Presentation in November 2015

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Aktuel Vejledningsforskning: Inspiration & indsigt
November 20, 2015 – Copenhagen, Denmark
Jaana Kettunen,
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Understanding the use of social
media in guidance and counselling

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Aim
To provide a basis for
understanding the different
ways in which practitioners
experience the use of social
media guidance and counselling

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Skills and
Competencies
Needed
How do we
most
effectively
train
Role of Social
media in
guidance
Social media
in Guidance
Guidance in
Social media

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Introduction
 Initially ICT is used to automate existing functions (such
as assessments) and in supporting existing services
(such as using the telephone to deliver one-on-one
career counseling).
 ICT was used to improve what was already being done
 Recent advances in the Web have changed the ways in
which information is created and disseminated.
 The Web has evolved from a resource to facilitate
communication and disseminate information to the
collaborative construction of knowledge using social
media
 The locus of control in the Web is shifting from experts to
a blend of expert and socially-constructed knowledge.

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Introduction
 Considerable research has been conducted on
identifying the skills and competencies required for
using ICT in career services (e.g. Barnes & Watts,
2009; Bimrose, Barnes, & Atwell, 2010; Cogoi,
2005; Cedefop, 2009; Pyle 2000).
 Additionally and importantly, attention has also been
given to ethical principles and guidelines career
service delivery and usage (e.g. NBCC, NCDA,
IAEVG).

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Gap: Due to the relatively recent use of social media in
career services, a very limited amount of research has
been conducted in this area, especially describing the
experiences of practitioners
Successful integration social media in career
services is not only dependent on the skills or
technical facilities available, but also on
practitioners' willingness to accept the changes
that new technology may bring to service delivery.
Introduction

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Defining social media
“Social media is a process,
where individuals and groups
build up a common
understanding and meanings
with contents, communities
and web 2.0 technology.”
Sources: Ahlqvist et al., (2010) and
Kolbwich & Maurer (2006)

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 “form of communication which makes use of
information networks and information technology
and deals with content created by users in an
interactive way and in which interpersonal
relationships are created and maintained”
Source: Finnish Terminology Center (2010)
Defining social media

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Aim of the study
 The main aim is to investigate the different
understandings of social media and competency for
social media in guidance and counselling as
experienced by practitioners.
 The overarching aim is to identify the critical
aspects of qualitative different ways of
understanding

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Data
 collected using focus group
interview methodology
 16 Danish and Finnish career
practitioners with experience
using social media in career
services
 10 females, 6 males
 age from 30 to 59
 career services experience from
2 to 17 years
 from variety of settings
(comprehensive, secondary, higher
education, as well as public
employment services)
 purposeful sampling was utilized:
experiences concerning the use of
social media guided the identification
and selection of interviewees.

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 Phenomenographic research
 Investigates the qualitatively different ways in which
people at collective level experience or
conceptualize the target phenomenon (Marton and
Booth, 1997; Marton and Pong, 2005; Åkerlind,
2005; 2012)
 The research outcome contains a hierarchically
structured set of categories that describe people’s
qualitatively different ways of experiencing the same
phenomenon (Marton, 1986).
Method

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PRACTITIONERS´ EXPERIENCES
OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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I find the use of social media in
guidance and counselling important
A) Yes
B) Some
C) No

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Kettunen, J., Vuorinen, R., Sampson, J. P., Jr. (2015).
Practitioners´ experiences of social media.
Results

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DIMENSIONS
OF VARIATION
CATEGORIES
Means for
delivering
information
Medium for one-
to-one
communication
Interactive
working space
Impetus for
paradigm
change and
reform
Role of social
media
Function of
social media
Attitude
Rationale
Intervention
paradigm
Nature of
interaction
Practitioner's
role
Kettunen, Vuorinen & Sampson 2015.
Practitioners´ experiences of social media

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Category 1: Means for delivering
information
Role of
social media
useful tools
Purpose delivering information
and advice
Attitude reserved
Rationale visibility
Perception challenge
Intervention
paradigm
individual
face-to-face intervention
Nature of
interaction
practitioner  individual
Practitioner's
role
expert role
“It is used as,
kind of like
the first step
to something
real/proper.”

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Category 2: Medium for one-to-one
communication
Role of
social media
useful tools viable alternative
Purpose delivering
information
and advice
delivering career services
Attitude reserved careful
Rationale visibility accessibility
Perception challenge change
Intervention
paradigm
individual
face-to-face
intervention
individual
intervention
Nature of
interaction
practitioner 
individual
practitioner  individual
Practitioner's
role
expert role reflexive role
“How do I integrate
these new practices
into old, established
work routine? ”

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Category 3: Interactive working
space
Role of
social media
useful tools viable
alternative
space for career
services
Purpose delivering
information
and advice
delivering
career
services
collaborative career
exploration
Attitude reserved careful adaptive
Rationale visibility accessibility interactivity
Perception challenge change opportunity
Intervention
paradigm
individual
face-to-face
intervention
individual
intervention
group
intervention
Nature of
interaction
practitioner 
individual
practitioner

individual
practitioner 
individual/group
individual peers
Practitioner's
role
expert role reflexive role facilitating role
“It provides
possibilities to bring
together people who
are wrestling with the
same problems...”

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Category 4: Impetus for paradigm change
and reform
“When you go into
social media you
accept that it is social
media, and social
media works in social
ways...”
Role of
social media
useful tools viable
alternative
space for
career
services
participatory social
space
Purpose delivering
information
and advice
delivering
career
services
Collaborative
career
exploration
co-careering
Attitude reserved careful adaptive proactive
Rationale visibility accessibility interactivity influence
Perception challenge change opportunity reform
Intervention
paradigm
individual
face-to-face
intervention
individual
intervention
group
intervention
co-constructed
intervention
Nature of
interaction
practitioner
 individual
practitioner

individual
practitioner

individual/gro
up
individual
peers
individual
community members
individual
professional
Practitioner's
role
expert role reflexive
role
facilitating
role
participating and
engaging role

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Kettunen, J., Vuorinen, R., & Sampson, J. (2015).
Practitioners experiences of social media in career services.

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COMPETENCY FOR
SOCIAL MEDIA

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The term competency will
be used to refer to a
combination of the relevant
attributes that underlie the
aspects of successful
professional performance.
(Moore, Cheng, & Dainty, 2002).
Defining competency

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How confident do you feel in using
social media in your professional
practice?
A) I feel very confident
B) I feel quite confident
C) I don´t feel confident at all

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Results
Kettunen, J., Sampson, J. P., Jr., & Vuorinen, R. (2015).
Practitioners Conceptions of Competency for Social
Media in Career Services

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DIMENSIONS
OF VARIATION
CATEGORIES
Ability to use
social media for
delivering
information
Ability to use
social media for
delivering
career services
Ability to utilize
social media for
collaborative
career
exploration
Ability to utilize
social media for
co-careering
Approach to
social media
Function in
career services
Online skills
Ethical
reflections
Personal
characteristics
Practitioners’ conceptions of competency for social media in
guidance and counselling
Kettunen, Sampson & Vuorinen 2015.

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(2015)

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Discussion
 The challenge as a profession is to decide how to fully,
and best use existing and emerging technologies
 We have the opportunity to create new practices and
paradigms to better reach individuals who need
assistance with career exploration and decision making
 Competency for social media in career services is not
only about a particular set of new skills.
 Success in developing competency for social media in
career services is a dynamic combination of cognitive,
social, emotional and ethical factors that are interwoven.

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Discussion
If the career field is to develop career practitioners´
understandings and competency for social media in a more
complex direction
 it is important to develop pre-service and in-service
training and support for the deepening of career
practitioners´ understanding of new technologies
using the critical aspects that were identified
 there is an urgent need for training curricula to be
updated to include this knowledge
 the hierarchical structure of the findings can serve as
a pedagogical tool for trainers

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References
 Kettunen, J., Sampson, J.P., & Vuorinen, R. (2015). Career
practitioners´ conceptions of competency for social media in
career services. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 43,
43-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2014.939945
 Kettunen, J., Vuorinen, R., & Sampson, J. P. (2015).
Practitioners’ Experiences of Social Media in Career Services.
The Career Development Quarterly, 63, 268-282.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12018
 Kettunen, J., Vuorinen, R., & Sampson, J. P. (2013). Career
practitioners' conceptions of social media in career services.
British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 41, 302-317.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.781572

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Tak, kiitos, thank you!
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Jaana Kettunen
Finnish Institute for Educational Research
University of Jyväskylä
Tel. + 358 40 805 4255
E-mail: jaana.h.kettunen@jyu.fi
https://ktl.jyu.fi/en/staff/kettunen-jaana
Acknowledgments to my collaborators:
Prof. James P. Sampson, Florida State University
Dr. Raimo Vuorinen, University of Jyväskylä