and you will earn more by maintaining these relationships.  Remember: Always meet with the above people and discuss what you are doing.  This increases your access to resources and you gain insight from the wisdom of elders.  You stay connected with locals and those people who form part of the value you can add to career seekers. You also need them to complete your career expo participation (Module 4, Assignment 1).
3. We use language to communicate with the above people.  Use www.dictionary.com continually to learn new words.  Learn from www.bbc.co.uk how to pronounce English.  Remember to share your own culture and home language with mother tongue English speakers.  They can help you with your English and you can teach them your language. GROW together!
4. Learn to use your interest and curiosity to search, read, discuss and develop the choices you have with local professionals and elders. This is what lifelong learners do.  This is what you should keep on doing, even after you are finished with the course.  REMEMBER: Never depart too far from your local way of thinking.  Always grow with and from the local wisdom.  However, keep searching for, adding and growing new ways of thinking!
5. When you finished this course, you would have accessed a lot of free information.  It is time for you to contribute to others what you learned.  Always attempt to contribute more than what you get. In this way your family’s work capacity grows, the community’s income grows and your country’s economy grows. You might ask, “How do I do this?”  The answer is simple; just make your experience available to others so that they can learn more easily and quickly.  In this way you are contributing and attracting resources by becoming visible to your clients and future resources partners. During the course, you will publish what you have learned on your BLOG.  Remember:  All your future clients and other career practitioner learners come to your BLOG to learn from your BLOGGED footprints as much as you do from theirs!