Daugavpils University

Career Counsellor and Specialist in Youth Affairs

The aim of the study programme is to provide professional Master’s studies that meet the economic, cultural and social demands, oriented to sustainable development in the country, have a sound theoretical basis in the respective discipline and are coordinated with the requirements of the professional standard, that provides for professional performance of the duties of career counsellor and specialist in youth affairs.

Tasks of the study programme:

1. Promote successful application of students‘ theoretical knowledge, cognitive and research skills and professional competences in the spheres of career counsellor and specialist in youth affairs.
2. Promote integrated use of theoretical ideas and practical work experience in dealing with issues of career counselling and youth affair management.
3. Foster acquisition of methodological experience in career counselling and youth affair management, participation in the elaboration of career and youth affair policy and its implementation, improving competence of its critical evaluation, improvement and using in further professional activity.
4. Provide conditions for the acquisition of scientific research competences and application of research results in national economy in the context of sustainable development.
5. Stimulate self-realisation of students‘ individual potential in the aspect of lifelong education thus raising their competitiveness in the changing socio-economic conditions and international labour market.

As a result of the programme’s acquisition, the graduate will acquire and be able to demonstrate:

Knowledge:

Students are able to demonstrate deep knowledge and understanding about the following themes:

On the conceptual level

• Legislation in the sphere of education and career services (in Latvia and abroad);
• Labour legislation (in Latvia and abroad); labour medicine;
• Social relations; management theory; project management;
• Experimental psychology;
• Accounting, commercial work and fundamentals of finance planning;
• Healthy lifestyles, job medicine

On the comprehension level

• Systems of education, youth affairs and regulating documents (in Latvia and abroad);
• Management of human resources; employment tendencies; governmental institutions related to provision of career services; respective state institutions; classification of professions; design of professiograms;
• Psychology (general; personality; development; crisis; family; psychological aspects of unemployment);
• Pedagogy (social; special; teaching and learning methods); intercultural education;
• Business etiquette, culture of conduct and communication;
• Prophylaxis of addictions, reproductive health;
• Organizing circulation of information and communication;
• State and society, process of founding societies and foundations and basic documents;
• Human rights, generally human and national values;

On the application level

• Career theories and methods;
• Theory and techniques of counselling; professional ethics;
• Job-seeking process, its types and methods; determining professional suitability; IT and communication technologies;
• Psychology (organisation; communication);
• Foreign languages, business correspondence; preparing presentation and a public speech;
• Organisation of research work;
• Management theory, team formation, methods of action evaluation;
• Project elaboration and management;
• Programme development principles and implementation methods, organizing cooperation, principles and methods of action evaluation;
• First aid, personal hygiene;
• Fundamental rights and children’s rights protection;
• Environment protection;

Skills:

Common skills in the discipline:

• is able to work with various target audiences, choose appropriate ways of communication with representatives of various age groups and social groups; argue for one’s opinion and respect others’ opinion, apply principles of general ethics;
• is able to determine and solve client’s needs, identify the external influence factors;
• can create client’s case, formulate questions, determine problems;
• can work with information, do research, set aims, plan their reaching, make decisions and realise one’s possibilities and limitations;
• is able to establish contacts with social partners, lead workgroups, work in a team;
• has ability to elaborate and coordinate events, projects, and programmes, select and make hand-outs necessary for work;
• is able to analyze and improve one’s actions, gain education and realize the necessity of Professional qualification improvement, apply the gained knowledge in practice.

Specific professional skills:

• is able to conduct consultations regarding the choice of education and profession; analyse contents of different professions;
• is able to conduct consultations regarding the development of career plan by using methods of career planning;
• can conduct consultations regarding job-seeking by researching client’s interests, values, skills, competences, motivation and their compatibility with the supply of the labour market;
• has skills to study client’s state of health and estimate their suitability for the chosen profession;
• is able to cooperate with persons involved in youth policy implementation, inform any audience about the outcomes of one’s activities, give suggestions to state and local government bodies for elaboration of youth policy, its implementation and coordination;
• can evaluate youth’s personality development, accomplishments in non-formal education, voluntary work, social activities, develop youth’s skills of self-assessment, raise youth’s self-assurance and use diverse methods of upbringing and non-formal education;
• can provide consultations in youth policy and the foundation of societies or foundations;
• is able to facilitate youth’s sense of responsibility and participation in decision making and social life, develop youth’s communication skills and motivate them for useful spending of their leisure time.

Competence:

• has competence to integrate knowledge of various spheres and is adequate towards self-evaluation, has opportunities for self-realisation; good emotional self-regulation;
• has competence to demonstrate manifestations of initiative and independence towards the study process, positive motivation, creative research;
• demonstrates inclination towards cooperation with others, humanistic relationships; perceive and understand social diversity; accepts a different opinion.