Career Counseling: A Holistic Approach

I ordered this book for a master class.
As English is my second language I was a bit confused if I was having trouble to understanding it since I find the book difficult and confused to understand. Well, after reading the reviews at least I can say it is no me. I have to read it because my class, otherwise I would not read.

I rarely leave a negative review, however, for those considering spending the significant amount for the print copy of this book I would highly recommend just renting it instead. The eight edition seems to be inconsistent, and incoherent. The structure of this book is challenging at best, and the content is incomplete without fully developing several topics. If someone has existing knowledge of the domain, this book may be more useful. For the newcomer, it is challenging, at best.

(PS - If you are an instructor considering using this book, please take a look at other options. I would much rather have the professor give us separate books on the different theories, or on each assessment individually than use this book. When coupled with the content from the rest of the Master's program, many other topics (like DSM diagnosis) are covered more adeptly than in this text.)

I have been teaching Career Counseling for years and finally decided to try the Zunker text. What a mistake. Yes, it is comprehensive. But it is written like a bad lit review. Endless citations of research with little synthesis. It is hard for students to see the big picture! I will stick with the Niles/Harris-Bowlsbey text (Career Development Interventions in the 21st Century) for my Career Counseling course, and the Sharf text (Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling) for more advanced courses in Vocational Theory.

The course I am taking unfortunately requires this book. The course is presented by the university as a graduate level Human Resource Development course titled Career Management. This book is virtually useless for the presumed purpose of this course.

From a business perspective most of the information in the book is completely useless. While it appears well researched and documented, the thoughts are tragically scattered and disorganized. From an HR perspective it is a lot of pretentious and elaborately worded gibberish.

My undergraduate minor was psychology, so the content is not entirely lost for me. However, I must agree with the other unfavorable reviews in virtually every respect. Career counseling is presented as being needed to resolve some pathology and requiring intervention.

From my real-world experience in career development, most of the "case studies" are presented in such a Pollyanna fashion that they completely lack any credibility whatsoever. The multi-cultural "views" seem like the out-of-touch ramblings of an elitist in academic isolation. If you are an instructor or university agent, for God's sake do not select this book.

Those who say that the Zunker text is a "painful" and "poorly written" text are absolutely correct. Many of the references are dated and some are cited improperly. There are contradictions, redundancies, and all the other things you would expect not to find in the 7th edition of a text. The test bank is ambiguous and students get frustrated when they feel as though they have the correct answer but the key indicates a different answer.

I have used this book as both a student and an instructor and have have found it almost unbearable to use in both contexts. Unfortunately, if you are teaching in a program that is preparing students to become counselors and pass the NCE this is about as good of a text as you are going to find. In fact, it is one of the best. The questions on the NCE exam are almost straight out of Zunker. As much as I hate to admit it, when comparing the NCE test prep materials to the Zunker text the Zunker text makes a far better primer hands down.

In Zunker's defense, much of what the book lacks is not so much a failure on his part as an author as it is a reflection on the overall lack of empirical research and scholarly activity generated by the career counseling field in the past 20 years. So, until the career counseling field joins the 21st century, or until someone writes a better book to prep counseling students for licensure, you might as well just go ahead and get this one. . . it really doesn't get a whole lot better.

Note to instructors: One technique I have found useful is to have students prepare a critical analysis (not a critique) using critical thinking models to evaluate the evidence put forth in the Zunker text and make recommendations for how it can be improved. At least this way they are actively approaching the material (even if they hate it) in a way that is productive and promotes critical thinking skills that will help them in their academic and professional career.

This is the most comprehensive and well-written of all the career counseling textbooks. It has excellent coverage of theories, counseling models, how to do an intake, standardized assessment, and technology. Five whole chapters are devoted to doing career counseling with special populations, including multicultural groups, women, people with disabilities, and GLB clients. There are also guides for developing career-related programs in elementary and secondary schools and colleges and universities. Ten very useful appendices address multicultural issues, professional associations, counseling web sites, etc. The book is easy to read,and each chapter includes supplementary learning exercises. The holistic approach and the multicultural sensitivity of the book are especially appreciated. My students have found the book to be very thorough and useful to help them prepare to do career counseling. No other career counseling book approaches the quality of this book.

This is the WORST textbook ever. Im not kidding. It is poorly written and behind the times. Anyone who is not white is reffered to as 'ethnic' (now white people have no ethnicity? People of color cant be acculturated?) and many of the theories that are presented as being applicable view perfectly normal people as pathological. It barely has a grasp of the multicultural movement that many other fields in counseling have seemed to have jumped on. Its painful to read and even more painful to try and piece together the fragmented bits of information it gives.

Was so looking forward to downloading the book to my kindle for a better price and getting my work overwith only to log on and see it's not available on kindle!!!!!!! Sigh.... so much for the great save!

I got stuck using an earlier version of this book to teach a grad class in career counseling. Believe it or not, it has been improved, but is still about as interesting and helpful as reading a Korean phone book.

This book is well written and has excellent coveraqe of all the essentials. It is very current and provides many practical ideas for counselors. The author is culturally sensitive and knowledgable about the most recent research. Highly recommended for graduate school courses in career counseling.

This is not useful. Many of the theories presented are outdated and the attempt at multiculturalism is offensive at best and only serves to present non-white cultures as "other". This book is poorly written, and in fact oddly written. If you don't have to buy this for class, don't buy it.

If you do anything with career counseling ... best book ... we bought it for a class in counseling and most have gotten rid of it ... I teach career units in a high school and this book is the tops ...