Where Have They Gone? What Are They Doing?

Abstract

A postal survey examined counselling graduates' work destinations and reflections on their training. The participants were 40 former students from the Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) who graduated between 2005 and 2009. Results showed that work opportunities and income in the counselling field were more limited than those experienced by a similar cohort who graduated between 1997 and 2002. There was also a trend away from private practice as a work option. The recent graduates showed considerable agreement about which course components were seen as most useful. Several graduates recommended more personal development and personal counselling during training. The graduates surveyed and the study authors concluded that both trainers and the profession needed to pay more attention to how counselling qualifications are structured and possible future career paths for counsellors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)