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School to Work Transition: Behavioural Counselling Approaches to the Problem of Finding Jobs for Unemployed Adolescents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2014

Gregory C. Murphy*
Affiliation:
Phillip Institute of Technology
James A. Athanasou
Affiliation:
Human Resources Division, Department of Industrial Relations and Employment
*
Psychology Department, Phillip Institute of Technology, Plenty Road, Bundoora Vic. 3083
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Abstract

Institutional responses to high rates of youth unemployment in Western industrialized nations have been marked by costly labour market programs, career education services and systems of skill formation. The success of these responses has not been easy to demonstrate, and such programs ignore the fact that in imperfect labour markets the essential activity that does seem to be strongly related to successful job acquisition for any individual is that of structured job finding. Job-finding clubs (which use behavioural techniques to develop high levels of skill in obtaining jobs) have been demonstrated, both in the United States and in Australia, to be capable of significantly increasing the rates of employment among participating club members. The effectiveness and utility of this behavioural approach is outlined.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 1987

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References

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