Career Counseling vs. Career Consultation

• “’Career counseling’ provides the opportunity for a deeper level of involvement with the client, based on the establishment of a professional counseling relationship and the potential for assisting clients with career and personal development concerns beyond those included in career planning’ (NCDA, 2015; p. 3)” (Royal, 2017).
• “Career consultation can be part of career counseling and career planning, but the elements are not dependent on each other. Career consultation is not a collaborative activity and it does not blend personal development concerns with career concerns” (Royal, 2017).
• “The following consultation activities are their ‘bread and butter’ activities — they engage in these activities on a regular basis: Resume writing, review, and editing; cover letter writing, review, and editing; teaching job interview strategies; teaching networking strategies; and teaching/training regarding a variety of skills (organization, time management, effective study habits, etc.)” (Royal, 2017).
  • Source: Royal, C. (2017). Defining career consultation. National Career Development Association (NCDA). https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/135125/_PARENT/CC_layout_details/false

Career Counseling vs. Career Development

• “Career development is the process of self-discovery leading to career choices over a lifetime that are financially viable and fulfilling. The process includes exploring skills, values, interests, abilities, and talents combined with education and experiences, to arrive at an actionable plan to start or progress in a career” (Smith & Peterssen, 2023, p. 3).
• “NCDA differentiates career planning services from career counseling services.” Career planning services, “span the career development and job search processes and could include resume review, selection of occupations, development of job seeking skills, and career assessments” (Smith & Peterssen, 2023, p. 3).
• “The NCDA defines career counseling as being inclusive of and going beyond career planning by ‘provid[ing] the opportunity for a deeper level of involvement with the client, bsaed on the establishment of a professional counseling relationship and the potential for assisting clients with career and personal development concerns’ (NCDA, 2015, p. 3)” (Smith & Peterssen, 2023, p. 3).
• “A career development professional offers support to people in their lifelong process of discovering career abilities and aspirations, pursuing those aspirations, progressing in their chosen career path, and seeking skills, satisfaction, stability, and balance in work-life” (Smith & Peterssen, 2023, p. 3).
  • Source: Smith, A. C., & Peterssen, K. (2023). An innovative approach to career counseling: Theory and practical application. Springer.

Career Counseling Continuum

• “Career counseling can be thought of in at least three ways: one, as a single intervention that can assist clients with career behavior, issues, and problems; second, as a process that is overarching and includes various interventions that can be combined in different configurations to support the career counseling process and the needs of a given client; and third, as a continuum of career counseling and related interventions that make up a subspecialty within the general class of counseling (Gysbers et al., 2003). This continuum responds to a wide-range of content that clients bring to career counselors, such as situational and personal dilemmas, unemployment, underemployment, job dissatisfaction, relationship problems with co-workers or supervisors, inadequate work skills, and family conflicts related to work” (Herr, 2010).
  • Source: Herr, E. L. (2010). Career development. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1-3. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0156

Career Counseling in Maryland

• Career counseling in Maryland aims to explore, connect, and empower students, which can occur through activities such as career assessments, career exploration, goal setting, educational guidance, decision-making, and support and encouragement. (Source: Maryland State Department of Education)
• “Empowering learners in navigating their career journey requires comprehensive, accessible, and connected career coaching programs that start by engaging young learners. As students develop a solid understanding of their strengths, interests, and values, with the support of career coaches, they and their families will be equipped to make informed decisions about the post-College and Career Readiness (CCR) pathway that is most aligned to their future goals” (Source: Maryland’s CTE Framework, 2025, p. 2).

Career Counseling Research Focused on Blueprint

• Love, T. S., & Sanders, C. (2024). Exploring the prior experiences and self-efficacy of career coaches in Maryland. Shaping CTE for the next generation workforce: Proceedings of the 2024 Association for Career and Technical Education Research and professional development conference (pp. 91-115). ACTER. https://doi.org/10.13016/8pyn-ovx1
• Additional research to be added as published

Career Counseling Research Not Specifically Focused on Blueprint

• Lent, R. W. (2025). Choice architecture and the potential to nudge career development at scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 33(4), 716-738.
  https://doi.org/10.1177/10690727241298688
• Lent, R. W. (2020). Career development and counseling: A social cognitive framework. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work (3rd ed., pp. 129–164). Wiley. Available through Google Scholar
• Additional research to be added as published

• Brown, S. D., Lent, R. W. (2019). A Social Cognitive View of Career Development and Guidance. In: Athanasou, J.A., Perera, H.N. (eds) International Handbook of Career Guidance. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25153-6_7
• Maley, D. (1971, December). Relationship of industrial arts to occupational orientation. Paper presented at the Fall Industrial Arts Conference. Oswego, NY. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED064470. Download Paper.
• Numerous high-quality Career Counseling publications by Dr. Robert Lent (University of Maryland) can be found on his Google Scholar profile.

• Holladay, K. R., Cortés, R. D., Chen, C.-C., & Sanders, C. (2025). Closing the gap in career counselor development with inclusive teaching strategies. Journal of Employment Counseling, 62(4), 194–207. https://doi.org/10.1002/joec.12250
• Waheed, Z., Kiran, S., Bibi, S., & Mahnaz, W. (2025). Exploring teachers’ awareness and attitudes toward career counseling services in primary education. The Critical Review of Social Sciences Studies, 3(2), 66-92. https://doi.org/10.59075/tc2md896
• Johnson, G. S., Purgason, L. L., Hunt, A., Dutcher, E., & Murphy, A. (2025). Professional school counselors’ experiences providing career counseling to students experiencing poverty. Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory & Research, 53(1), 16–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/15566382.2025.2529127
• Malik, N., Bukhari, S. T. N., & Noreen, S. (2024). Beyond the classrooms: Advancing futures through school career counseling. Journal of Social Sciences Development, 3(2), 350-364. https://doi.org/10.53664/JSSD/03-02-2024-28-350-364
• Novakovic, A., Patrikakou, E. N., & Ockerman, M. S. (2021). School counselor perceptions of preparation and importance of college and career readiness counseling. Professional School Counseling, 25(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X21998391
• Albritton, K., Cureton, J. L., Byrd, J. A., & Storlie, C. A. (2019). Exploring perceptions of the path to work/life success among middle school students of color. Journal of Career Development, 47(4), 440-453. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845319832667
• Sanders, C., Welfare, L. E., & Culver, S. (2017). Career counseling in middle schools: A study of school counselor self-efficacy. The Professional Counselor, 7(3), 238-250. https://doi.org/10.15241/cs.7.3.238
• Stipanovic, N., Stringfield, S., & Witherell, E. (2017). The influence of a career pathways model and career counseling on students’ career and academic self-efficacy. Peabody Journal of Education, 92(2), 209–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2017.1302217
• Tang, M., Pan, W., & Newmeyer, M. D. (2008). Factors Influencing High School Students’ Career Aspirations. Professional School Counseling, 11(5), 285-295. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X0801100502
• Coursol, D. H., Lewis, J., & Garrity, L. (2001). Career development of trauma survivors: Expectations about counseling and career maturity. Journal of Employment Counseling, 38(3), 134-140. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1920.2001.tb00495.x

• EuroGuidance – https://euroguidance.eu/guidance-systems-and-practice/good-practices