Cyberspace: a step in the right direction for our clients?

"Email may be the most important, unique method for communicating and developing relationships since the telephone."

John Suler in 'Email Communication and Relationships', in 'The Psychology of Cyberspace', accessed May 2009, (www-usr.rider.edu).

The explosion of the Internet and the emergence of new communication tools and techniques offer career services an opportunity to move away from the conventional face-to-face and one-to-one model. Many people now expect the availability of e-services that allow them to book flights, pay bills, bank and shop online, all in the flexibility of their own time. This expectation has grown, to the extent that many of our clients now seek a similar service in the delivery of career information and advice. Clients want the option of visiting a career practitioner when it suits them (location and time), and where they see the visit as adding value.

Different services for different people

If career practitioners were honest with themselves when answering the question: "Is what I am doing in the best interests of my client?", we would acknowledge that the face-to-face scenario suits only some clients, just as traditional schooling methods suit only some students. Certain personality types will shy away from face-to-face interventions. What method of interaction would they prefer instead? Some clients like a cosy, personal relationship with their career practitioner. Others, for a wide range of reasons, prefer to maintain a greater distance from us (physically and/or emotionally), and may well engage with us more effectively by email and other online tools. 

One reason clients don’t want the face-to-face model is that it is too confronting, particularly if English isn’t their first language, or they find it difficult to express themselves verbally. Time and distance may also be issues. Many people work during normal office hours, may have a disability, live rurally, or require immediate help. Making an appointment, travelling into the city and finding a parking space at a specified time is simply not an option. We would be derelict in our duty as career practitioners to ignore the needs of our clients in this regard.

Doing what’s best for us or for our clients?

The resistance of career practitioners to embracing email as a valid communication tool may be due to many reasons. Without doubt, one of the career profession's foundational and ongoing principles is that a face-to-face, facilitative relationship is an essential component for effective career counselling. There is an unwritten assumption that visual clues and non-verbal communications are superior to written text in forming and maintaining an affective relationship. 

As a result, face-to-face interactions are deemed more effective than online ones. But does this actually reflect more on the preferences and mindset of the practitioner, their training and how they have become used to practising? 

Unique benefits of online guidance

Letters have been the basis of forming long-lasting affective relationships. What is the difference with email? Evidence shows that the process of reading-writing-reflecting that happens through email (or other text-based interventions such as online chat or discussion forums) yields powerful insights for both career practitioner and client.

Committing thoughts to print, and the reverse experience of drawing insights from the written word, appear to deepen the effectiveness of the career-counselling process for both. The process of articulating thoughts into writing involves a deliberate analytical action which, in the case of email, can be modified and tinkered with to get the right meaning. For those whose verbal skills are not honed to a level that allows them to have meaningful conversations, this is a much better option than letting them just
"shoot from the lip"!

If guidance is ultimately helping an individual to become autonomous, then there is no reason why online guidance should be less effective than traditional guidance models.

Embracing technology to best serve a variety of clients

To help our clients effectively use new communication technologies in the career decision-making process, the challenge for career practitioners is to adopt more innovative ways to deliver career services using the channels available. However, it is still fair to say that technology as a counselling tool has taken many counselling professions (including careers) by surprise, mainly since the profession has traditionally relied on low-tech tools.  

We need to start extending our own actions, ideas and thoughts around embracing technology, especially technology that is no longer just a fad but here to stay! We must no longer use traditional thinking to deal with non-traditional events and resources, but move out of the box. In a constantly evolving society, career practitioners must continually re-evaluate their techniques and delivery methods to provide meaningful and effective services to the various populations they serve.

A first step in the right direction would be for the profession to move away from directly comparing face-to-face and online interventions, and debating which is best. Instead, a convergence of both methods may well result in new and improved delivery of practice.