Higher Education Career Counselors & Specialists
NCDA follows a constituency model to better represent and serve the diverse needs of our members. These groupings are designed to help you in your networking, to facilitate greater connection with colleagues who may share similar interests and work settings, and to enhance communication between the membership and the NCDA Board.
In this section of the website, you will have the opportunity to hear from the trustee for the constituency group that most closely represents your work setting or interest affiliation. Similarly, when attending the NCDA Global Conference, you can meet with fellow participants in your constituency groups. This section may post results of these conference gatherings or additional resources your trustee wishes to share.
The categories of links listed here serve as a connection to a select few valuable resources. It is not intended to be all-inclusive, and will grow/change in the future. Contact your Constituency Trustee for more information and watch your emails from this group.
Diandra J. Prescod, Trustee for Higher Education Career Counselors & Specialists
What's New?
Check out the NCDA COVID-19 Resource page and Social Justice Resources page.
Remember, November is National Career Development Month. The Poetry & Art Contest is not just for students, but there are Adult Student and Open Adult categories as well.
See many more resources for Higher Ed below.
Career Information Resources
Apprenticeship Fact Sheet
The Department of Labor and other organizations provide details about apprenticeships in this one page Apprenticeship Fact Sheet handout.
Career Information Center Resource Database
Search Florida State University Tech Center's virtual "filing cabinet" of career information resources. Also browse a list of "essential resources for career counseling."
"Connection Between Career and Mental Health" Video
This series of video playlists offers prominent scholar-practitioners sharing some reasons for the connection between career and mental health.
How I Compare – Law School Admissions Resource Platform
How I Compare is a completely free online resource and community for students interested in going to Law School. The online platform helps students navigate the admissions process by using a Real Time algorithm to generate a unique list of Law Schools where students have a high likelihood of being accepted (based on both their academic and personal profile). How I Compare also helps students access research and data from Law Schools across the country, identify scholarship opportunities, and even offers a 100% Free LSAT Prep Course.
Internet Sites for Career Planning
Because there are so many resources on the Internet, identifying the best or most useful ones can take many hours of online research. NCDA has undertaken the task to collect, organize, curate, and publish online, a listing of free, current, and credible resources that are available on the Internet and are useful to career counselors, coaches, and specialists as they work with clients.
National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG)
The NCDG is a career knowledge, skills, and decision-making framework. Use these guidelines to identify activities and strategies for developing high-quality career programs.
Vocational Information Center
This site provides an extensive listing for students and guidance counselors including resources to self assessments, career planning, career development and college planning.
Vocopher
While aiming to address the needs of vocational educators, practitioners, and researchers, this career collaboratory also seeks to bring together like-minded professionals in an effort to share and advance their knowledge. The Vocopher Resource Library is free and does not require registration. Access to the Vocopher Career Inventories is free, but requires registration.
Career Assessment Instruments
A Comprehensive Guide to Career Assessment
NCDA is excited to release the re-imagined 7th edition of our influential guide to career assessment. Re-conceptualized and renamed to A Comprehensive Guide to Career Assessment, the Guide contains important information career counselors, educators and practitioners will find invaluable in learning about career assessment and selecting assessments specific to client needs. The Guide is a resource that connects to multiple service sectors and embraces global perspectives of career assessment. Available as a foundational print book as well as a subscription service to the comprehensive chapters and new reviews, shop the NCDA Career Resource Store for the product that best fits your needs.
Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS)
The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) is the pre-eminent force for promoting standards in student affairs, student services, and student development programs.
View the CAS Summer Newsletter here - including savings off purchases and up-coming publications:
A new Functional Area Resource Paper (FARP) for Career Services is coming soon, a complimentary resource to the existing Standards and Self-Assessment Guide for the Career Services functional area.
CAS is an NCDA partner.
List of Assessment Instruments
Obtain information on commonly used instruments from Florida State University's Tech Center's virtual "filing cabinet" of career information resources.
Professional Development Opportunities
Facilitating Career Development (FCD - formerly CDF)
Obtain information on this NCDA training for practitioners who provide career assistance.
NCDA Annual Conference
Learn more about this premiere conference for career development professionals.
NCDA's Professional Development
This page on continuing education provides detailed information specific to NCDA.
Publications
Career Convergence
Read articles covering best practices, how-to details, career tips, and book reviews in NCDA's web magazine.
Career Development Quarterly
NCDA's official journal with articles covering career counseling, work and leisure, career education, coaching, and management.
Career Developments
A quarterly publication of NCDA for members, this print magazine is a themed publication offering articles that balance a broad vision with practical applications. Each issue offers a focused article on a select theme, a feature article on a prominent NCDA event, specific content for four departments (including School Counselors, Professional Counselors, Graduate Students, and Career Development Facilitators), and four regular columns.
A Comprehensive Guide to Career Assessment
The re-imagined 7th edition of our influential guide to career assessment has been published as both a print book and an online subscription. Re-conceptualized and renamed the Guide contains important information career counselors, educators, practitioners, researchers and students will find invaluable in learning about career assessment and selecting assessments specific to client needs. The Guide is a resource that connects to multiple service sectors and embraces global perspectives of career assessment. Read more about the unique dual resource and shop the NCDA Career Resource Store.
Gaining Cultural Competence in Career Counseling, 2nd Edition
In recent years, journals and other publications have attended to issues for diverse populations but a single resource is more useful to educators, practitioners and students who want to be more informed about diversity, equity, social justice and career counseling. Gaining Cultural Competence in Career Counseling, 2nd edition, goes into depth on each of these issues, as well as career theories, assessment, and ethics. The first four chapters focus on the foundational skills for effective counseling across cultures. The next five chapters integrate multicultural competences with specific career and social justice counseling competences. The significantly updated second edition includes a a new chapter on working with children and adolescents. Each chapter includes new exercises and questions for reflection, and case scenarios supplement the content.
International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance
Focuses on work and leisure, career development, career guidance and education.
Journal of Career Assessment
Covers all methods developed to assess and evaluate individuals and environments in the field of career counseling and development.
Journal of Career Development
Spans topics such as career education, adult career development, career development of special needs populations, and career and leisure.
Journal of College Student Development
Focuses on the study of college students relevant to the field of student affairs.
Journal of Counseling Psychology
Provides empirical research in career development and vocational psychology.
Journal of Vocational Behavior
Contains empirical and theoretical articles that are intended to expand knowledge of vocational behavior and career development across the life span.
My Life with a Theory: John L. Holland's Autobiography and Theory of Careers
In 1959, John L. Holland introduced a theory of vocational choices involving personality typology (widely known in the career development field as the Holland Code, or RIASEC). Included with this previously unpublished autobiography are book chapters, journal articles and other original source material that will enhance the reader's understanding of both the theory and the scientist.
Professional Standards for College and University Career Services (2009 Edition)
Revised by NACE, this is a must-have resource because "the use of professional standards in career services is intended to facilitate excellence in the creation, maintenance, and delivery of programs and services."
Teaching Career Development: A Primer for Instructors & Presenters
The second edition of this NCDA monograph not only provides strategies for delivering key components of career development in enthusiastic, innovative, and more meaningful ways, it covers updated standards and new technologies. An entire chapter offers 50+ active learning strategies useful for beginning and intermediate instructors of undergraduate and graduate career development courses and presenters of career development workshops. Available in print and e-book. (Osborn, 2016)
Vistas
Vistas is a collection of conference proceedings from past ACA, NCDA, and ACES Conferences. To view the publications, you must be an ACA member.
Related Associations
Alliance of Career Resource Professionals (ACRP)
ACRP is a member-driven organization that promotes the world- wide development, delivery, and use of high-quality career information and career resources to help educate youth and adults in their career exploration, planning, decision-making, preparation, and job acquisition.
American College Counseling Association (ACCA)
Aimed at counseling professionals whose focus is fostering student development in higher education settings.
American Counseling Association (ACA)
Learn more about NCDA's parent organization for professional counselors. ACA also includes the following related divisions:
Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS)
The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) is the pre-eminent force for promoting standards in student affairs, student services, and student development programs.
View the CAS Summer Newsletter here - including savings off purchases and up-coming publications:
A new Functional Area Resource Paper (FARP) for Career Services is coming soon, a complimentary resource to the existing Standards and Self-Assessment Guide for the Career Services functional area.
CAS is an NCDA partner.
National Academic Advising Association (NACADA)
See the resources offered by NACADA, which focuses on promoting quality academic advising and student development in higher education settings.
National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
Find out how to access technical information collected for career practitioners on college campuses.
