Career Preparation and Entering the Labour Market

PROVISION OF CAREER GUIDANCE SERVICES IN LEBANON: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS
Module 3: Career Preparation and Entering the Labour Market

KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Module: Session 1 (March 25th Thursday)
Key Elements of CaCreaerrGeueidranPcereparation and Entering the Labour Market

Module Leader: Gideon Arulmani

Intended Learning Outcome
At the end of this session, it is expected that the participant will be able to:

1. Describe what the labour market is including concept, components, and changes.
2. Describe key trends in the labour market.
3. Describe the concept and sources of Labour Market Information (LMI).
4. Describe how labour market information can be converted into intelligence for career

guidance.
5. Describe special characteristics of the Labour Market in Lebanon.

CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS

Material for this module has been adapted from:

 Kumar, S., Arulmani, G. (2014). Understanding the labour market: Implications for career
counselling. In A. J. Bakshi., G. Arulmani., F.T.L. Leong., A. G. Watts (Eds.), Handbook of Career
Development: International perspectives (pp. 225-240). New York, USA: Springer.

 Chatzichristou, S., & Arulmani, G. (2014). Labour market and career Development in the 21st
century. In G. Arulmani, A. J. Bakshi, F.T.L. Leong & A. G. Watts (Eds.), Handbook of Career
Development: International Perspectives (pp. 241-254). New York, USA: Springer International

1. Career Preparation and Entering learning more about the world of work. Once
the Labour Market training and education are completed the
individual is ready to face the realities of the
We are now at the final step on the Career labour market and prepare to enter the labour
Discovery Path – Career Preparation. As seen market. The labour market is about actual jobs
the figure above, by this stage the counselling and our task as counsellors is to prepare the
process has moved from self-understanding, young person to enter the labour market.
through understanding the world of work and
developing career alternatives. The individual Accurate, easily accessible, and regularly
now has before him/her, a set of career updated labour market information is central to
alternatives linked to his/her potentials and is any career guidance system. Labour market
acquainted with the world of work. information has been viewed as vital throughout
the history of career development practice.
As we discussed in an earlier module, world of Parsons (1909) described it as “…a knowledge
work information is relatively static and aim of the requirements and conditions of success,
here is only to introduce the individual to what a advantages and disadvantages, compensation,
career is, how he/she can learn more about opportunities, and prospects in different lines of
careers paths and educational milestones. At work”. Since then, providing information
this stage the guidance target rotates around remains one of the dominant approaches that
career guidance and counselling services have

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PROVISION OF CAREER GUIDANCE SERVICES IN LEBANON: CONCEPTS AND SKILLS
Module 3: Career Preparation and Entering the Labour Market

taken. The need for information is constant, KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
because the world of work changes and people
referred to as the world of work. Seen from the
Key Elemmeanktes coafrCeaerre-reerlaGteudiddaencciesions regularly. side of the economists, it is described as the
labour market. Hence, in the labour market
It is important to note however that the type of those who need labour (employers or buyers)
information needed varies across individuals interact with those who supply labour
according to the stage and the conditions within (employees or sellers) and come to a mutual
which their career development is occurring. agreement with regard to the price of this
Given below are statements that illustrate this engagement. It is a mechanism where supply
variability in the type of labour market comprises the entire pool of available workers
information that career choosers express. of all types, possessing various levels of skill
and abilities. Demand refers to the requirement
 “What is the scope of Biotechnology in for the “labour” of these workers at a given point
Himachal Pradesh? What would be the in time. Therefore, we could say that the labour
salary for beginners?” 20-year-old science market is composed of:
graduate in Himachal Pradesh, India.
 workers in various industries or in the
 “I have been retrenched. I do see lists of job government,
advertisements. But how do I figure out
what kind of job I should be looking for?  employers including private and government
Does getting another job mean I have to go organizations,
back to study?” 42 year-old-man in York,
England.  self-employed or partially-employed
persons,
 “I have a postgraduate degree in marketing.
I’ve just come back to work after a five year  those who are currently unemployed, and
break. I want to know if there are projects or  those who are in the process of entering the
work I can do and how I can get an exciting
job again. And I am also a mum now!” 44- labour market.
year-old woman in Singapore.
Another useful framework within which to
 “I am a farmer. I want my son to go the city understand the labour market is to consider it
to study. But I want him to come back to our from the point of view of industrial sectors,
village and work here and expand our occupations, and geographies (DfES, 2004).
farming business. Is there any special An understanding of the status, needs, and
government scheme for this?” 59-year-old changes across and within these artificial
man in a village in South India. boundaries would aid the effective delivery of
career guidance services. Job choosers would
Each of these persons are speaking from find it useful to know how their skills relate to
different contexts, belong to different age other occupations, to other industrial sectors,
groups and live in different circumstances. and even to another geographical area.

In this module we will discuss the concept of the A critical concept related to the dynamics of the
labour market and labour market information, labour market is sectoral change. This refers to
their key components and most importantly the the change in the relative share taken by the
interface between labour market and guidance primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors, in a
and counselling. particular economy. For example, in many
developing countries, there has been a
2. The Labour Market: Concept, noticeable change from the primary to tertiary
Components, and Changes sector over last few decades. This has a
number of labour market implications in terms
Effective career decision-making entails an of jobs available and skills required. For
awareness of the environment within which jobs example, retail firms that used to employ
become available, the qualifications required, anyone with a basic education as a salesperson
tasks expected to be performed, working now demand qualified retailing professionals.
conditions, remuneration, the benefits offered
by the job, and similar information. As Geographical change refers to the movement of
discussed in an earlier module, from the career jobs from one area to another. Initially, people
guidance side, this environment is often used to migrate to work but globalisation has
made it possible for jobs migrate to people.
This relocation of jobs from one geographical
area to another—job migration—can occur
because of changes in one or many of the
following:

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 supply and demand for products and KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
services,
employee relationship. A person following the
Key Elem enbtussoinfeCsasreceornGdiutiiodnasn,ce nonstandard approach to work is no longer
under the complete control of an employer. The
 government policies, nonstandard worker of today can choose the
 competition, kind of work to take up as well as how much
 environmental conditions, work to take up.
 local business costs,
 technological obsolescence. 3.3. New possibilities and precarization of
work
Understanding the labour market requires a
thorough insight into these changes. The recent phase of globalization has given rise
to a new set of careers which were not present
3. Understanding Key Trends in the earlier (Friedman, 2006). Easy access to a
Labour Market range of new ideas, technologies, information,
resources, and markets has empowered people
3.1. Accelerated change to find and even create new opportunities.

Like other markets, labour markets also change However, it must be noted that, on the other
at all scales and in all geographies. However, hand, opportunities for employment and career
in recent times, the pace, magnitude, development are rapidly declining in some
complexities, and dimensions of these changes contexts. This is because of a number of
have accelerated and intensified largely due to reasons including the flight of capital to low-
macro processes such as an upsurge in wage locations (Arulmani, 2011; Friedman,
globalization, advances in technology, greater 2006), replacement of domestically-produced
access to information, as well as industrial and goods with goods produced abroad,
demographic shifts. These processes have mechanization, and increase in automation
altered the labour market by changing the leading to a reduced dependence on human
number and types of jobs available in different labour. Traditional occupations are the worst
geographies. Working conditions have been hit, rendering these populations jobless and
altered, and today virtual workspaces and the forcing them to migrate. Rural migrants end up
work from home modality are exceedingly working in exploitative conditions where
common. minimum wage laws, overtime pay laws, and
legal working hours are often ignored.
3.2. Nonstandard work
Coined from the word precarious, labour market
A further interesting development is the analysts today refer to the precarization of work
emergence of nonstandard work. As Presser to describe the manner in which work, for some
(2003) points out, more and more workers sections of the labour force, has become
today are engaged in part-time work, contract unsure, precarious and uncertain, where the
work, temporary, and on-call work. The worker worker is expected to work without guarantees.
of today is free to work for more than one As van der Hoeven (2010) has noted, trends
employer or be self-employed. This form of such as “declining employment-to-population
work is executed in nonstandard hours rather ratio, growing informalization, the declining
than during fixed-day schedules. Agency work wage share and increasing income inequality,
is another example of changes in conceptions have enhanced precarization for many workers
of work. Here, a company may contract with and their families” (p. 5).
another agency for the supply of labour. Hence,
the worker could work for a company, but be Therefore, on the one hand, the global labour
employed by a different organization. market is becoming increasingly integrated for
Nonstandard work also includes freelancers, the highly skilled, who form a “global
independent consultants, who may not even professional elite”, offering them high mobility
work on the premises of the firm for which they and enhanced wages. On the other hand, the
are delivering a service. Such an approach to labour market is becoming precarious for
work has also changed the manner in which increasingly large numbers. As stated in the
work is executed. Today, joint ventures, work 1999 Human Development Report “Collapse of
alliances, subcontracting, outsourcing, and time, space and borders may be creating a
offshoring are in common practice. An global village but not everyone can be a citizen”
important point to be noted is that these (p. 31).
changes have redefined the employer-

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3.4. Economic shifts KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Key ElemTheentsstorufcCtaurreeeorfGaunideacnocneomy, as we know, is careers. It is evident that while a worker is
finding numerous new opportunities in the
made up of sectors. Economic forces often current labour market, he/she is simultaneously
lead to changes in the economic structure presented with newer challenges.
whereby the primary engagement of a labour
force shifts from one sector to another. Such 4. Labour Market Information (LMI)
shifts in economies also change labour markets LMI: The Concept
in significant ways. Today, for example, as
countries restructure their economies, a definite 4.1. What is Labour Market Information?
trend seen is a shift from the manufacturing to
the service sectors in most countries Labour Market Information (LMI) pertains to
undergoing economic shifts and from knowledge, facts, data, and relevant
agricultural to service economies in other institutional information on the supply and
countries. There is also a growing inclination to demand of the various different types of labour
move towards becoming a knowledge economy services (employment), including prices such
and a green economy. Each of these shifts is as wages and other forms of compensation as
brings about concomitant changes in the labour well as quantities, both at the detailed and
market largely in terms of the number and types aggregate levels, that is used for analysis and
of jobs available and the skills profile required. decision-making. This includes statistical and
non-statistical information concerning labour
3.5. Demographic shifts market actors and their environment, as well as
information concerning labour market
Economies are also experiencing changes in institutions, policies and regulations that serves
their demographic profiles, which are referred the needs of users and has been collected
to as demographic shifts. These shifts result through the application of accepted
from a change in the balance between birth and methodologies and practice to the largest
mortality rates within a population. Changed possible extent. LMI is any quantitative or
demographics can affect the labour market by qualitative information and intelligence on the
altering the composition of the labour force. labour market that can assist labour market
The fact that the global population is aging agents (job seekers as well as job providers) in
rapidly, albeit at different rates both in making informed plans, choices, and decisions
developed and developing world contexts, has related to business requirements, career
significant implications for careers and planning and preparation, education and
employment. Changes in the demography of training offerings, job search, hiring, and
the country can affect the occupations required governmental policy and workforce investment
and the occupational opportunities available. It strategies.
may also alter the demand for a particular job
or occupation. The following can be deduced from these
definitions:
3.6. Employer-employee relations
 LMI may include a number of data types:
As mentioned above, another noteworthy trend
can be seen in changes in the manner in which o labour market trends (including projected
employers and employees relate to each other. future trends), both at the aggregate
With fewer trade barriers, less market level and by region, sector, industry, and
protection, intense competition, and diminishing occupation;
union pressure, job security has been
weakening. Earlier, the psychological contract o specific job openings;
between workers and employers used to be all o the skills and other characteristics of
about job security and steady advancement
within the firm. In the present day, the focus is individual workers;
on competency development, continuous o trends in wages offered.
training, and work/life balance. This
phenomenon coupled with performance-linked  A distinction exists between information and
salaries and incentives have led to the intelligence. The former constitutes raw
individualization of the workplace with reduced units of discrete data. The latter is a result
scope for collective bargaining. In this context, of processing and interpreting this data such
the individual is expected to steer his/her that it is relevant to a particular context and
working life independently across jobs and offers a platform upon which decision-
making can occur.

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 Information could be available in the form of KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
either quantitative or qualitative data which
 wages, salaries, earnings, wage
Key Elemenctosuoldf CbaereererlaGtueiddatnocehistorical, current, or settlements, total compensation including
fringe benefits like time off, pension plans,
projected circumstances. and various forms of insurance and working
conditions, which can also be considered
 The process and method of data collection part of total compensation.
are crucial for sound, timely, and error free
LMI. All the three components may be broken down
by occupation, industry, and region.
However, in the context of career guidance, the
term LMI has been used loosely for any 4.3. LMI and Career Guidance
information used during the process of career
choice and development, which may include An overall analysis of LMI usage and career
information related to occupations, jobs, guidance indicates that except in a few
careers, employers, educational and training countries, LMI is not available in an organized
opportunities, and employment trends (Bimrose manner. More often than not, vital information
et al., 2006). This means that information which at the local level is not available. There is also
apparently does not seem to be LMI from the a lack of clarity about the information that is
point of view of economics (such as boarding available. Even if high quality data is available,
available at the place of work or training, the practitioner may not be trained enough to
transportation facilities, information related to make meaning of it and use it effectively in a
scholarships and grants for further studies) may career guidance interaction. In this section we
be considered LMI from the point of view of discuss some of the key points pertaining to the
career guidance. interface between LMI and career guidance.

4.2. LMI: Components LMI for Career Guidance: How does it matter?

Demand, supply, and price have been Research by various scholars has shown that
described as components of LMI. bringing LMI into the career guidance process
greatly improves the impact of value of career
On the supply side, LMI covers: guidance. It is most important to note that
research has also shown that LMI has an
 the availability of workers by region, impact on career development, but that it is
occupation, industry, and firm; virtually of no significance unless transmitted
through a guidance counsellor.
 hours supplied;
 the skill and educational level of workers that LMI for Career Guidance: Identifying what is
useful
comprise the economy’s human capital;
 other characteristics of workers including Bimrose at the University of Warwick has
shown that LMI areas that are known to be
age, sex, disabilities, group (e.g., aboriginal useful from the client’s career decision-making
people, minorities), and immigrant status; perspective are as follows:
 demographic projections of the labour force
showing young people entering the labour  the competition faced,
force, older people retiring, immigrants  entry routes,
arriving from abroad; graduates from  the rewards available,
educational institutions and training  the availability of jobs within certain travel-
programs; and investments in human
capital. to-work areas,
 the prospects of securing employment in
On the demand side, LMI covers:
particular jobs,
 employment by region, occupation, industry,  the value of particular qualifications,
and firm; hours demanded;
experience, or training
 the skill, educational qualifications, and
credential requirements of various jobs; Viewing in from another perspective, Offer
points out that there could be six types of LMI
 job vacancies or unfilled jobs also by region, that are useful from the practitioner’s point of
occupation, industry, and firm; view:

 and occupational projections.

The price side of the LMI includes:

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 the demand for labour (how easy is it to get KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
a job in this occupation, industry, role?);
4.5. When Should LMI be provided?
Key Elem enptrsoogfreCsasrieoenr Grouuitdeasn,cecareer structure, and
Generally a client is encouraged to engage in
earnings (what are the prospects?); career exploration after completing self-
 geographical availability (how available is exploration which has yielded an understanding
of interests, values, abilities, and preferences.
this in my travel-to-work area?); Clients come for career guidance with LMI
 overall trends (is employment on the related queries. However, when LMI is
delivered prematurely and before self-
increase in this occupation or industry?); exploration, clients usually report a higher level
 transferability (will I be able to transfer the of confusion with regard to career decision-
making. Hence, it would good practice to begin
competences and skills developed in this with activities related to self-understanding
industry should job opportunities (e.g., exploring personal interests and
decrease?); aptitudes) and simultaneously expose clients to
 recruitment and selection methods (where broad labour market information. Career
and how do people get jobs in this guidance could then follow a process whereby
industry?)”. information about self is blended with LMI to
finally help the client identify career
4.4. LMI and Career Guidance: Target alternatives. Our outcome studies have
Groups indicated that this approach has higher
acceptability as well as greater effectiveness
It is also important to note that clients need (Arulmani & Abdulla, 2007; Arulmani & Nag-
different types of information at different stages Arulmani, 2004).
of their career development. It is for this reason
that we made a distinction between career 4.5. Using LMI: The Necessity for Discretion
information as labour market information.
The career guidance practitioner must be
At high school the requirement maybe higher cautious in the manner in which LMI is used.
for career information: a general awareness of Recruiters from a strong industry may make
broad occupational families, general eligibility attractive presentations that pass off as career
criteria, and educational milestones because guidance, where in fact, the information
the key career development task for this young presented has the underlying purpose of
person is to decide which educational path to recruitment rather than guidance.
choose further. Employment-oriented messages from the
labour market could influence young career
A person who is higher up on the educational choosers to take up courses leading to these
pathway requires more specific information: qualifications, not mindful of their suitability for
type of course to take up, vocational or a career in this field. In such cases, career
university course, or look for a job. choice could be over-influenced by labour
market cycles and the question of finding a
A student who is completing a course of good fit between self and occupation could be
education which leads toward a job comes left unanswered. Although labour market trends
closer to requiring labour market information: are a powerful influence on career
internship positions, skills to enter the labour development, career guidance is not chained to
market, job offers. economic cycles and it ought to be the
personhood of the worker that lies at the heart
Other categories of people require other kinds of the process. The key function of labour
of LMI. The one who has been laid off and market information is to inform and not
needs another job in the same sector, the one determine the career development process.
who is an immigrant, the one who is planning a Being equipped both with attitudes and skills to
career shift, and yet another one who is looking strike this essential balance is the hallmark of
for a post-retirement engagement, all require effective career counselling. Career guidance
different kinds of LMI. could in effect be the bridge between education
and the labour market, rather than merely being
Therefore LMI needs to be tailored to the the handmaiden of the labour market.
client’s requirement and that the closer the
person is to actually entering the labour market,
the more specific would be the LMI
requirements.

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5. Some unique features of the labour KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
Key ElemGmeuanirtdksaeontfcCieanreLereGbauindoannc:e Clues for Career
Lebanon’s main economic sector is the service
Reliable, country specific labour market reports sector (72.5 per cent of GDP in 2017), followed
are often hard to find or sometimes not by industry (22.6 per cent) and agriculture (4.9
available at all. The following two reports are per cent). Real estate comprises the largest
available for Lebanon. service sector, accounting for 13.7 per cent of
GDP from 2004 to 2016, on average. This is
 Employment and Labour Market Analysis followed by wholesale and retail (13.4 per cent
Lebanon (Report from GIZ) of GDP), public administration (9.4 per cent)
https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/ELMA_Le and financial services (7.3 per cent).
banon_2019.pdf
Lebanon’s private sector is driven primarily by
 Labour Market Profile (Danish Trade Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)
Development Agency) and entrepreneurship. As shown in in the
2020https://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/wp- figure, large corporates make up only 3.5 per
content/uploads/2020/06/LMP-Lebanon- cent of all Lebanese companies, while MSMEs
2020-Final.pdf account for 96.5 per cent of the remaining
companies.
The purpose of bringing focus to bear upon the
labour market in Lebanon is not to provide an Among MSMEs manufacturing, agro-food
in-depth analysis. Readers are advised to read processing, construction and tourism are
the above two reports for details. The objective considered potential drivers for additional job
of this section is to demonstrate how labour creation. The manufacturing sector is
market information can inform a comprehensive concentrated on industries such as food and
career guidance programme. Examples will beverages (31%), electrical machinery and
also be provided in the Skills for Practice apparatus (29%), and non-metallic mineral
section below. products (13%). The scale of industry in
Lebanon is small. Over 75% of manufacturing
5.1. Main economic sectors enterprises employ less than 19 workers and
3% employ more than 100 workers.

Private Enterprises by Size
Source: Ministry of Economy and Trade (2018). FTE = Full Time Equivalents

According to UNIDO, there is potential for high last 5 years, agro-food processing s projected
value-added production in the manufacturing to have the potential for 11%growth in
sub-sectors of agro-food, pharmaceuticals, production and export as Lebanon’s fastest-
printing, jewellery, furniture production, plastics, growing sector with strong prospects for
packaging as well as in knowledge-based continued growth. According to the Chamber of
industries and ICT. Based on trends over the Industry, Commerce and Agriculture Beirut

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(CCIB), the industry services, agro-food KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
processing, fashion design and software
the total unemployment rate. The Lebanese job
Key EleminednutsstroyfaCraeretheer mGuoisdtapnrcoeductive and promising market is not able to create as many jobs as
there are new entrants within the job market.
sectors in terms of creating employment
opportunities. An important point to be noted here is that while
the number of annual university graduates is
Clues for Career Guidance: estimated at between 23,000 and 43,000
individuals, job creation has been concentrated
 These could be career areas in which a around vocationally oriented careers. At the
higher proportion of jobs are likely to be same time, vocational and technical education
available. have traditionally been stigmatised in Middle
Eastern societies, particularly for women.
 Study these career areas and identify the Lebanese parents do not believe that TVET
type of jobs for each career area. qualifications add value to the course of
professional and personal development.
 Classify these jobs as per the classification Vocational education is seen as a last resort for
framework that has been adopted (e.g., students who drop out of school or university,
RIASEC, Multiple Potentials). or who have no other opportunities because
they are from vulnerable backgrounds. As a
5.2. Education Vs. Youth Unemployment result of the poor reputation of vocational
training. Many manufacturing and technical
As shown by the figure below youth companies complain of a lack of skilled labour.
unemployment rate is 3 to 4 times higher than

Unemployment Trends in Lebanon

Companies report that the wages paid to significant percentage of upper-secondary and
technical staff were similar or even higher than university graduates are unemployed. The
the salaries given to engineers, but that it was reasons cited are mismatches in job profiles
much more difficult to find technical employees. and labour demand, as well as students’ high
At the same time, medium-level technical expectations with regard to wages and
expertise (e.g., skilled workers, technical responsibility. Many graduates thus leave the
assistants) is scarce at all levels and in country; it is estimated that up to 44% of
numerous occupations within the Lebanese Lebanon’s tertiary-educated population has
labour market. The negative value attributed to migrated abroad.
occupations that require vocational education It has been pointed however that despite the
or training are the major obstacles preventing poor reputation associated with manual labour
Lebanese people from learning and practising and vocational training, these perceptions have
these professions. In reality, the income levels started to change in the face of the economic
crisis and the rising youth-unemployment rates.
associated with these jobs are currently higher The perception of manual labour might be still
than for most of the jobs sought by university poor in wealthy areas and in Beirut, but people
degree holders. Unemployment rates are are seeking ways to earn a decent living.
higher among higher-educated youth: A
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Most importantly the stigma associated with KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE
vocationally oriented professions seems to
starting a business when they are financially
Key ElemdeecnrtesaosfeCwarheeenr sGkuilildeadntceechnical graduates are secure.

able to open their own businesses after  Give prominent examples of returnees who
acquiring sufficient years of work experience. have founded companies such as:

Clues for Career Guidance: o artificial intelligence company Neumann,
whose founder spent some years
 Address social cognitions related to the working in France.
value of effort and the dignity of labour.
o Memo construction company, which was
 Create activities and interventions that founded after its owner’s return from
address career beliefs such as these so as Saudi Arabia.
to help clients understand the real profile of
technical jobs. Show how the experience and the capital
these individuals gained abroad made it
 Early career guidance provided at schools possible for them to start quickly growing
could make a significant impact on such medium-sized companies
social cognitions.
5.4. Gender-Specific Employment
5.3. Skilled Emigration
In general, the Lebanese labour market is male
Lebanon has a huge diaspora all over the world. dominated. Men are economically more active
The General Directorate of Emigrants states than women (respectively accounting for 71 per
that there are 10 million Lebanese living abroad cent and 23 per cent of the potential workforce).
if one considers people of Lebanese descent. Women’s professional activity rates tend to
Emigration is of highly skilled young people. peak around the age of 25 and steadily
Almost 50% of emigrants have completed decrease thereafter, while men’s activity rates
secondary education or higher, and 37.8% remain steady at around 90 per cent until the
have completed tertiary education. Most are age of 60 years of age.
between 15 and 34 years of age This trend
does not seem to be reversing and most As shown in the figure below, Lebanese women
students report that they prefer job placement work in selected vocations and sectors. Both
outside of Lebanon. This could be due to cultural and structural issues have played a part
several factors, including the high youth- in maintaining gendered occupational
unemployment rate, low salary scales and the segregation. Women are more likely to be
belief that working outside Lebanon will trained in and end up working in the fields of
improve a person’s career path. Return rates teaching, health and service work. This
are low, and that brain drain has led to a serious segregation also exists within sectors, as
lack of experienced middle managers. employers tend to be reluctant to hire women
for managerial positions. Compared to their
Clues for Career Guidance: male counterparts, women are perceived as a
higher employment risk, as their primary role is
 Include emigration as an important career still considered to be homemaker and mother.
guidance topic. However, as seen in the figure below,
agriculture and trade show a more gender
 Bring aspects related to safety and career balanced distribution of jobs.
development in a foreign country.

 Inspire students planning emigration to be
open to the idea of returning home and

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KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Key Elements of Career Guidance Employment in Major Sectors by Sex (2009)
Source: Central Administration of Statistics

In manufacturing, there are still substantial 5.5. Entrepreneurial Spirit
opportunities for employing women. While the
transportation and construction sectors are Lebanon is among the world’s leading
completely male dominated, women mainly entrepreneurial economies and is recognised
work in office related sectors. Paradoxically, as forming ground of entrepreneurs in the
female labour-market entrants have a higher region. According to the Global
average qualification profile in comparison to Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2017, in terms
men. They are therefore at least as qualified as of entrepreneurial activity, Lebanon ranked first
men to participate in the labour market. Hence, both among eight MENA countries and 17
there is a new generation of girls and women countries in Asia/Oceania. In addition, the GEM
who are choosing to establish opportunity- 2017 showed three-quarters of adults in
driven businesses and fight for their right to be Lebanon self-reporting as having the capability
independent and accepted. Due to the to start and run a new business – the highest
economic situation, women are starting home level of the 54 participating countries. Nearly
businesses in areas such as food production or one in four adults in Lebanon stated in the
handicrafts. However, as elsewhere, boosting survey that they were either planning to start or
female workforce participation rates may run a new business in 2017. In addition,
require the existence of facilities that provide for Lebanon showed the highest level of female-
child care or after-school activities. driven start-ups among the eight GEM-
participating countries in the MENA region,
Clues for Career Guidance: which is almost twice that of the next highest
level. More than half of those starting or
 This is also related to career beliefs and running a new business in Lebanon in 2017
social cognitions. Include these gender as were under 35 years of age.
an important topic in career guidance
programme. Most importantly work with Clues for Career Guidance:
parents of girls to give sensitise them to their
girl-child’s potentials and talents.  Include entrepreneurship as a career
guidance topic. Keep in mind that not all
 An important exercise when working on individuals have the traits necessary to
gender related issues is to target the becoming a successful entrepreneur.
attitudes of men. Include exercise from the
high school level that address the issues of  Discuss the possibility expanding family run
gender equality and the role that men can businesses.
plan in domestic and family related
responsibilities.  Discuss the importance of contributing to job
creation and employment generation
through one’s enterprise.

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6. Conclusion KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Key ElemMeanntasgoinf gCaarelaebroGuuridmaanrckeet information system prepared to answer questions related to a
particular client group in a particular geography.
effectively is a massive task, requiring high However, a thorough understanding of general
investments as well as long term sustenance. labour market trends is essential. Firstly, this is
Ideally, it is the government’s role to make a because general/global trends are likely to
robust labour market information system (LMIS) affect, shape, and sometimes even determine
available. Career guidance practitioners could trends at the local level. Secondly, the
then convert this data into information and contemporary worker, who is aware of universal
customize it for their clients. In the current era trends in the labour market, would be better
of information overload, the skill to find, equipped to ensure that his or her career is
validate, and interpret information becomes maturing effectively. Therefore, the task before
vital. contemporary career guidance practitioners is
not only to prepare to deliver specific labour
Some trends in the labour market are universal, market information but also acquire the skills for
having relevance to a wide range of economies. spotting and delivering universal labour market
Other trends are more circumscribed and are messages. Hence, catering to specific
relevant to smaller groups of economies. requirements keeping universal trends in mind
Generally, career choosers come with specific is one of the key competencies expected from
queries related to the labour market and allied a careers practitioner in the contemporary
sectors of education and training. It is important labour markets.
that the career guidance practitioner is

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KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Key Elements of Career Guidance SKILLS FOR PRACTICE

RESEARCHING LMI: SILLS AND RESOURCES

An important skill a career guidance practitioner must have is not only to find LMI but also to process
and transform it such that it is relevant to the career chooser. Ours is often described as the Information
Age. Yet, the required information is often hard to find or sometimes not available at all. Even countries
with the best of LMI systems, have reported a number of information gaps. Therefore, career guidance
practitioners must become fluent at researching LMI and develop the skill of identifying primary and
secondary sources of LMI. Box 1 provides a list of sources and pointers to locate LMI.

Box 1
Sources of Labour Market Information

Tuning into Global LMI Trends

The following sources provide reliable and regular information pertaining to global LMI trends:

 World of Work reports and Magazines published by the International Labour Organization
(https://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/world-of-work/lang--en/index.htm).

 Global Employment Trends series
(https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_737648/lang--en/index.htm).

 Employment Outlook published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/oecd-employment-
outlook_19991266).

 Human Development Reports (UNDP: http://hdr.undp.org/).
 World Development Reports (World Bank:

https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr/wdr-archive).

Tuning into LMI at National and Local Levels

Centralized LMI is quite often not available at the national and local level. Information may be
scattered and available through different organizations. In such contexts, sources of LMI could
include the following:

 If the country or province has an LMI portal, the careers practitioner should be familiar with it
and be able to navigate through it.

 National Census data (e.g., information regarding demographic and occupational profiles).
 Statistics published by departments/ministries of labour.
 Study reports by various professional bodies.
 Industry specific data bases.
 Job portals.
 Education portals.
 Prospectuses of educational and training institutions give vital and specific information about

courses and programs.
 Speaking with professionals from different fields would give an insider’s view of the

profession.
 Reports by consulting firms who specialize in labour market information such as wage

surveys, business activity surveys, and employment trends.

Reports available for Lebanon:

 Employment and Labour Market Analysis Lebanon (Report from GIZ)

https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/ELMA_Lebanon_2019.pdf

 Labour Market Profile (Danish Trade Union Development Agency)

2020https://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/LMP-Lebanon-2020-

Final.pdf

 Lebanon SME Strategy: An integrated vision for the industrial sector to be realised by the

Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Economy and Trade’s. Module 3 – Session 1

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USING LOCALLY AVAILABLE SOURCES TO CREATE LMI

Key ElemLMenItiss oafvCaialarebeler aGlul aidraonucned us. It goes without saying, therefore, that along with the skill of researching

these sources to collate information, organizing information into meaningful formats is another key
competency for the effective use of LMI. It is up to the interested user to gather LMI from a wide variety
of sources.

 The daily newspaper is a ready and immediate source of labour market information. This could
include supplements on career and job information as well as education pages.

 News reports about policy changes, new investments, new occupational possibilities, all add up to
becoming useful, locally relevant LMI.

 Interviews and dialogues with employment providers, conducted directly and personally by the
career counsellor can provide highly useful, locally relevant LMI.

Building relationships with opportunity providers
This reflects the career guidance practitioner’s ability to arrange and conduct a worthwhile visit to an
opportunity provider (e.g., employer/college/placement provider) to glean LMI. Employers are key
resources for providing LMI. Building relationships with them keeping in mind specific objectives, can
give useful information related to jobs available, skills required, working conditions, compensation, and
similar information.

It is important that the practitioner chooses the appropriate organization, approaches it in a professional
manner, and meticulously plans the meeting. These meetings also provide the valuable opportunity to
clarify misunderstandings, misinformation, or misconceptions about an occupation. Box 2 provides a
set of guidelines on how such visits could be optimized.

Box 2
Optimizing Visits to Opportunity Providers

 Identify employers/training providers in your locality through multiple sources including
newspapers, websites, and your own network of friends and clients.

 Be clear about what you want to know/clarify during your visit.
 Approach the organization and brief them about your purpose and possible mutual benefits

much before you intend to visit.
 It is a good idea to bring your colleague along. Brief your partner beforehand to ensure

that he or she covers what you may miss during your conversation.
 Other than collecting requisite information using a pre-prepared checklist, it is important

that you are able to discuss any prevalent misconceptions related to the occupational
sector/s that the organization represents.
 You can also use the Careers Fair checklists provided in a previous Module to optimise
your visit to an opportunity provider.

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KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

ASSESSING LMI

Key ElemTheinstsreofef rCsatroeethreGaubidiliatynctoe assess and validate the accuracy and applicability of LMI. It is also linked to

assessing a unit of LMI for its appropriateness to meet the particular information needs of clients.
Assessment of LMI, therefore, could occur at two levels:

 assessment of the reliability and validity of the information
 assessment of the relevance of LMI to the needs of the client.

Box 3 provides a few simple pointers to assess the validity of LMI.

Box 3
Assessing Labour Market Information

Don’t accept information just because it is printed! Check the following:

 Who commissioned and funded the study? How reliable is the source of the information?
 What could be the possible objectives behind the report: both stated and ulterior?
 How was the LMI collected? Who asked what types of questions, of whom, and to how many?
 Are the conclusions reliable and reasonable?
 When was the study carried out and when was it published?
 Are you aware of any significant event which might have taken place between these two dates

which have a bearing on the report made by the study?
 Are the findings corroborated by other sources of information?
 Is the information useful and relevant to your local context or the client’s context?

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PROMOTING SELF-ACCESS TO LMI

Key ElemInemntossotfcCoanrteexetrsG, tuhiedacnliceent-to-counsellor ratio does not allow the counsellor to devote sufficient time to

each client. Also, LMI is constantly changing and reaching the latest information to a client may not be
possible. It is necessary, therefore, for the client to take responsibility to avail LMI. This competency,
therefore, is related to helping clients learn skills to access, assess, and interpret LMI on their own
(Arulmani & Nag-Arulmani, 2006). In certain economies LMI becomes obsolete very quickly. Hence it
is important that workers are able to deepen their understanding of the labour market in an independent
manner. We provide illustrations of methods to achieve this target in Box 4.

Box 4
Preparing Clients to Take Charge of their Career Learning
An Extension of the Career Learning (5 Questions) Worksheet Illustration in Module 2

The result of a career talk can have the outcome of it having merely been a “nice” experience;
a visit to a workplace can remain just an “excursion.” Actual learning may not take place.
Given below is a set of questions that give the career chooser a template to ask questions and
record information. After attending the career talk or completing an industry visit, students
could use their worksheets to make a presentation to the rest of the class, thus reinforcing the
learning that accrued during the experience. A set of questions that could be developed into a
worksheet is provided below. These set of questions focus on a job rather than career.

 What is the name of this job? To which career area is it linked?
 Which are the various departments/jobs linked to this career?
 What are the activities and tasks I would perform if I took up this job?
 What working conditions would I experience if I were to practice this career (hours, location,

environment)?
 Would I mostly be working with people or machines?
 What are the occupational hazards or risks that I need to be prepared for?
 What is the salary and career development I can expect at the start up level through this job?
 What is the highest position in this career? What are the steps to reach there?
 What are the primary talents required for success in this career?
 What is the entry route into this career (educational and other qualifications; whether the course type

is university based or vocational; entrance tests; age limits; other requirements)?
 Which type of qualification offers me the best prospects within this career: Certificate, Diploma,

Degree?
 What is the first qualification to enter this career? What is the further education required? Up to what

level should I study before I can start working and how long will it be before I qualify for a job?
 Which are the most well-known training institutes where I can study to qualify for this career?
 What is the cost of training? Are there scholarships/stipends available during training?
 What are the future prospects of this career?
 What are the points I must keep in mind as I prepare to enter courses for this career?

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KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

CONVERTING LABOUR MARKET DATA/INFORMATION
INTO LABOUR MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Key Elements of Career Guidance

 A distinction exists between information and intelligence. The former constitutes raw units of
discrete data. The latter is a result of processing and interpreting this data such that it is relevant
to a particular context and offers a platform upon which decision-making can occur.

 Information could be available in the form of either quantitative or qualitative data which could
be related to historical, current, or projected circumstances.

 The process and method of data collection are crucial for sound, timely, and error free LMI.

A. Converting information about labour market trends into intelligence for career
guidance

The following clues for Career Guidance were listed in the notes above:

 These could be career areas in which a higher proportion of jobs are likely to be available.
 Study these career areas and identify the type of jobs for each career area.
 Classify these jobs as per the classification framework that has been adopted (e.g., RIASEC,

Multiple Potentials).

The table below provides an example of how labour market trends and projections reported in the
“Employment and Labour Market Analysis Lebanon (Report from GIZ)”, could be converted into

intelligence for career guidance.

These are the trends projected in the report:

“Lebanon’s main economic sector is the service sector (72.5 per cent of GDP in 2017), followed by industry
(22.6 per cent) and agriculture (4.9 per cent). Real estate comprises the largest service sector, accounting
for 13.7 per cent of GDP from 2004 to 2016, on average. This is followed by wholesale and retail (13.4 per
cent of GDP), public administration (9.4 per cent) and financial services (7.3 per cent).”

Given below is an example from the Service Sector.

The service sector produces intangible goods, more precisely services instead of goods, It
comprises various service industries including warehousing and transportation services;
information services; securities and other investment services; professional services; waste
management; health care and social assistance; and arts, entertainment, and recreation.
Instead of the product production, this sector produces services maintenance and repairs,
training, or consulting. For career guidance this would mean the following:

Career Area Examples of Career Names (Taken from Potential Required
Financial Industry ISCO-08)
Hospitality Industry Analytical Logical
Accountant Analytical Logical + Personal
Bank Teller Personal + Physical Mechanical
Housekeeper Personal + Linguistic
Front office manager Personal + Linguistic
Hotel Receptionist

Other information that could be included:

 Qualifications / Educational Path for each career.
 Where are jobs found for this career?

In this way data about labour market trends could be converted into career guidance intelligence
that could then be processed into worksheets and other intervention material.

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KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Key ElemBe. nCtsoonfvCeartrienegr NGeuwidsapnaceper Articles into LMI

The daily newspaper serves as a readily available source of LMI. Scan your local newspaper and
identify articles that carry LMI. Examples of criteria you can use to identify articles that have
implications for your career guidance practice are given in Box 5 below:

Box 5
Extracting Career Information from Newspapers and other Popular Media

Themes and topics relevant to Career Guidance
 Announcement of a change in an existing government policy related to education or

labour or any industrial sector.
 Any new provision or amendment in existing provisions for education, training, or

employment sector.
 Information about vacancies in organizations.
 Any notification or news in changes in eligibility or qualification or entrance scheme for

entry into any educational institute or a firm.
 Important dates for different entrance procedures.
Having selected an article convert the information in the article into Career Guidance
Information by asking yourself the following questions:
 What is the implication of this news for the career aspirant?
 Does the news give generic trends, or specific nuggets of information?
 What type of LMI is contained in this piece? Does it contain one or more aspects of the

following: increase or decrease in opportunity; change in eligibility, working conditions,
remuneration, and/or training opportunities?
 What kind of client is likely to be benefited most by this information: a career chooser at
High School, Higher Secondary or a College graduate; one who is switching careers
and moving from one job to another; one who is looking for financial assistance; one
who is looking for a post-retirement engagement?

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Key Elements of Career Guidance KEY ELEMENTS OF CAREER GUIDANCE

SELF-LEARNING EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1:
Sources of Labour Market Information

1. Use the Lecture Notes and list 4 to 5 sources of labour market information for Lebanon.
2. List the name of 1 or 2 opportunity/employment providers within your locality.

EXERCISE 2:
Career Guidance Status in Lebanon

Download the following report on Employment and Labour Market Analysis Lebanon (Report from
GIZ) https://www.giz.de/en/downloads/ELMA_Lebanon_2019.pdf Browse through the report –
particularly pages 80 and 123. Use this information, the points covered in the Lecture Notes and your
own experience to briefly answer the following questions:

1. What is the present status of career guidance in Lebanon?
2. What are the main needs to establish a career guidance service in Lebanon?
3. Who are the main service providers? Which institution has been mandated to develop and deliver

career guidance services in Lebanon?
4. What could be some of the special themes for career guidance specific to Lebanon?
5. What could you do as an individual to offer career guidance services?

EXERCISE 3: (Optional – if you have time).
Information to Intelligence

Refer to the section in the Lecture Notes titled: Main economic sectors. Select any one sector that is
projected to be an area of future development. Refer to the example given in the worksheet titled:
Converting Labour Market Data/Information into Labour Market Intelligence in the Skills for Practice
section. Use this example to convert information about any one economic sector into intelligence that
you can use for career guidance.

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